Nearly two and half centuries ago, the European colonists built their first nation on the North America continent, the United States of America. However, in these two hundred and fifty years, the relationship between Europe and the U.S. has always been fluctuating, and the attitude of their people towards each other has been changing all the time. So what are the reasons for this fluctuating relationship?
We all know that the people in Europe and those in the U.S. come from the same race, same origin, and they may all have the same kind of nationalism. Because of this, whenever any side of Atlantic Ocean has any problems or difficulties, the other side will eventually give its support and solutions. This can be illustrated by the time after World War II. In that period, the U.S. government has support its fellow brothers on the Europe by means of capital and technology in order to rebuild the cities and also to resist the expansion of communism. Even in recent years after the Cold War, NATO has accepted the application of some former eastern European communist countries. Frequent financial aids have been sent to those countries for the rapid change and development of their governments.
On the other hand, the European people gave their sympathy and compassion to the U.S. on the September 11 Incident. Most of the European countries give their support to the U.S. on the issue of terrorism. Moreover, some of them even gave their military support for the war to the terrorists. All these can strengthen the relationship between Europe and the U.S..
However, can these events be the real reflections of the relationship between them?
The answer is no. Many years after World War II, the younger generations have no idea of what the U.S. has done for their countries. Instead of thanking the U.S., they become more criticizing the growing influence of the U.S. on their cultures and governments. Just like the protests of the American people before the set up of the U.S., many European people are now remonstrating that their governments would become the puppets of the U.S.. Besides, they also protest against the U.S. government¡¦s withdrawal and rejections of some international agreements and treaties, such as the Kyoto agreement and the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty. They think that these decisions are only good for the U.S., without any consideration of the Europe.
On the other side of the ocean, the U.
During the 19th century, America had an expanding idea of Manifest Destiny, where they would claim land all the way to the east coast. While the government and the citizens were focused on exploring new land, they were able to acquire much of the new land, introducing new people and ideas. Many of these people and ideas were vastly different than the original in the thirteen colonies, which frustrated many people. When these different people and beliefs collided, many disputes and disagreements were born, which intensified the results of sectionalism, unfortunately leading up the Civil War, having a huge impact on the country.
The United States and The Soviet Union were originally joined together by the want to defeat The Nazi army, in 1941-1945. The alliance remained, and strengthened, among the two until the end of World War II. At the end of World War II, a rupture between the two occurred. The differences began earlier, but there was a straw that broke the camels back. The reason The United States and The Soviet Union’s alliance did not work out is because The Soviet Union and The United States were complete opposites, The Soviet Union proved to be faulty, and they were never truly allies.
During the early beginnings of the Colonial period in the United States, the original inhabitants, the Native Americans had to deal with many invaders from Europe. Of all the Native American tribes, the Iroquois and Huron had the most interaction with the Europeans. The Spanish, English, and French were some of the few countries that worked with the Native Americans the most. Each country had their own methods of dealing with the Native Americans when it came to interaction or methods for trading and obtaining of goods. Of those three nations the French was the one nation that appeared to not take full advantage of the Huron and Iroquois.
