American history overview and key topics

American History

Europe was at war and the Nazi war machine was gradually occupying every major country, it seemed that there had been nothing to stand in their way. Millions of innocent had been dying on the eastern fronts as Stalin struggled to make a barrier to stop the Germans. Matters in the U.S. were not better, with the Japanese having attacked Pearl Harbor and also killed numerous innocent people. Just as the whole world felt like there was no hope for freedom to thrive, the U.S. had had to enter the war.

The governments from allied countries had all encouraged their people through massive propaganda that they should help in any way that they could in supporting the war against the Axis powers. In spite of wanting to create a bad image for the Axis powers, the Allies also presented their people with the idea that the Axis powers had been extremely intelligent and that they shouldn't have been underestimated. Anti-Axis powers propaganda had been constantly done during the period mainly with the help of the media.

In Europe, the war officially started in 1939, when Germany invaded Poland and let the rest of the world know that operations of major proportions would follow. In spite of the fact that WW2 is believed by many to have started in 1939, historians consider that it dates back in 1931 when Japan invaded the province of Manchuria.

Being considered one of the most important members from the Allied camp, the U.S. had coordinated most military operations during the war. Consequent to the Second World War, the U.S. had performed various controversial military operations around the globe. As a result, most people believed that the Americans took advantage of the slightest chance of performing warfare, even if they, as a nation, were not directly involved in the battle that they were leading.

There have been numerous accounts regarding the topic that the U.S. had intervened in World War Two because of the profits that they believed the war would bring. Initially, the U.S. has dropped the neutrality status with the intention of assisting the British and the French. Even if Roosevelt had wanted to bring American troops into the war, he couldn't have, because the U.S. had no feasible reason for doing so. The Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor did not do much damage to the U.S. And most of the plane pilots involved in the assault did not return to their home country. However, as a result of the events from Pearl Harbor and because Japan had been an ally of Germany, the U.S. now had a motive to bring its armies on the battle fields of Europe. Another reason for why the U.S. entered the war had been the numerous U-boat attacks on U.S. ships. The U-boats had been German submarines which had very advanced technology for the time.

It is not certain if the last wars led by the U.S. have or haven't had a reasonable reason. What is certain is that Europe had been oppressed by the Nazis during the period and entire nations were being put to their knees. The world needed help, and the U.S. had been among the only countries which could provide it. FDR's decision to enter the war had been a very good one, and the war led by the Allies had been a good war.

Little people from the time had been aware that Hitler had given the order for all "sub-humans" to be murdered. People have been dying in horrible conditions with most prisoners having lost all hope. The British could not do much to prevent the Nazis from spreading across the continent, and the French had already been conquered. In Russia, millions of Russians had been dying and the Nazis still remained undefeated.

Hitler did not think much of the Allies when they entered the war, as he considered that most of the forces coming to fight him had been inexperienced. Also, because of the impressive progress that his troops had experienced when fighting other countries, he considered Germany to be practically invincible.

The 6th of June, 1944, marked the beginning of the end for the Axis forces as the Allies were coming to save Europe. D-Day, as it was later called, was the day in which the Allies landed on the shores of Normandy.

Despite the fact that the Allies have done an outstanding job at fighting for freedom and for free people everywhere, there have also been several reports of Allied forces committing inhuman acts during World War Two. Tens of millions of people have lost their lives during WW2 and it is considered to be the last major war that mankind performed. The Allies are mainly praised for their success in putting an end to the horrors done by the Nazis.

Germany, Japan, and Italy, have all been impressive enemies, but the fact that they had been fighting people that valued freedom made it impossible for them to win. When claiming that WW2 has been a good war, people assume that it has been good in comparison to other wars led by the U.S. On foreign grounds. Consequent to WW2, the whole world appreciated the efforts done by the Allies for ending the war. The Allied advance made the fierce Nazi forces to retreat behind the front. Hitler's last offensive, the Battle of the Bulge, had been a desperate attempt made by a man that was not thinking straight. Even if the most powerful German forces had been involved in the event, they couldn't defeat the much more powerful Allied military.

After Germany's surrender and the fall of the Nazi regime everything seemed to have gotten back to normal with the world being at peace. However, matters between the two most powerful powers in the world, the U.S. And the Soviet Union, became tensed, with each country fearing that the other would launch a nuclear war. Also, the fact that the Soviets turned most eastern-European states into communist satellite states made the western countries want to stop the rapid spread of communism. Roosevelt felt betrayed when Stalin decided to have Soviet-friendly regimes in eastern-European countries.

At the coming of Harry S. Truman in the lead of the U.S. affairs had already been decided, with the new president having had anti-communist beliefs before the ending of WW2. Stalin's actions in eastern-Europe only made things worse, and, as a result, Truman has been the first American president to fight the Cold War.

Truman was known for being harsh when relating to anything associated with the Soviet Union and Stalin. The Soviets were no better when describing the policies led by the western states, as the media portrayed some western leaders as being similar to former Nazi leaders. Former British prime-minister, Winston Churchill, claimed that the situation had been on edge, with an invisible iron curtain now separating the west of Europe from the east.

