Germany was left indebted to the United States for the relief it received. Guinnane noted that prior to entering the war, governments guaranteed their citizens that allied parties will pay for the costs accumulated during the war (9). The assurance left Germany indebted to France and Italy given that they entered the war in alliance to the nation. Guinnane reported that end of World War II marked the end of the Nazi regime and reparations from Germany to the Jewish group for the cruelty inflicted by the movement (5). The Jewish group was regarded as a nation by the United States. Germany paid an amount of $ 500 million to German-Jews to appease the damage they endured. King stated that after the war, the Soviet Union showed preference to …show more content…
It was a diplomatic war expressive of conflicting ideological views and political mistrust. The separation of the post war allies meant that new alliances had to be formed with parties of interest. Aden stated that tension grew between the previously Allied powers when Soviet Union tried to spread Communism broader to Europe and Asia (62). Not only did the Communist movement undermine democracy but it was dedicated at spreading hate propaganda against the United States. According to Aden the Soviet hate propaganda allowed China and North Korea to declare a biological warfare against the U.S (62). The CIA was launched to counter the Soviet propaganda. Aden noted that the United States developed the Campaign of Truth and adapted a new form of new reporting shifting from “objective-sounding news and information to hard-hitting propaganda” (63). The use of cartoons was prominent depicting communist as bloodthirsty beings and the news sensationalized the American side. There were great attempts from both parties to covert propaganda. According to O’Brien the United States had the CIA while the Soviet Union relied on KGB (Komitet Gosudartrennoi Bezopasnoti) to advice on intelligence against the opposition (431). Aden stated that the CIA achieved discrediting the Soviets in Italy by distributing flyers promoting American Economic aid (66). These pamphlets worked in their favor and it was in the 1950s that the need for greater alliance grew.
The spread of
In 1914, Germany and Austria-Hungary allied against France, Britain, USA and Italy in World War 1. The war resulted in resentment towards the Germans. Woodrow Wilson, president of the United States, established a treaty that would bring everlasting peace. For the Germans however, the treaty served as a punishment, as they were required to accept the responsibility for causing all of the damage. Germany was angered by the treaty as they would have to pay for reparations and take responsibility for everything. Territorial losses, militarism, economic reparations and blame were all causes of World War II.
World War II was undoubtedly one of the most important parts of not only U.S. history, but world history as well. But do you know what contributed to the start of the war? The Treaty of Versailles was created to stop World War I, and any other future wars that could occur. So how did the Treaty of Versailles contribute to the start of World war II? The Treaty took away much of Germany’s land, gridlocked the German military, forced war reparations on the German government, and ordered them to accept responsibility for causing the war.
The irony he pointed out, was that American truly can not be as truly virtuous as we claim to be, if we are truly as innocent as we pretend to be (Niebuhr, Pg. 19). After World War II, both the US and the Soviet Union emerged as the world’s two “superpowers” which would lead them into a fierce competition for political control over Europe and their resources. During the Cold War in the 1950s, the United States and the Soviet Union were involved in many covert conflicts that eventually shaped foreign policy during this war. Because decolonization was becoming popular in the 1950’s and 60’s, the US and Soviet Union directly competed for influence in many third world countries, such as in Guatemala, Iran, and Indochina. The US government use of the CIA to disrupt many governments with ties to communists in the 50s was their primary tactic in an aim to support the allied countries. With conflicts going over ideological territories, both countries undermined their own political ideologies in order to undermine their each
Since Germany was defeated in World War I, the victorious Allies enforced harsh provisions on the country. Article 51 in the Treaty Of Versailles (Document 2) demands that Germany give their territories back to France, and document 1 showed a map of this. It also displayed the countries that occupied territory owned by the USSR. These countries include Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. This made the two countries angry. Germany was blamed for the war and was charged an incredible amount of money. In document 3, Hitler stated, “The German people after twenty-five or thirty years, in consequence of the fact that it will never be able to pay for all that is demanded of it, will have so gigantic of a sum still owing that practically it will be
During the Cold War, the Soviets were trying to spread communism throughout Europe and Asia by exalting its achievements, and undermining democracy. Part of their approach was by launching ‘Hate-America’ propaganda. “As the Cold War intensified, the Truman administration launched an aggressive “Campaign of Truth” […] to counter the Soviet Union propaganda machine (Ubah, 2012).” The Campaign of Truth was created to help convince the world that the United States has “no purpose of going to war, except in the defense of freedom. (Vaccaro, 1950)” Truman encouraged the media to show the world that the United States was ‘wholly dedicated to the cause of peace (Vaccaro,
Propaganda used to induce terror included posters, political statements, and comics. One such comic was Is This Tomorrow?, a popular dramatization of the Soviets and of communism(Document 7). By depicting the Soviets in such a violent, authoritarian light, it spread anti-communist feeling among Americans, and attempted to prevent any Soviet sympathizers. In the Soviet Union, a secret speech made by Nikita Khrushchev to the closed session of the Twentieth Party of Congress denounces capitalism and fights against the anti-communist campaign(Document 6). The Secret Speech was a counter to recently made anti-communist organizations, and reinforced the Soviet Union’s own ideals, while countering the US’s arguments for capitalism. Through the use of past faults and militaristic policies, Khrushchev argues that the US’s attempts at peace were false, and only a front for their true intentions. This effectively promoted terror and anti-capitalist feeling among Soviet Congress. It gave strong reasoning to fight back against Americans, as it instilled fears of a capitalist overtake, and the need for preservation of the
President Eisenhower called for the intervention in Asia to stop the domino effect of communism from spreading, even though Asia had "lost some 450 million of its peoples to the Communist dictatorship"(doc 4) as to protect the American economy (capitalism) and to avoid communism from spreading to the U.S.. The President showed that not only was the U.S. economy prepared for war, but the political leaders were ready to use the empowered army, brought on by the military-industrial complex, to fight a foreign war such as the Korean War. Conflict in the United States arose based on "hostility toward… specific nations, races, and religious groups"(Doc 2), and while the U.S. was helping it's foreign capitalist allies with it's mobilized economy, fears of communism influencing America created a large witch hunt. In court, citizens who loved the united states could be accused of being "a member of the communist party"(doc 3) which could end their careers and lives, however the mobilized industry being used to fight communism had to be clear of Communist Infiltration. The need for foreign intervention to contain and fight communism as well as domestic scares from communist influence and attacks led to the mobilization of the United States economy to fight any war and protect against any foreign influence.
