Before World War I an expansionist fever battled its way through the government after the Depression. Tension between idealism and self-interest that had trotted alongside Americas domestic history had also guided its’ foreign policy. When the Europeans came and settled, in what they believed to be India, their motives included greed, glory, and god. Similar to the intentions of the early Europeans, expansionism brought with it reflections of profit, patriotism, piety, and politics. (Nash and Jeffery 604) One of America’s main goals was to create a model society for which others would follow by example. Since the beginning of the 17th century Thomas Jefferson had begun the expansionist movement with the purchase of the Louisiana Territory in the early 1800’s. The goal of expansionism was mainly for soil rich with nutrients for agriculture but also included self-profiteering and natural resources such as coal and oil. Not until the end of the 17th century did America expand beyond Central and South America caused by increasing conflict with Europeans, and the pressure to stop imperialism and communism, took Americans over to Europe in inevitable conflicts that continue today. Despite the depression American factories produced more than enough products and even expanded their businesses so they could make their own products at cheaper rates. By the 1900’s America was number one in world manufacturing and exports tripled and was mainly traded with Europe rather than Asia. As exports increased, inflation of prices decreased, so it was opportune for Americans to increase in trade investments. Naval expansion was also important if Americans wanted to be in control of a peaceful world which coincidentally also led the United States into ... ... middle of paper ... ...c overthrow. In order to defy any invasions it was inevitable that America send troops over to the eastern half of the world to contain communism. America was forced, as a world power, into WWII. The Cold War was the defining feature of American foreign policy for decades until contemporary time. The Soviet Union was believed to be an imperialist threat to the entire world as was expected to spread the atrocity of communism throughout the world. The US and the Western half of the world needed to prevent the USSR from rolling across countries the same way they trampled across Eastern Europe after World War II. At the beginning the Cold War reinforced a sense of paranoia and the ideal that "if we don't do it first they will". The access of nuclear arms during this period had since exaggerated the notion that America was better than all other countries in the world.
A war does not necessarily require physical weapons to fight. From 1947 to 1991, military tension and ideological conflicts held place. Cold War is defined as a state of political hostility existing between countries, characterized by threats, violent propaganda, subversive activities, and other measures short of open warfare, in particular. The causes of the Cold War between United States and the Soviet Union were the mutual distrust that had taken place in World War II, intense rivalry between the two super powers, and conflicting ideologies. The two superpowers differed in views of political and economic principles and were eager to spread their ideologies to other countries. The United States were in favor of democracy and capitalism while the Soviet Union sought for the chances of influencing communism. Cold War did not involve the use of physical arms but was intensely fought. Propaganda, economic aids, Arms Race, and the creation of alliances were the main methods to fight the war. The use of propaganda played a crucial role in containment by criticizing the other power and raised the morale and spirit of their nation. The economic support for nations helped them recover from the desperate situation after World War II, which prevented the nations from falling under communism. Also, the Arms Race and forming alliances between the two main powers were important weapons for competition and rivalry in Cold War.
Since the Russian Revolution in 1905, the world housed suspicions regarding communism. These suspicions grew through both World War I, blossoming into a direct confrontation between Communist Russia and Capitalist America. Following the acts of World War II, the Cold War erupted. During the Cold War, United States foreign policy grew gradually aggressive, reflecting the public sentiment.
Expansionism in the late 19th/ Early 20th century Expansionism in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century shared many similarities and differences to that of previous American expansionist ideals. In both cases of American expansionism, the Americans believed that we must expand our borders in order to keep the country running upright. Also, the Americans believed that the United States was the strongest of nations, and that they could take any land they pleased. This is shown in the "manifest destiny" of the 1840's and the "Darwinism" of the late 1800's and early 1900's. Apart from the similarities, there were also several differences that included the American attempt to stretch their empire across the seas and into other parts of the world.
For many year, the American boundaries expanded as people moved, at the governments urging, westward for new economic opportunities and later imperialist expansion was no different. While many factors contributed, economic possibility was a driving factor in the expansionist aspirations. The U.S., along with countries like Britain
The political ideologies of the USA and of the Soviet Union were of profound significance in the development of the Cold War. Problems between the two power nations arose when America refused to accept the Soviet Union in the international community. The relationship between the USA and the Soviet Union was filled with mutual distrust and hostility. Many historians believe the cold war was “inevitable” between a democratic, capitalist nation and a communist Union. Winston Churchill called the cold war “The balance of terror” (1). Cold war anxieties began to build up with America and the Soviet Union advancing in the arms race for world dominance and supremacy. America feared the spread of Communism
Before the nineteenth century America had an agriculturally based economy and wanted to expand its nation for this use. The United States slowly grew after the American Revolution through warfare and land purchase. Thomas Jefferson signed the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 which doubled the size of the United States and this promoted more land usage and westward expansion. This expansion however caused problems that lead up to warfare such as the civil war. When new lands were acquired through these treaties problems such as the expansion of slavery and relations with the Natives Americans arose. America became bigger through land treaties such as the Louisiana Purchase and the Gadsden purchase and also through warfare like Spanish American war and Mexican war. However as time went on land treaties and warfare died down and expansion beyond North America became another motive. America slowly but eventually changed from an agricultural based economy to a more big business and trade economy. At the time nations had their own spheres of influence and within that sphere they tried to dominate trade and commerce. In document A Thomas Nast cartoon displays countries trying to establish their ...
