Question

what event forced the united states to join world war ii

Answer 1

The immediate event was Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. The assault killed about 2,400 Americans and sank or damaged much of the Pacific Fleet (notably USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma). On December 8 President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress for a declaration of war (calling December 7 “a date which will live in infamy”), and Congress approved it. A few days later, on December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States, bringing the U.S. fully into World War II in both the Pacific and European theaters.