Hello I'm James Rogers and this is the history hit World Wars podcast.

When World War I broke out in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed that the United States would

remain neutral. In fact, the US only officially entered the war three years later.

When it came to the Second World War, there was a similar story of hesitation.

It took the infamous and seismic bombing of Pearl Harbor in

1941 to bring America on the side of Britain and the Allies. So why was America reluctant to enter both wars? What public and political pressures delayed

decision-making? And how did American involvement in both the World Wars change the course of history forever.

Well in this episode of the History Hit World Wars podcast,

Rob Weinberg asked the big questions to Dr. Mitch Goodram,

senior lecturer in modern history at Canterbury Christ Church University. Mitch thanks for joining us. No, pleasure.

How did America position itself? Mitch, thanks for joining us. Oh pleasure.

How did America position itself pre the First World War?

Before the First World War, it tried to think of itself as more of a hemispheric power.

So it was thinking about the defense of its own territory and of the hemisphere, so the Caribbean and Central and Southern America and trying to keep out as far as it could of European affairs.

Still some interest in the Pacific as well because of the vast markets that they could see in China and that potential

and some concern about Japan, but generally trying as far as possible to pursue an isolationist foreign policy.

So who's involved when deciding whether the United States would enter the war or not?

Well under the terms set out in the Constitution it's Congress that has the power

to declare war and it was Congress that declared the states of war in both the first and the

second world war.

And did America have a history then of non-interventionalist policies before the First World War?

Yes and no. It's a bit of a mix and match really.

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