The cold war era is when America was at its most suspicious and paranoid. The cold war grew out of tensions that were post WWII. Two worldly super powers clashed over rivalry and one wanted to have more influence. This rivalry went for almost half of the 20th century, and led to many international incidents that almost brought both powers to a mutual destruction.
Throughout most of the nineteenth century, the United States expanded its territory westward through purchase and annexation. At the end of the century, however, expansion became imperialism, as America acquired several territories overseas. This policy shift from expansionism to imperialism came about as a result of American's experience in the Spanish American War and the Congressional debates that followed the American victory.
A good example of this new expansionism was a concept called International Darwinism. Many people accepted the theory that U.S. had to be the strongest and acquire other territories overseas. They extended the idea of Manifest Destiny to the rest of the world. Josiah Strong wrote "The Anglo-Saxon race will be of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest civilization…will spread itself over the earth." Many Americans were also afraid of competition from other nations. Britain, France, Germany, Russian, and even Japan were all "grabbing" and taking over weaker countries in Africa and the Pacific Ocean. Some people in the U.S. believed that they too had to compete or it will fail to survive.
In 1898, in an effort to free Cuba from the oppression of its Spanish colonizers, America captured the Philippines. This brought about questions of what America should do with the Philippines. Soon, controversy ensued both in the American political arena as well as among its citizens. Throughout its history, America had always been expansionistic, but it had always limited itself to the North American continent. Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, however, there emerged a drive to expand outside of the continent. When America expanded to the Philippines, the policy it followed was a stark break from past forms of expansionism. Despite much controversy, America followed the example of the imperialistic nations in Europe and sought to conquer the Philippines as an imperialist colony that they would rule either directly or indirectly.
The Cold War was a period of more than forty years during which relations between the two superpowers were at least tense, and often hostile. A time of threats and military buildup. Foreign affairs are a nation's relationships with other countries. Foreign policy is a group of policies made up of all the stands and actions that a nation takes in every aspect of its relationships with other countries, everything a nation's government says and does in world affairs. Domestic affairs are all matters not directly connected to the realm of foreign affairs. The Cold War was an important influence on almost all aspects of American society. The Cold War affected domestic policy in two ways, socially and economically. Socially, the intensive indoctrination of the American people led to regression of social reforms. Economically, enormous growth spurred by industries felt the greatest impact of the Cold war.
The Cold War was a proxy war that created a lot of tension and distrust. The United States didn’t trust the communists and their regimes and the Russians didn’t trust America and the practices they were partaking in because it looked like imperialism. However, the Soviet Union and their communist regime were responsible for starting the Cold War. Although some of the blame can be put on the United States for a miscommunication, America realized the economically broken countries surrounding the Soviets could be easily captured, thus the United States had started to build naval bases and airports in Europe to protect the territories as they try to rebuild. The goals and the leaders of the Soviet Union also worried America because they threatened democracy, and the things they practiced were worrisome. Both countries had weapons to wipe out the globe, so peace was the only option. This is argued many times by various people, the most prominent being Henry Wallace, but human nature will play its role and restrict the countries from finding actual peace.
It was our Manifest Destiny to expanded our empire. In the United States, settlers across the board believed there were destined to expand across North America from the Atlantic to the Pacific.Our third president predicted that the nations future depended on it westward expansion. Expansionism is in the power of politics and government. In 1830 the Louisiana Purchase took place basically doubling the size of the country with one land purchase. Americans started migrating towards the new land in hopes of being successful and securing land. The Frontier expansion was the key to success for the nation’s health. Western expansion helped shape the United States we know with transformations in the pioneers to conquer new the culture of life in the
The Cold War is the closest the world has ever come to complete destruction. In this period of time, two world super powers were in a stalemate economically and militarily and were constantly competing to be the superior. The Cold War started as result of World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union had some differences on their perspectives of the world. United States being the richest country in the world promoted democracy and capitalism in the world. The newly formed Soviet Union thought that communism was a better political system because it transformed their economy and status in the world from nothing but a declining empire to a super power once again. The Cold War was a long series of events in which the communist tried to spread their ideas of government and socialist economy, known as expansionism, and the United States and some of the other Western powers such as Great Britain tried to contain it. Containment, a term introduced by George F. Kennan, was the foreign policy the United States practiced from 1946 to 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed. The United States saw the Soviet Union to be a direct threat to the free world. During president Truman and Eisenhower’s administration the policy of containment evolved so drastically that American presidents would put anything on the line, including world peace.
From when World War II ended in 1945, all the way up to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Cold War was the center of attention of international affairs. It was a struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union. From an American view the Cold War was a mostly a war on communism. The US caused and maintained the Cold War, the US is to blame for the Cold War for disparish of the communist Soviet Union in support of the political and economic systems.