The wars that America fought was primarily for that reason. The formation of the European Union was a key strategy by United States to ensure that European countries are consolidated under one umbrella that controls the political and economic affairs of the region. United States’ economic mighty, political and cultural appeal and strong military has helped maintain the status as the only truly global power. U.S. used its power to promote democracy and support countries under siege both from internal and external aggressions, a strategy that they also used to promote the interests of American companies and its people. The U.S. foreign policy through the 20th century was meant to take the lead in creating effective international institutions and arrangements to handle new challenges especially those rising from Europe, Asia and Latin America. The U.S. wanted to lead not only because it alone could have helped the international community overcome its problems, but feared that it is most likely to be hurt if it does not act. Following the victory in World War II, the U.S. led the efforts to create United Nations and NATO and also facilitated formation of new regimes in some countries to promote democracy, economic recovery, development, and prosperity which benefited those countries and their people and
To start off the Cold war, Russia had lost twenty-seven million soldiers in World War II. Stalin was not going to allow the Germany to attack Russia again . To make sure of this , Stalin made East Europe his buffer zone.The United states could not allow the this to contunie to happen. The first example was the Truman Doctrine, that declared the the Untited States would support “free people”. The Doctrine was followed by the Marshall Plan which gave 12 billion dollars in aid European democracies so that communist ideas would not be so attractive. These were some of the long term , patient policies the United States did to
After the war, the United States and the Soviet Union had very different ideas on how to rebuild. The United States, led by President Truman, wanted to form democracies in Europe and create a capitalistic society to build economically strong nations that would compliment the American economy through trade. In contrast, the Soviet Union, led by Joseph Stalin, wanted to rebuild itself and spread communism through Europe and Asia. In a desperate attempt to rebuild, many countries devastated by war fell under soviet influence and resorted to communism. The Soviet Union called these nations Satellite nations and hoped that they would serve as ?buffer? nations, preventing invasion from the west .In its efforts to defend democracy, the U.S. created the policy of containment. In this new policy, the United States would try to block Soviet influence by making alliances and supporting weaker nations. Winston Churchill described this strategy as an ?iron curtain?, which became and invisible line separating the communist from the capitalist countries in Europe. To help enforce the ideas of containment, President Truman create...
During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries the United States saw many problems come and go. Some problems were more important than others, however all led to further division of American politics. The most divisive issue in American politics during this time frame was the idea of Manifest Destiny, or territorial expansion.
Westward movement is the populating of lands, by the Europeans, in what is now known as the United States. The chief resolution of the westward expansion is economic betterment. The United States story begins with westward expansion and even before the Revolutionary war, early settlers were migrating westward into what is now known as the states of Kentucky,Tennessee, parts of the Ohio Valley and the South. Westward Expansion was slowed down by the French and the Native Americans, however the Louisiana Purchase significantly improved the expansion efforts. Westward expansion was enabled because of wars, the displacement of Native American Indians, buying land, and treaties. This paper will discuss the effects of westward expansion on domestic politics and on American relations with other nations.
One main focus of Washington’s farewell address was to alert the citizens of the U.S. that America should not get involved in foreign relations, especially with the flare between the French and the British. He wanted America to stay neutral in foreign matters and not hold long term alliances with other nations. He stated “Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation.” He included how it is unwise for America to implicate itself with artificial ties. Washington believed that if America did conduct with foreign nations then they would influence people as well as government to act as they wanted. In other words, Washington encouraged Americans to take advantage as a new union and avoid as much political affairs with others.
Europe was a mess after World War II. Multiple governments and powerful leaders had been overthrown, leaving a power vacuum that left Europe in chaos. The violence of the war also left behind mass destruction and poverty . Businesses and factories as well as homes had been destroyed leaving people without work or a place to stay. This caused Europe to sink into a massive economic depression. This is where the United States decided to step in.
Throughout history, the United States had come off as a stubborn nation that would take what they wanted at any cost. This was prevalent in both cases of expansion as the Americans risked war and national safety for the sake of gaining land, or even merely for proving a point. During the early years of expansion, the Americans had pushed aside the Native Americans and whoever else inhabited the land they wanted. They believed that the land was rightfully theirs and that everyone else was merely squatting on their territory. This idea continued into the early twentieth century as the Americans looked to the oceans for new territories to their kingdom.
The American economic policy with Europe also contributed in a vast amount. The policy had intentions to protect and encourage American
Tiersky, Ronald, and Oudenaren John. Van. European Foreign Policies: Does Europe Still Matter? Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010. Print.
NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between the two continents of Europe and America which is formed to safeguard the peace and security developing a link among t...
...ation of specialized commissions to regulate and control the industry. The United States and the European Union have similar vested interests in stability and terrorism prevention and trade. Some of the Consequences of the EU and the United States interaction for international politics are, in most cases that going into conflicts may ultimately delay the effectiveness of the nation-states ability to influence as a world leader.