Reaction Paper for Modern American Wars America has been at war for the majority of its history, and in this class Modern American Wars a lot was learned about America’s wars. As time went on the reasons may have differed but the fact remained the same, America is a warring nation and attempts have been made to justify the reasons we are fighting. Nations go to war for many different some of these include, expanding their territory, trying to gain their freedom, or even gaining new resources and revenge. Modern American Wars began with the Spanish American War. This war began because Cuba was trying to gain its independence from Spain. The United States got involved when one its battleships was sunk protecting United States Citizens and its …show more content…
World War Two began with Germany signing alliances with both Italy and Japan against the Soviet Union, violating the Treaty of Versailles. Hitler even sent troops to occupy Austria and annexed Czechoslovakia. As Hitler was trying to expand his empire no other country wanted to join the conflict. And until the Nazi Party signed a nonaggression act with the Soviet Union, and Germany turned its attention to Poland did another country stand up. Immediately after France and Britain declared war against Germany to begin World War Two. America tried really hard to avoid actually going to combat by supporting the allies with any needs they may have. Unfortunately, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor Americas entrance was inevitable. This war was also justified due to mass aggression shown toward smaller surrounding nations. The Korean War was the next major conflict America was involved in. North Korea sent seventy five thousand troops across the thirty eighth parallel. The North was supported by the Russians while the South supported by the United States. Many feared this was the first big step in a communist campaign to take over the war. This war was completely uncalled for, the battle over the thirty eighth parallel was a simple border war, not some scheme to dominate the world with communism. There is now a two mile demilitarizing zone that still exist
The Korean War changed the face of American Cold War diplomacy forever. In the midst of all the political conflict and speculation worldwide, the nation had to choose between two proposed solutions, each one hoping to ensure that communism didn?t sweep across the globe and destroy American ideals of capitalism and democracy. General Douglas MacArthur takes the pro-active stance and says that, assuming it has the capability, the U.S. should attack communism everywhere. President Harry Truman, on the other hand, believed that containing the Soviet communists from Western Europe was the best and most important course of action, and that eliminating communism in Asia was not a priority.
world at that time were so closely related to the wellbeing of our own country, that it was vital the United States was prepared and willing to fight off any country that was coming to threaten our status as a democracy. World War II was an unfortunate war that seems to be so easily prevented if only there was less ignorance in dictators' minds and more cooperation and alliances between countries.
1.The dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was necessary to end the war with the least number of total casualties and in the fastest possible way. The figures regarding the exact number of American lives that would’ve been lost has been highly debated, but considering the great resolve that the Japanese army had, they would almost surely have been more than those killed in Nagasaki, and that is just on the American side. I do not value American lives more than the lives of the innocent, many of whom were victims to the attack, but it is important to remember that regardless of whether we had dropped the bomb or not, we were fighting total war. In the many battles that would’ve occurred if the war had continued, women and children may have still been victims as we advanced our troops. These battles could’ve taken as long as another year, and who can say when the Japanese would’ve finally surrendered? They were filled with pride and resilience, and many soldiers would’ve prefered to die with honor, defending their homeland, than to surrender.
Autonomy and Responsibility: Why the United States Entered World War II World War II was an exceptional war for the United States. The United States emerged from the war as a world superpower and protector of all other nations. There were many reasons why the United States entered World War II, however President Franklin Roosevelt was in some way directly connected to every reason. Roosevelt wanted to enter World War II as soon as it started for political and economic needs. However, the American people did not want to enter in another war, such as World War I, that costs so many lives and money.
After World War II began in 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced the neutrality of the United States. Many people in the United States thought that their country should stay out of the war. The people wanted the Allied Forces to have the victory. President Roosevelt also wanted an Allied victory because an Axis victory might endanger democracies everywhere. The United States equipped nations fighting the Axis with ships, tanks, aircraft, and other war materials. The Axis did not like this. Japan wanted to take over China, but China refused. China was led by Chiang Kai-Shek at the time. Japan wanted the United States to stop sending China supplies, but the United States refused. The United States opposed the expansion of Japan in Asia, so they cut off important exports to Japan.
United States started the war with Mexico due to its imperial ambitions and need for territorial expansion. America was modernizing itself and getting ready to engage in competition with Europe. Capitalism and modernization fueled the competition for resources to feed the industries, and the markets to sell the manufactured goods. A country in this world was either an exploiter or the exploited by that order of things. Being neither one of those was the hardest to achieve. Americans decided to be exploiters; therefore, they needed to engage in competition with Europe, a group of empires dominating the world. To successfully compete with Europe, America needed the natural resources and advantage over trading routes Asia to engage profitable in business with Asian territories. Another reason Americans engaged in war with Mexico was to avoid domestic instability and chaos that would slow down its imperial progress. Issues of economic crisis and slavery were vital to solve. The U.S needed to justify their actions; thus, they put the blame on Mexico for starting the war. The War with Mexico was a significant event since it was the largest U.S military expansion for the reasons of modernization covered up as an act of self-defense.
