A linguist studies language in a scientific way; so not just a certain language like Spanish, Mandarin or such, but how a language is written, communicated, it's forms, etc.
<span>southern and eastern Europe
The reasons these new immigrants made the journey to America differed little from those of their predecessors. Escaping religious, racial, and political persecution, or seeking relief from a lack of economic opportunity or famine still pushed many immigrants out of their homelands. Many were pulled here by contract labor agreements offered by recruiting agents, known as padrones to Italian and Greek laborers. Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks, Bohemians, and Italians flocked to the coal mines or steel mills, Greeks preferred the textile mills, Russian and Polish Jews worked the needle trades or pushcart markets of New York. Railroad companies advertised the availability of free or cheap farmland overseas in pamphlets distributed in many languages, bringing a handful of agricultural workers to western farmlands. But the vast majority of immigrants crowded into the growing cities, searching for their chance to make a better life for themselves.</span>
Because I am not exactly sure what war you are talking about, I will answer the question as if it were World War II. The Attack on Pearl Harbor is the main reason the U.S. joined the war (WWII).
I hope this helps.