Americans were boiling, and everyone feared that a far between the U.S. And the Soviet Union was imminent. The Soviets were blamed for every major action that communists did in eastern-Europe. The U.S. was doing all that was in its power to stop communism from advancing even further. Italy had been one of the countries where communists lost the elections because of anti-Soviet propaganda led by the Americans.

During the first years of tension between the U.S. And the Soviet Union, Americans largely under-estimated Russia and its abilities of creating nuclear weapons. Americans engaged in an anti-communist campaign around the world with the thought of preventing it from taking-over even more countries.

The Marshall plan had been initiated as a method of providing financial assistance to western-European countries that were threatened by communism. Truman and Stalin's conflict concentrated on Germany and its capital city. The Soviets blocked any kind of ground transport from entering into West Berlin. NATO had been later founded by the U.S. with the intention of providing assistance to all European countries vulnerable to communism.

Things seemed to ameliorate with president Dwight Eisenhower coming to lead the U.S. Stalin took advantage that Truman was no longer president and arranged a meeting between Soviet and NATO leaders. With time, several incidents took place around the world, as both the Soviets and the Americans struggled to enlarge their sphere of influence. The tension was felt on all continents with people supported by Soviets fighting against people supported by the Americans.

Americans started to be extremely cautious when concerning communism spies infiltrated among their own people. Because of the spy cases encountered at the time, and, because of the emerging cold war, Americans launched a large proportion anti-communism crusade against all people suspected of favoring the ideology.

Senator Joe McCarthy had been one of the strongest American anti-communism supporters. McCarthy accused tens of influential people in the U.S. To have been members of the Communist Party. He held a speech claiming that he knew several people from the State Department that have had connections to the Communist Party. His allegations have been considered to be true because of the fact that Americans had already been alarmed by the quick spread of Communism. Most of those accused by McCarthy to have been loyal to the Communist Party had been shortly dismissed from their jobs. Also, McCarthy became very popular as a result of his frequent speeches which were intended to shed more light concerning people favoring communism.

The era in which Americans were leading a national anti-communist crusade started to be known as "McCarthyism." In spite of his fame, McCarthy ended up to be one of the most hated U.S. senators.

"McCarthy's support came from people who had been shocked by revelations that former State Department official Alger Hiss was a Soviet spy, by the arrest of Soviet spy Klaus Fuchs, and by communist takeover of China in 1950." (Mccain)

Even if some anti-communists in the U.S. had had extremist beliefs, the whole nation had been devoted to fighting a large proportions war against communism.

The years following WW2 have been a very controversial period in human history. On the one hand, people were glad that the war had ended and that peace now roamed in the world. On the other hand, the U.S. government and the Soviet one had been making preparations for what was to be the Cold War.

Matters seemed to have gone back to normal with men returning to their ordinary jobs where they were normal again. However, not everybody wanted to return to normal, and some people felt obliged to do something in order to help their country in the fight against communism.

In Europe, people were having a hard time returning back to normal, as millions have died, and most people had to start their lives again from scratch. Holocaust survivors had to struggle with the traumas that they've just experienced. Most Americans knew that the waters were still troubled with the Soviet Union wanting to expand its sphere of influence across most of Europe.

The Cold War didn't affect American citizens, nor did it affect Soviet ones, as it was mostly a war of threats and words between the two countries. Both countries had had the power of performing nuclear warfare, and both feared that one would use the respective military power for unorthodox purposes. Generally speaking, the Americans wanted to control the Soviets, and the Soviets wanted to control the U.S.

The U.S. was seen as a savior and a do-gooder while the Soviet Union had been considered to be evil for the fact that it spread its communist ideology around the globe. The Cold War itself was considered to be an ideology and an example of good fighting evil. Churchill was one of the people that made the Cold War possible, as he held a speech in the U.S. stating that the Soviet Union posed a threat to the world. From there on, both the Soviets and the Americans had to attempt and reach an agreement concerning the division of Europe.

The Marshall plan came as proof that the U.S. had good intentions in what regarded the future of Europe. The Cold War had been seen by those favoring the western powers as a political fight between good and bad. By 1950 America's mission was to fight communism on all levels. Communism had been pictured around the U.S. As a disease spreading across the world and poisoning the minds of those that encountered it.

Anticommunists were becoming fanatical, by taking advantage of everything in order to show the world the danger that the Soviet Union posed. Just as Hitler described his plans in Mein Kampf, the Soviet leaders were believed to have referred to the conquering of the world with the help of communism. Soviet Russia was now compared to Nazi Germany, and people believed that they would soon witness another world war.

After having experienced the atrocities committed by WW2 on humankind, people started to reject differentiation made on the basis of skin color and ethnicity. The fact that the Allies have won the war made it possible for people to consider that they've won a war against racism, and, against the concept that there existed a race which was not equal to the others. The U.S. had had experience in the matter, as they've fought the Civil War, which was also a fight against the enemies of freedom.