The United States wanted to spread around all the corners of the world. The government officials spread around the media that the USS Maine had been attacked by the Spaniards however, that information had also been a false statement to make the people believe that a war had to be the solution to stop the Spaniards. This made Americans angry and yet again the government sold us another war with propaganda about patriotism. Nevertheless, the real reason behind provoking another war was money. The profit from every war is huge to the United States, and to make that profit larger, they had to make Americans want to fight for the US. An example of this is the “Coal and Iron trade which have not been so healthy” as the past previous years. This had been continuously a joy for the upper class , however; it was devastating for the poor, “which found themselves paying almost entirely” the whole cost of war with high prices for sugar, taxes and other
Though the United States was the military power of the world prior to World War II, its foreign policy was one of detachment. The government was determined not to get involved in other countries affairs barring unusual circumstances. A World War provided big enough means to become involved, as many Americans became enraged with the military ambitions of Japan and Germany.
World War II began in 1939 when the German armies decided to invade parts of Europe, therefore causing Europeans to retaliate against the Germans (World War 1). World War II began because those countries which were defeated in World War I (Germany, Italy, and Japan) were greatly devastated by the loss. Their countries were suffering from economical problems and were also left in bad conditions after World War I. They had lost much territory and now were practically in debt for the damages which they had done during the war (1). These countries figured that the only way for them to get out of economic depression and revive their country was to take land from other countries, which was one of the reasons why the war began.
United States involvement during the Cold War began with the Korean War. The War started on June 25, 1950 when troops from North Korea entered the 38th parallel, which was the boundary established after World War II between North Korea and South Korea. The North was supported by the Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China, while the South was later supported by the U.S. and its allies. Their attack was one of the first military measures of the Cold War (“Korean War”). Once North Korea invaded South Korea, U.S. involvement took place to prevent further communist regime and their involvement aided in several military developments and also left lasting political and diplomatic affects during the Cold War.
Pearl Harbor was the point at which America decided to go into war. There has been many arguments on whether America would have went into war regardless to help their allies in Europe. This debate came from Franklin D. Roosevelt's inclination to want to go into war. FDR saw a need for American involvement as the Allies was slowly losing more and more ground to the Axis power. The possibility of a loss was made very evident with the fall of France to Germany. Although FDR was inclined towards helping the Allies, the American people were not aligned with this view. The American people were against going into war after their involvement in the first World War. The first World War gave Americans some common views. One of the common views of the people was that America does not need Allies because security is held up through the protection of the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. Their belief led to foreign affairs policy of isolationism. The policy of isolation and neutral stance in foreign affair came crashing down with the Imperial Army's attack on Pearl Harbor. The day of December 7th, 1941 is when America began its journey to the position it still holds in the world today‒ a superpower. A superpower is a country with a strong military, economy, and international political power. After the second World War, America had created the largest military force it has every had. World War II required
The United States of America has participated in over seven wars, and currently participating in three ongoing wars. Many of these wars have been fought overseas, one of the most widely protested wars, was that of the Vietnam war. During the Vietnam War, the United States military decided to not only fight from the ground but also in the clouds. With the Presidents command the United States Air Force created bombing campaigns over Southeast Asia hoping that it would help with defeating the guerilla fighters and cutting off supplies from those aiding them in the North. From what was the start and first appearance of the war for the United States, to those who made the decision, to the operations, and what they wanted to do to help in ending
The Spanish American War started in 1898 and lasted about four months. Although the war might have seemed focused on freeing Cuba from Spain and gaining independence for Cuba and the Philippines, it was actually stimulated by nationalism and commercialism. Commercialism was a major factor when declaring war because the United States depended on Cuba and the Philippines for trade and business with other countries, especially in Asia and Latin America. Another major factor for the war was that the United States wanted to spread its Anglo-Saxon culture around the world and emerge as a world-wide power. Other minor motives for the war include the United States coming to the aid of the Cubans in their revolt against Spain and the feeling that the United States had the right to go into the Philippines because it had a superior culture.
Later North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and entered South Korea. The United States responded by telling the United Nations to help South Korea. The United Nations did and they pushed North Korea so far back they hit the northern tip of China. China went into the war to protect its borders. At the end of the war, they went back to where they were in the beginning.
The United States has gone to war since 1898, in response to attacks made on America. These attacks that have caused the United States to enter war include violent aggressions and threats made on America and America’s ideologies like democracy. This theory of why America has gone to war can be seen in the Spanish American War, World War 1, World War 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the War on Afghanistan.