Americans often refer to World War II as the “Good War.” Americans call World War II “the Good War” because they believe the United States went to war with the noble purpose of defending itself and its freedom. Americans also refer to World War II as the “Good War” because it was a war that required Americans to work together so that the country could defeat the Axis powers. Because the United States entered the war for noble purposes, and because Americans everywhere helped the country win the war, “the Good War” is an appropriate moniker to describe World War II. Under Benito Mussolini, Italy had conquered the country of Ethiopia (Foner 800). Under Adolf Hitler, Germany had taken control of most of Europe (Foner 802). While Italy had taken control of Ethiopia and Germany had taken control of most of Europe, Japan had taken control of Burma, Siam, the Dutch East Indies, Guam, the Philippines and other Pacific Islands (Foner 804). In 1931, Japan invaded the Chinese providence of Manchuria (Foner 799). As Japanese troops pushed deeper into China, they overran the Chinese city of Nanjing and killed approximately 300,000 prisoners of war and civilians (Foner 799). On December 7, 1941, Japan launched an attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor; this surprise attack was responsible for the deaths of 2,000 American servicemen (Foner 804). Toward the end of the war, Hitler embarked on the “final solution,” which was the mass extermination of Slavs, gypsies, homosexuals, and six million Jews, what would become known as the Holocaust (Foner 807). Because the Axis powers conquered so much territory and killed so many people, America's war against the Axis powers was seen by Americans as a war fought between the four... middle of paper... is a Appropriate name for war. During the war, America imprisoned Japanese Americans and denied them the rights of American citizens. During the war, America bombed the cities of Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki; these bombings were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Although I believe that America was fighting enemies who had committed worse acts than the Allies, the United States had no right to deny the American right to court hearings, due process, and writs of habeas corpus to American citizens. Furthermore, America had no right to bomb cities with the aim of killing civilians in an attempt to demoralize its enemies. Certainly the Allies were better than the Axis powers, but the war crimes committed by America cannot be ignored, and since these crimes were committed, World War II cannot be called “the good war”.”.