What did the US gain from World War 2?

Answer 1

Depends on what you call a gain. IMO, the USA did not gain much from the war. America had to assume vast military burdens for other countries. This, along with the huge amounts spent during WWII has left the American government deep in debt. The war altered the American perspective on the world, IMO in a negative way. Before the war the USA engaged actively in trade and economics but avoided foreign entanglements via treaty. After the war the USA entered into a multitude of agreements that have caused the USA to engage in fighting in remote and non strategic arenas around the globe. The USA was founded as a Republic that was meant to stand apart from entangling treaties. Instead the USA operates much more like a nation defending an Empire than a Republic. WWII was the catalyst for this change.

Answer 2

Prior to entering World War 2, the US was suffering from many problems. They were still suffering from the Great Depression. While on one hand pressure from European allies to help them in the war was ever increasing, public opinion was against entering the war because of casualties in World War 1. Roosevelt needed a way to solve these problems.

At the same time Japan was growing in strength, ever since they became the first Asian country that defeated a western power in the Russo-Japanese war. They created the Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, calling for the elimination of western powers in Asia. Japan was the only modernized Asian nation at the time and mistakenly believed it was their responsibility to modernize Asia and to lead Asians against the West. (Some Japanese even believed they were racially superior because they were able to fight on par with the west)

China, which was effectively being controlled by the British empire following defeat in the First and Second Opium Wars, became a major battle ground for Japan. America aided the British Empire by imposing an embargo on Japan, cutting off essential resources for the Japanese industrial machine. Without resources, Japan's industry only had resources for 6 months of production. Additionally, Japan faced the threat of its bustling economy due to the industrial machine would crash. Japan attacked Hawaii to break the embargo.

Consequently, public opinion in the US changed completely and the US was able to enter the war and help their allies. Domestic military industrial production increased. Unemployed youth volunteered to fight in the war. With their deaths, unemployment problems decreased. The US was able to secure a foothold in Asia to project power and to gain its resources and markets for themselves. Also as an added bonus, the only non-western power was defeated, reestablishing western dominance in the world. Following the war, to justify cause, the US had to demonize the Japanese Empire, who in reality, was forced into World War 2 for reasons of security and existance. (The reason why the Japanese Empire didn't surrender until the USSR attacked Manchuria)

Answer 3

During World War Two, demand for products was strong, which caused factories to go into overdrive, which meant more factories opened, which meant that more jobs were created. Basically, the U.S. was pulled out of the Great Depression.

Answer 4

The Allies successfully collapsed the ambitions of the Third Reich, the United Nations was created and the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as super powers. Sophisticated war technology that was developed during the war served as the springboard that allowed both the United States and the Soviet Union to surge forward in space exploration.

Answer 5

It brought us out of the Depression. Things were not much better in 1937 when industry crashed, years after the New Deal, than they were in 1931. Making weapons for Great Britain and then ourselves revitalized the American economy.

Answer 6

Entry into the atomic age and being the most powerful nation on earth.

Answer 7

Industrial power and the atomic age.

Answer 8

Status as a super power.