History concepts and foundations

Franklin Delano Roosevelt came to lead the U.S. during a difficult period in the country's history. The Great Depression ruined many individuals in the U.S. And this influenced the authorities in expressing interest in strategies that it could use with the purpose of improving conditions in the country. Both FDR and the Congress acknowledged that adopting an isolationist policy was one of the most effective methods of satisfying people at home. Although it is difficult and almost impossible to demonstrate this, many historians believe that an earlier U.S. involvement in the Second World War would have prevented a great deal of suffering in Europe. Another theory relates to how FDR was aware that the U.S. could not avoid the conflict, but that he wanted to keep Americans out of the war for as long as he could.

The world was going through horrible moments during the early years of the Second World War. Individuals across the U.S. feared that the Axis powers would come to rule over Europe, Asia, and Eastern Asia, and that meant that the U.S. would be next on their list. Although there was much controversy in the U.S. during 1940, most people were hesitant about supporting an U.S.-led invasion in Europe. However, the moment when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor made it possible for individuals across the country to accept that war was the only solution.

One can easily claim that Pearl Harbor and the subsequent war declarations coming from Germany and Italy represented the turning point of the Second World War. This was a time when the U.S. could no longer attempt to detach itself from matters related to the war. It faced an imminent threat and it had to act rapidly. FDR eventually succeeded in presenting his people with the fact that war had begun and that isolationism was no longer an option.

There is much controversy concerning the Cold War and why it ended, as while some believe that it was the result of Mikhail Gorbachev who actually put an end to the war, others consider that the conflict's end resulted from a prolonged collaboration between the U.S. And Soviet Russia. In comparison to previous Russian leaders, Gorbachev expressed significant interest in new methods of thinking borrowed from the West. The perestroika and glasnost strategies proved to be particularly effective in bringing democracy to the country that once stood as a symbol for communism. The Russian president also focused on limiting the country's borders to a territory that it could actually control effectively, as previous borders made it especially difficult and expensive for the Soviet Union to control its ethnically-diverse population.