Shifts in American foreign policy from World War I to World War II to the Cold War
Introduction
The shift in American policy is an overview of the major events and trends that happened in the USA from the great American Revolution to the present. The main themes have become an empire of liberty, promotion of democracy, and international expansion. Much of the shift in American foreign policy was primarily led by the desire for liberal internationalism, contesting World War I & II, and the cold war. Today, America is still expanding its foreign policy mainly through fighting terrorism, developing the third world, and developing a robust world economy. The foreign expansion policies happening in America today are, however, not vibrant than during the World War I, World War II and the cold war reason being that the last events involved bloodshed, creation of alliances as well as dire consequences to the American citizens. This paper will focus on how the USA was involved in WWI, WWII, and the cold war conflicts and analyze how the three major conflicts influenced change in America’s global position and the home front.
For three years, the United States walked held a neutrality tightrope as President Woodrow Wilson chose to keep the USA out of the bloodbath, destroying the European nations. Even when Germany declared submarine welfare putting the American sailors and soldiers at a deathbed, the USA remained aloof. However, the Zimmerman telegram that revealed Germany’s intentions of joining hands with Mexico to attack the USA took away America’s patience, and in 1917, the country set foot in the battlefield by declaring war on Germany. Entering the WWI in most of the American’s minds was about neutralizing Germany’s threat in the American’s soil (Textbook chapter 20 pg. 605). However, after the war, President Woodrow initiated a more expansive vision to reclaim the sins of war through the development of a novel new order, which created bitterness and controversy in the USA. Sending off men to die in World War I weighed down President Woodrow’s conscience reason enough why he proposed for the formation of a league of nations, an international body that was based on collective security as read in chapter 20 pg. 624-626 of the textbook. Joining the league of nations, however, meant that the United States had to sacrifice a good measure of its sovereignty. While Woodrow justified his actions, other people thought that the USA should be free to run its interest and not be accountable to any international body.
After the war in 1918, and the fading of the victory parades, the fight against the League of Nations turned sour. The total number of US soldiers’ death in WWI might not be accurately depicted, but roughly over 116,000 soldiers lost their lives in the war. The sense of victory was quickly forgotten, but then came the Great Depression, a direct impact of the war and another global crisis. As read in lecture module 9, the great depression crumbled the Americans’ economy and made most of the Americans’ lives bitter about reckoning. Another change that happened within America was the role of women in the economy. As men went into the battlefield, women took over jobs that were previously a preservative of men. As women worked more and received a better education, women’s civil rights movements arose, which led to the ratification of the USA constitution 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
The WWI caused a shift in America’s foreign policy, but WWII made even more shifts. The USA entry into WWII was influenced by the attack of their naval fleet at Pearl Harbor by Japan (textbook chapter 23, pg. 690-691). The following day, the USA and Britain declared war on Japan. The USA was the only country to emerge in strong economic and military shape, which positioned her in a great position to dictate the term of peace that followed. The USA was at the forefront in the establishment of the United Nations, which was formed to prevent the occurrence of another war. Also, the USA aided in the development of the Bretton Woods system, which was aimed at coordinating the global economy and prevent another Great Depression. USA involvement in WWII also led to the formation of its first non-wartime alliance, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to curb competition with the Soviet Union. The USA also grew its military and political presence across the world in efforts to curb the spread of communism, an ideology commonly held by the Soviet Union (lecture module 10).
The USA entry into WWII caused numerous changes in virtually every aspect of the Americans’ lives in the home front. Millions of American men were sent into war, which again led to the rise in the number of women holding non-military factory jobs (lecture module 9). By the turn of the mid-40s, the number of women working in the American workforce rose from 25 percent to 36 percent (Lecture module 9). By the end of WWII, America’s economy was far better than any other world economy. The booming industries meet the demands of the war subjected workers, which was inclusive of children to deplorable working conditions. The poor working conditions, which is a real sense, led to many industrial causalities than the military casualties of the war, which led to a cry for change in workplace safety and regulations. Industrial workers’ movement, which fought for better industrial workers’ pay and better working conditions were at the forefront of this campaign. Needless to say, over 300,000 American soldiers lost their lives in WWII, but their bravery and commitment to the war made the USA a superpower.
As read in chapter 24 of the textbook, the cold war that emerged after WWII in 1947 and lasted until 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union was not a military war. The weapons of the cold war were propaganda, arms race, and constant spread of fears. The war was an ideological confrontation between the United and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies (Lecture module 10). The cold war defined the main contours of the USA foreign policy expansion. Both fronts backed dictators, launched coups, supported rebellions, and took part in proxy wars across the world. The USA and the Soviet Union built up alliances and strong militaries that allowed both fronts to expand their foreign influences. Ronald Reagan ran for the presidency in 1971 and promised to defeat the Soviet Union, which happened afterward. The disintegration of the Soviet Union and its allies in the 1980s left the USA with a vast foreign architecture of military and diplomatic power, which was all of a sudden unchallenged.
As the USA fought the Soviet Union in a political battle on the global front, a similar war was taking place in the home front. The end of WWII led to a spread of communism fears in the United States. Americans became suspicious and fearful of anyone associated with the Soviet Union with the concerns that the communists and their sympathizers might be spies growing every day. These growing fears were known as the “Red scare,” as read in chapter 24 of the textbook pgs. 741-743. The American government took turns in trying to curb the Americans’ fears by ordering all government officials to take a loyalty pledge to the American government. The US government also took action to remove the communists among the American people.