In reference to the foreign policy, in the mid-20th century after World War II, United States was in Cold War with Soviet Union. The United States referred as the Capitalist West and the Soviet referred as the Communist East. The two power nations clashed in many ways. Thus, Soviet accused America’s atomic bomb as leverage to control the Soviet and the world. These differences made each nation distrust each other. President Truman then, feared that the Soviet will continue its expansion, had the Congress passed the National Security Act of 1947. It gave the President increased power, where to conduct foreign policy. The Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency was created, both agencies collaborated on the monitoring
By the end of the war, the need for uniting to overthrow Japan and Germany had ended. After World War II, the United States began having an unsettling partnership with the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was an alliance that was necessary to defeat the Axis powers: Germany, Japan, and Italy. The United States believed the Soviets wanted to have dominance in the world, but the Soviets thought the same of the U.S. If Communism spread across the world, the U.S. was afraid that they would lose their freedom and democracy after giving up so much to keep it during World War II. They wanted to make the Nazi Germany into a tradable, capitalist democracy. The Soviets wanted to destroy Germany and create more communist s on the west border to avoid being vulnerable to an attack. The U.S. government felt threatened by the expansion of communism from the Soviets to Eastern Europe, which had spread to China, Korea, Vietnam, and China. As communism began to rapidly spread, the Soviets went to extreme measures to scare their rival. David Ropeik (June 25, 2012), an author and an instructor at Harvard, explains in his writing, The Historical Roots, and Impacts, of our Nuclear Fear, that in August 1945, Americans sent bombs to destroy the Japanese towns of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This not only killed hundreds of people, but also created extreme fear during World War II. Americans soon began to pursue the communists
World War II plays a very important part in the history of the world. It still has effects that we deal with today. So, what events could have possibly started such a monumental world war? Well, the events are: World War I, Great Depression, expansion of imperialism, Versailles Treaty, and the rise of Germany. This was a dangerous chain reaction of events that lead to the devastating effects of the war.
From the very early stages of the Cold War, the United States (U.S.) government realized that in order to run a successful propaganda against the Soviet Union, the information must be as credible as possible. President Harry Truman “called for a Campaign of Truth to counteract the Soviet Union’s “big lie”” . I argue that credibility was one of the key elements that enabled the U.S. to become the dominate Cold War super power. For instance, Radio Free Europe (RFE) and Radio Liberty (RL), radio stations that broadcasted outside the U.S., agreed that “if their message was to have any effect, it had to be fact based, balanced, and credible to an often skeptical audience” . In its effort to be credible, RL was criticized of being
4) How would you describe the sudden influx of United States propaganda during the Cold War?
Propaganda played a major role in the Cold War. In a 1947 comic book, the idea of the future was depicted as, “Communists infiltrate nearly every aspect of America, including subverting the Speaker of the House, before assassinating both the President and Vice-President...” (Document 7 caption) while showing chaos and crisis under communist rule. The cover of the book shows a frantic disarray of people screaming and a burning American flag, implying the damage Soviet Union will bring. The comic book sent a message to Americans that communism will bring horror, murder, and utter chaos to the US if allowed to spread and take over
The second World War can be considered “Hitler`s war” due to Adolf Hitlers responsibility and actions that caused the war. He had an enormous impact and role on many events such as secretly increasing the size fo the army,which made World War 2 possible. On the other hand, the failure of the League of Nations and defects in the Treaty of Versailles also triggered the outbreak of the war. It gave Hitler many oppurtunities to support his ambitions and policies. Hitlers Plan that could only be followed through with the help of mistakes such as the appeasement. It can also be argued that it was rather Germany than Hitler`s war as their reaction to World War 1.Many factors affected the outbreak
The First World War was not caused singularly by Germany and Austria-Hungary as the treaty of Versailles has set out. Germany is greatly responsible for much of the tension of the world situation in 1914, resulting from its aggressive policy of Weltpolitik, its attempts to have a superior navy, the Kaiser's personal poorly said remarks, and its attempts to break up the Triple Entente. However Germany was not solely responsible for the tension, many other events had occurred outside Germany's control, which had the same effect. Germany was also largely responsible for allowing the conflict in the Balkans to escalate into a major European conflict, by giving Austria-Hungary free reign, though it was not their intent. However Germany should