The air force was just as bad if not worse. In September 1939 the Air Corps had only 800 combat aircrafts again compared with Germany's 3600 and Russia's 10,000. American military Aviation (AMA) in 1938 was able to produce only 1,800, 300 less than Germany, and 1,400 less than Japan. It was evident to Roosevelt the United states military was in!.
no way prepared to enter this European crisis. .
One very important additional thing that we have to consider is the people's views and thought's regarding the United States going to war. The people's view did play a major role in this declaration of Neutrality. A poll taken in 1939 revealed that ninety-four per cent of the citizens did not want the United States to enter the war. The shock of World War one had still not left, and entering a new war, they felt, would be foolish. These were principles here on which most Americans (ninety-four percent as of 1939) agreed. To promote these principles the United States would have to avoid all foreign entanglements. Why risk going to war, when it is contrary to American policy which most if not all Americans were in agreement with and also including the fact that the American military was not in its best shape. .
Yet another factor that led to this decision of Neutrality by President Roosevelt was the American Economy. The health of the American economy could not be jeopardized, whatever was happening elsewhere. It was Roosevelt's view that the United States would fare well (economically speaking) whether Europe went to war or not. Gold was flowing in from Europe's capitals, orders were mounting daily for equipment and supplies of all kinds, and America was building a battleship for Stalin. For most of the 1930's the United States traded as openly with Germany and Japan, as it did with any other country. Japan relied on fuel oil and scrap iron until 1941. Germany was one of the United States" most important markets during the 1930's.
