The US should have been part of the League of Nations. It was cowardly not to have been.
Maybe they should, Wilson certainly wanted
them to. Whether it was “cowardly” is entirely opinion based.
The US did not join the League of Nations primarily due to strong opposition within the Senate and a prevailing isolationist sentiment in the country. Concerns about the League’s potential impact on US sovereignty and the entangling of the US in foreign conflicts, particularly in Europe, fueled this opposition.
If it were moral for England and France to enter into war, then why would it not moral for the US?
Looking back at it now or in 1939? I’m not arguing morality because that’s the problem. Knowing what the world knows today it’s easy to say it was moral to declare war, but if the Allies were looking for help at the start of the war, why did they not share information about the concentration camps to spur others into action? Maybe because nobody knew in the beginning?
Taking a 1939 perspective? I would say that if the prevailing sentiment among Americans was isolationism, is it not moral for the elected representatives to work in the interests of their constituency.
We’re talking about people in a country half a world away, that is only a few years removed from the Great Depression, with the memory of fighting another war in Europe fresh in their memories.
Remember, in the 1930s people in the US had virtually no televisions or 24/7 tv news, only about 1/3 of homes had telephones. The world is very different now than it was 90 years ago.
Your opinion might be that the US “sat and watched for 820 days” but that’s rubbish. It’s not supported by the facts or history.
An American could have the opinion that WWII occurred because Neville Chamberlain, the UK, France and the rest of the League failed to appropriately address the threat prior to 1939. Guess what? The facts and history don’t bear that out either.
The US should have been part of the League of Nations. It was cowardly not to have been.
If it were moral for England and France to enter into war, then why would it not moral for the US?
Maybe they should, Wilson certainly wanted
them to. Whether it was “cowardly” is entirely opinion based.
The US did not join the League of Nations primarily due to strong opposition within the Senate and a prevailing isolationist sentiment in the country. Concerns about the League’s potential impact on US sovereignty and the entangling of the US in foreign conflicts, particularly in Europe, fueled this opposition.
Looking back at it now or in 1939? I’m not arguing morality because that’s the problem. Knowing what the world knows today it’s easy to say it was moral to declare war, but if the Allies were looking for help at the start of the war, why did they not share information about the concentration camps to spur others into action? Maybe because nobody knew in the beginning?
Taking a 1939 perspective? I would say that if the prevailing sentiment among Americans was isolationism, is it not moral for the elected representatives to work in the interests of their constituency.
We’re talking about people in a country half a world away, that is only a few years removed from the Great Depression, with the memory of fighting another war in Europe fresh in their memories.
Remember, in the 1930s people in the US had virtually no televisions or 24/7 tv news, only about 1/3 of homes had telephones. The world is very different now than it was 90 years ago.
Your opinion might be that the US “sat and watched for 820 days” but that’s rubbish. It’s not supported by the facts or history.
An American could have the opinion that WWII occurred because Neville Chamberlain, the UK, France and the rest of the League failed to appropriately address the threat prior to 1939. Guess what? The facts and history don’t bear that out either.