ABSTRACT
The United States decided the outcome of both the First and the Second World War and in between it upset the world economic system instead of providing constructive leadership. This was not due to specific intentions but rather to the lack of a consistent policy. Even the entry into the Second World War was forced upon the United States, although it must be said that President Roosevelt was not at all reluctant to enter the war. He wanted to help the
Western allies, but could not take the initiative himself, because American public opinion was against joining the conflict. In the course of the war there emerged an American-British partnership which was not free from the rivalries that had already disturbed the cooperation between the two powers in the interwar period. We shall return to this issue when we discuss the rise of the United States. This has to be seen in the context of a third phenomenon, the decline of Europe due to two wars which could be called European civil wars, and to the depression which increased discord rather than cooperation.
