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Why Did American Enter Ww2

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Britain had been the most powerful empire up until this point in history, but hemorrhaged much of its wealth through the extreme cost of World War I. Initially the United States was left out of Europe’s conflict. Materials began running low for the combatants, as it requires much in the way of food and steel among other things. The US started off contributing materially to the British, not out of favoritism, but due to the British blockade they were unable to reach Germany with supplies. When Germany found out negotiations were set up with the United States. It is often debated President Truman’s true intentions for entering the War but during negotiations he had many stipulations for the peace treaties with the Germans. One being Germany was not allowed to fire upon any ship American citizens were aboard. This was not only specific to civilian transports but also ships carrying weapons. One can see how this may be problematic. Americans kept …show more content…

First Army commander, General John J. Pershing found himself up against insurmountable odds. The Germans has dug in quite comfortably to a heavily wooded area immediately northwest of the town of Verdun. General Pershing knew from tales told of the Battle of Verdun, his offensive would require a strong artillery presence from his side. Around the Battle of Verdun, German and British artillery had made leaps and bounds in terms of progression, and the Americans were watching incorporating these lessons for the upcoming offensive. No longer primarily a direct fire weapon, artillerymen were utilizing indirect assets. Now troops hiding on the other side of a hill had fires to worry about. Also up to this point trench warfare had been a primary means of fighting on most battle fields. This indirect fire concept was also utilized by machine gunners; soldiers pointing their weapons in the air to drop rounds and suppress an area. As you will read, the Americans even used some French pieces in their

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