America Needs a Strong Military Industrial Complex Essay

Two years earlier, America’s military preparedness was not that of a nation expecting to go to war. In 1939, the United States Army ranked thirty-ninth in the world, possessing a cavalry force of fifty thousand and using horses to pull the artillery. Many Americans — still trying to recover from the decade-long ordeal of the Great Depression — were reluctant to participate in the conflict that was spreading throughout Europe and Asia. President Roosevelt did what he could to coax a reluctant nation to focus its economic might on military preparedness. If the American military wasn’t yet equal to the Germans or the Japanese, American workers could build ships and planes faster than the enemy could sink them or shoot them

In the wake of the World War II, America emerged as an industrial superpower. The surge of

The demand put on the American industry by the war machine was massive, with some ten million men at war and the rest of the male population at work. It was clear the only

“Now, as Japan and Germany invested in yesterday, FDR invested in tomorrow. He slashed his military planners’ dreams of a vast 35-million-man force by more than half. He shrunk the dollars available for the first and second dimensions and put his money on the third” (Bradley 97).

He acknowledges that the circumstances of WWII and the rise of communism was necessary for the US to invest in its defense, and as a result the US established a “permanent armament industry.”

The ‘sleeping giant’ had been awoken, and in America, a sense of fury now accompanied the mobilisation for war of the world’s most powerful economy (History.co Staff, 2015). The losses at Pearl Harbor would soon be more than made good, and used to take a terrible vengeance on Japan (History.co Staff, 2015). Japan failed to destroy America’s aircraft carriers, this soon became an error the nation would pay for (Bard, 2004, 133). The United States rallied their forces and prepared for war, all previous discussions against joining the war were forgotten. President Franklin D. Roosevelt prepared his nation for battle and announced, “We will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.” (Roosevelt, 1941). From that point forward, America's capacity to produce hundreds of thousands of tanks, airplanes, and ships for itself and its allies proved a crucial factor in Allied success (Taylor, 2001). Despite the carnage of Pearl Harbor, the United States involvement in war was initiated by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and without the U.S. World War II would have had a differing, negative outcome for the Allied

Bloodied, battered, tired, and wounded, American soldiers returned home from the long and arduous battles of World War II. Yet, they did so smiling because their nation had won. They returned to a nation unscathed by the war with a newly booming economy and leading technology. Following World War II, America had broken free from its decade of depression and launched itself into a position of world power. Being the only nation at the time with nuclear weaponry, the United States held considerable sway in the outcomes of the world, accepting a new role as the head of international politics. Prosperity, wealth, and advancements surged through the veins of the country at an exponential rate. Yet, without such a crucial turning point in United States

It was at this point that the United States had to consider the trade off between capital and consumer goods. Scarcity forced the United States to “reconfigure” its economy and Americans had to reconfigure their own “personal economies” (McGee). Data point C in Figure 1 shows where the United States chose to produce during the war. The production of consumer goods slowed and goods were rationed while the production of munitions increased. It would have been impossible for the country to produce the desired amount of capital goods while also increasing the amount of capital goods

“The key to the eventual victory of the Allied states lies here, in the remarkable revival of Soviet military and economic power” (Overy 19).

In order to raise enough supplies and soldiers for the military, political leaders were forced to use any source to make equipment for the army. The government's interference in business - one of the most important ways that regulated factories - due to the hardships of WWII, boosted the growth of the economy and impacted the society and workforce significantly. The US government made many changes to the economy which directly or indirectly impacted the society. In order to regulate the factories from large corporations in the nation, political leaders decided to sign beneficial contracts with the corporations.

military-industrial complex- Since there were so many American soldiers stationed around the world, the military became more powerful. Because of this it had many connections to scientific communities and corporations. These ties were known as the military industrial complex. It was very efficient and employed 3.5 million Americans by the 60’s.

By the summery of 1942 nearly all major industries and nearly 200,000 companies had converted to war production. FDR established the War Production Board to control the distribution of supplies and raw materials.The automobile industry stopped making cars and started to produce jeeps, military trucks, tanks, arms, mines, helmets, aircraft and various other types

The interwar period, or the period between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II was a unique insomuch as it was marked by the development of new technologies such as tanks, planes, submarines and aircraft carriers. However, this period was also defined by a growing disillusionment in a post war era where uncertainty discouraged involvement in global affairs and isolationism began to flourish. Additionally, many post World War I militaries found themselves confronting drastic military budgets reductions which hampered their abilities to make needed military investments, a condition that was only exacerbated by the onset of the Great Depression. Furthermore, institutional reforms were slow or non-existent within many militaries

During World War II American companies had to convert to create military goods (consumer good manufacture creating surgical instruments, car factories creating tanks and airplanes). Do to this conversions of companies, many Americans faced

The United States went from being the 36th largest military country before WWII to become the 1 military country in the world as well as the most technologically advanced military in the world. The start of WWII the U.S. had 334,473 troops as the years went on the troop numbers quadrupled in size to 12,209,238. When the war ended the U.S. had lost the least number of troops out of the major superpowers at 418,000 deaths compared to 10.7 million Soviet deaths, 5.5 million German deaths and 2.2 million Japanese deaths.(nationalww2museum.org 1) It wasn’t easy start for the newly formed U.S. army as they were sent to fight in Africa before they could fight in Western Europe. It wasn’t long for there to be success in the African campaign as the American and British drive Nazi-Germany out of Africa. The U.S. didn’t show it’s full might until the landing at D-Day where Britain and Canada joined them in the invasion of Nazi-Europe. Once they landed and successfully took the beaches of northern France the U.S. military push never looked back as General Dwight D Eisenhower once stated “I have full confidence in your courage, devotion to duty and skill in battle. We will accept nothing less than full victory.” (Margaret J. Goldstein