# Question about the Lead Up to WWII

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-lead-up-to-wwii/711903>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 5, 2015, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-lead-up-to-wwii/711903 "2015-02-05T16:45:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 17

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [February 5, 2015, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-lead-up-to-wwii/711903/17 "2015-02-05T19:17:48Z")

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> [@bump](#):
>
> The idea that the US was totally caught by surprise by WWII is false. All you have to do is look at the size of the military buildup in 1940-1941. In 1939, the US spent 500 million on expanding the armed forces. In 1940 they spent 8 billion, and in 1941 they spent 26 billion. Essentially by the point that Pearl Harbor happened, Congress had spent more defense money than during ALL of WWI.
> 
> Similarly, the military was composed of about 335,000 soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in 1939. In 1940, it was 458,000, and in 1941 it was 1,801,101.
> 
> They knew something was up, and the military and politicians knew we were likely to be involved. They weren’t expecting an expeditionary type of warfare, and were still for the most part, preparing for fighting a defensive war in the Western hemisphere. That’s really where they were surprised for the most part. They knew there would be a fight, but didn’t know where, when and with who exactly. Pearl Harbor was a pretty audacious move, and the first of its kind (how many massive surprise air attacks on naval bases had there been prior to then?) , so it’s understandable that they were caught off guard.

My Dad served with MacArthur and Dad had a interesting theory; The USA thought the “surprise attack” would hit the Philippines, and FDR ordered Mac to “act surprised”. This\*\* could\*\* explain why he was caught with his pants down so badly, he still was following secret orders from FDR.

Mind you my Dad despised Mac, which Mac did not know. Dad also said that the “true story of how Dug-out Doug escaped from the Philippines would never be known”.

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