The American Wars of the 20th and 21st century
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rds all the belligerents that was to be maintained in both "thought and deed." The President steadfastly maintained his hope of a peaceful solution to the conflict despite the protestations of those (including former president Roosevelt) convinced that events in Europe would inevitably draw America into the war. In 1916, Wilson campaigned for reelection on a peace platform with the slogan "He kept us out of war. "in Europe altered Wilsons outlook. Germanys campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare, the loss of American lives on the high seas, the sinking of the Lusitania and other ships and the prospect that Germany would not change her policies compelled a reluctant Wilson to ask Congress for a declaration of war in April 1917. Things were not going well for the Allies at the time.russia erupted in revolution in March 1917 and would soon be out of the war altogether. Italy suffered a major defeat when the Austrians captured over 275,000 soldiers in the Battle of Caporetto forcing the British and French to divert troops from the Western Front to keep Italy in the war. The situation remained stagnate on the Western Front - and worse. Mutiny spread throughout the French Army raising the fear that her armed forces may collapse from within. In Britain, the German submarine campaign was so successful that predictions foresaw Britains collapse within a matter of months. [7]Allies looked to America for salvation with the expectation that the industrial strength of the United States would replenish the supply of war material necessary for victory. In most cases these expectations were unrealistic. For example, the US built no more than 800 airplanes prior to 1917, and yet the French premier called on the US to immediately produce 2,000 airplanes per month. Additionally, the Allies expected the United States to provide an unlimited supply of manpower they could absorb into their beleaguered divisions.selected General John J. Pershing (called "Black Jack" after he commanded the famous 10th cavalry in he 1890s) to head the American Expeditionary Force. Pershing left for Europe with a mandate from Wilson to cooperate with Allied forces under the following proviso - "that the forces of the United States are a separate and distinct component of the combined forces the identity of which must be preserved." In other words, there would be no wholesale melding of American soldiers into the British and French armies as the Allied commanders hoped. The United States would fight under its own flag and its own leadership. This proved to be a bone of contention among the Allies for the rest of the war.s buildup was slow - Pershing called for a million men, Congress replied it could muster 420,000 by spring 1918. The anticipated cornucopia of military supplies from America never materilaized. For the most part the doughboys fought with equipment supplied by the Allies (including the distinctive helmet provided by the British). American troops saw their first action in May 1918 in fighting alone the Marne River. In September, Pershing ordered an all-out attack in the Saint-Mihiel area of Eastern France. Casualties were high but the attack forced a German retreat that (combined with other Allied offensives along the Western Front) put the entire German army on the run. In early October, the Americans pushed through the Argonne Forest. The German High Command began to crack in the face of the persistent Allied onslaught. General Ludendorff was forced to resign and flee to Sweden, mutiny reared its ugly head among the Kaisers naval units, and the Kaiser himself abdicated on November 9. On November 11, Germany signed an armistice ending the war.had thrown almost 1.2 million Americans into the battle. Casualties numbered 117,000. With the war over, Americans wished to forget Europes troubles and return to "the good old days." Congress rejected Wilsons call for participation in the League of Nations. The nation turned inward again. This complacency remained unchallenged until Hitlers grab for European domination some 20 years later. [8]
4. America in the Second World War
For the second time in the 20th century, the United States became involved in a devastating world conflict. The mobilization effort of the government in World War II eclipsed even that of World War I. With major operations in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, American industries literally fueled two wars simultaneously.World War (often abbreviated as WWII or WW2), was a global war that was under way by 1939 and ended in 1945. It involved a vast majority of the worlds nations-including all of the great powers-eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, with more than 100 million people serving in military units. In a state of "total war", the major participants placed their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities at the service of the war effort, erasing the distinction between civilian and military resources. Marked by significant events involving the mass death of civilians, including the Holocaust and the only use of nuclear weapons in warfare, it resulted in 50 million to over 70 million fatalities. These deaths make the war the deadliest conflict in human historyevents began happening in Europe that would eventually lead to World War II, many Americans took an increasingly hard line towards getting involved. The events of World War I had fed into Americas natural desire to isolationism, and this was reflected by the passage of Neutrality Acts along with the general hands off approach to the events that unfolded on the world stage.number of historical misconceptions circulate about Americas role in the Second World War. They include the idea that America began helping Britain only when attacked herself, and that American aid to Britain before that date came in the teeth of pervasive hostility by the American public, stirred up by anti-British isolationists. The fact that America was brought fully into the war in December 1941 by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, with Germany declaring war four days later, has created the false impression that America was completely separated from the war before unprovoked Axis aggression reluctantly forced the US into the conflict. Before Pearl Harbour, America began to starve Japan of oil with an oil embargoimposed an enormous pressure on Japan which meant that, without huge territorial gains of oil-producing territory, Japan would run out of oil in one month. This embargo had been imposed in a large part in attempt to prevent the Japanese attacking oil-rich British territory in East Asia (what now includes Malaysia and Singapore) and also territories possessed by Britains ally Holland. Hitlers declaration of war was also the result of American help towards Britain and other alliesassistance included $14,281 in material aid in the form of Lend Lease prior to Pearl Harbour - $1,082 million going to Britain - and direct military action. President Roosevelt had given orders that any German ship found in the eastern Atlantic should be shot at on sight. This meant the United States had more or less entered the War of the Atlantic, the crucial battle between Britain and Germany for Britains key sea routes. Anticipating entering the conflict, the US army grew massively from 267,767 personnel in 1940 to 1,460,998 by mid-1941 - an increase of 446%.83% of Americans wanted Britain and France to win the war against Germany. In the same poll, taken at the beginning of the War in 1939, only 1% would admit to hoping for a German victory. It is of note that the proportion of Americans who did not express support for Britain - 17% - is very close to the percentage of the US population who were substantially of German origin, suggesting that even the dissenting minority was inspired as much by Teutonophilia as by Anglophobia. Initial opposition to American involvement stemmed from the experience of the First World War. [9]there had been a strong public consensus that aid to the Allies was unwise (with only 20% supporting this) and this was reflected in government policy. This reflected a massive interwar consensus against American involvement in all wars - and a belief that, as in the First World War, American aid risked dragging the United States into a huge war with disastrous results. The degree of general anti-war sentiment can be seen by the fact that in January 1939 only 43% of Americans wished to defend neighbouring Mexico and 27% Brazil from attack. Support for aid to Britain rose massively as the UK suffered devastating setbacks early in the war and after Norway, the Netherlands, Luxemburg, Belgium and France fell to the Nazis. In June 1940, American opinion was split two-to-one in favour of staying out of the war even if it meant Britain losing. But by November 1940 a majority was in favour of aiding Britain even at the risk of war. By the summer of 1941, half of Americans rejected any negotiation with Germany (with 38% in support). This response suggests that much of the initial lack of support for risking war was based on the view that the Allies could win without American help. The American public consistently believed by margins of 20% or more that there would be a British victory, even during some of Britains darkest moments in the war - with the exception of a few months in mid 1940 when public opinion was evenly divided. [10]of Americas political leadership wanted to aid Britain and her allie. Three days before the 1940 Presidential Election, the two main candidates declared: "Our policy is to give all possible material aid to the nations which still resist aggression across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (Roosevelt) and "All of us - Republica