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As late as the 1930s, when fascism and communism were sweeping Europe, the United States was militarily insignificant. It ranked eighteenth or nineteenth in the world. Dr Richard Stuart is the chief of the histories division at the Centre of Military History.

This is pure BS. The United States was a world-class power by the 1930s and had we not had an isolationist policy at the time, WW2 could easily have been prevented. Hitler feared us but felt safe that we would not involve ourself in a European conflict due to the pacifist sentiment in America at the time. The entire world knew even then that the United States was the "arsenal of democracy." When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Winston Churchill got the first good night of sleep in years because he knew at the moment that the war was won. And Japan knew right away that they had awakened a sleeping giant.

Agreed. The US "became" a World power during the Spanish-American War in 1898 and built on that base during the Boxer Rebellion and the TR years. During the 30s the Army was "weak", but only by European standards. The reason was that most of our wars were little ones (Max Boot's "Savage Wars of Peace") fought by small, highly trained, professional forces -- mostly the Marines. Our Navy, meanwhile, was among the World's strongest, albeit much smaller than Britain's.

The American Navy was world class. The Army was pitiful.

And as for isolationist, Gallup polls I have read that were take during the 1939-1941 period showed an America in which around 60% of the public accepted the following propositions.

1. The Axis powers are our enemies. If they win this war, we're next.

2. We cannot allow England to lose this war.

3. If we have to choose between risking war and letting England go under, risk war.

FDR's measures had broad bipartisan support. America was never neutral in the sense of thinking that the war was irrelevant to us. America always saw it as a matter of the highest national self interest that the Axis powers not win. After all, weren't the Flying Tigers in China and the Eagle Squadron in the RAF regarded as heroes while the Bund were regarded as traitors ?

"The United States was a world-class power by the 1930s

You claim that the proof that we were a world power is that Churchill got a good nights sleep and that Yamamoto feared they had awakened the sleeping giant. But they did not fear our then current military might. The Japanese knew that they had completely knocked out or ability to enter the war at all, which was true. What they feared was our industrial might. An industrial giant the world had never seen protected by the greatest moats in the world.

Why if we were such a great military power did it take us so long to enter the war after that day of infamy, Pearl Harbor? Pearl Harbor was December 7, 1941 it was not until June 6, 1944 that the D-Day invasion was begun. Where was this great military power that you speak of for 3 years? It was being built. America became a great military power in the first 6 month's of 1944 when it's armies were amassed in Britain for the D-Day invasion.

The Army wasn't in real good shape, but we had a powerful Navy. Which was absolutely why the Japs felt they had to strike Pearl.

We were initially behind the Japanese and Germans with regard to fighter aircraft. By about 1942 P-38s, F4s, and other newer types came online and we began to redress the balance.