20th Century the United States,

¶ … 20th Century

The United States, which began the 20th Century in relatively quiet self-involvement, expanded its role in the world throughout that Century. Notably commencing during the pivotal decades of 1900-1920, America turned its attention to the world stage. Through official actions of the United States and internal/external forces, the United States developed into the restless giant that would dominate the globe in the late 20th Century.

The First Two Decades Were Pivotal in the 20th Century

The first two decades of the 20th Century were pivotal for the United States. During those decades, America underwent revolutionary developments at home and abroad. The Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, for example, helped create an aggressive stance to foreign policy beginning in the early 20th Century but maintained and developed by America for the balance of that Century and beyond. In 1904, Roosevelt's proposed Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine was the United States' first officially aggressive stance as policeman of the western hemisphere.[footnoteRef:1] the effects of this Corollary marked an official change in U.S. attitude about the globe and our Country's position in it. In addition, the World War I years saw considerable political interplay, orientations and motivations within the United States and on the world stage. The United States contributed greatly to the Allied victory in World War I through: the use of convoys in league with the British[footnoteRef:2]; financial assistance[footnoteRef:3], with its attendant negotiations, mistrust and tensions; and, of course, militarily.[footnoteRef:4] Meanwhile, America's home front was occupied with chronic problems of union struggles, class struggles, agricultural overproduction and xenophobia.[footnoteRef:5] as these few examples illustrate, during the first two decades of the 20th Century, the United States emerged as a significant world power. [1: John Milton Cooper, Jr. Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900-1920. New York, NY W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1990, p. 50.] [2: Ibid., pp. 275-6.] [3: Ibid., p. 276.] [4: Ibid.] [5: Ibid., pp. 302, 306.]

b. America was a Restless Giant by the End of the 20th Century

By the conclusion of the 20th Century, the United States was a restless giant. The 20th Century began relatively quietly for the United States. However, through its dramatic entrance on the world stage, a series of wars and a slew of technological and military developments, all occurring in the 20th Century, America was transformed. President Roosevelt's Corollary, introduced in 1904, marked America's emergence as a world policeman.[footnoteRef:6] in World War I, America greatly contributed to Allied victory and saw marked advancements in technology and the military, followed by an economic boom and bust.[footnoteRef:7] in World War II, America again greatly contributed to Allied victory with even more striking technological and military advancements, followed by an economic boom.[footnoteRef:8] the ensuing, ongoing Cold War consumed considerable American resources and attentions.[footnoteRef:9] the Korean War and Vietnamese War significantly involved the United States in an ongoing struggle against Communism in the Far East[footnoteRef:10], while the Gulf War significantly involved the United States in an ongoing struggle against conflicting ideologies in the Middle East.[footnoteRef:11] America's emergence on the world stage, commencing in the earliest years of the 20th Century, created such an expanded and involved role for the United States that by the end of that Century, its duties and rights spanned the globe and were constantly tested. [6: Ibid., p. 50.] [7: Ibid., pp. 138-140.] [8: Alonzo Hamby. Liberalism and Its Challengers: From F.D.R. To Bush. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1992, pp. 17-23.] [9: Ibid., pp. 52, 94.] [10: Ibid., pp. 94-8.] [11: James T. Patterson. Restless Giant: The United States from Watergate to Bush v. Gore. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp. 201, 232.]