The Second World War I

The First World War fought from 1914 to 1918 was one of the largest and most brutal catastrophes fought in the 20th century. With nearly the entire European continent fighting a barbaric and everlasting war, the U.S. had eventually to get involved in order to reinitiate stability to Europe. Ultimately, the U.S. taking involvement in World War I had a profound political, economic, and social impact on the country. It increased government powers and solidified the nation’s leadership role in foreign politics. The U.S. emerged as the world 's greatest industrial power with increasing financial opportunities for minorities. At the same time anti-immigrant and anti- communist sentiments arose among many American citizens. And finally the war contributed to the massive migration of African Americans from the Southern to Northern states looking for employment and freedom and, first time allowed women to participate in jobs that were traditionally reserved for men.

The first world war was one of the most brutal and remorseless events in history; ‘the global conflict that defined a century’. Over nine million soldiers and a large amount of innocent civilians lost their lives. Empires crumbled, revolution engulfed Russia and America rose to become a dominant world power. Huge armies deployed new weapons of devastating effect from rifles and pistols to torpedoes and flame throwers. These weapons were used not only in the trenches but by tanks too. This was an advantage to those who were able to access such machinery as they could easily launch bullets and missiles at nearby enemy bases. The downfall of the tank was the fact it was unable to cross the trenches. Tanks were not the only pieces of equipment that could access this machinery but U boats and planes too. The British carried ‘bolt action rifles’ in which fired 15 rounds per minute at a minimum range of 1,400 metres away. This allowed the British to take out foes at a far greater range. By using machinery in which rules out the need for getting up close to the enemy was a great advantage during world war one. Soldiers ran from trench to trench attacking with all that they had. This resulted in a massacre as the soldiers running toward the trenches were shot down. Machinery such as machine guns and heavy artillery were the weapons used in the trenches. In modern day society, machine guns are the main weapons used by soldiers. This wasn’t the case around the 1914s. They took four

Looking back in history, the Franco-Prussian War (1870) completely changed the balance of power in Europe and strengthened Germany’s position as the leading continental power. The annexation of Alsace-Lorraine never healed the wounds in France, and poisoned the relations between the two countries down to 1914. European politics from the 1880s was dominated by a dense web of alliances and treaties, which aimed to consolidate Germany’s position in Europe. However, Bismarck’s international relations were only successful in the short-term and in the long-term they were plagued by insecurity and mistrust. As one alliance developed, it aroused the distrust of those states excluded from it, which then created counter-alliances (Joll 1990).

World War II was the most destructive and deadliest war in history. There were about eleven million people killed just in the holocaust. World War II started on September 1st, 1939 after Germany invaded Poland. Three days later Britain and France declared war on Germany, at the time the U.S. was neutral. Through 1941, germany controlled most of Europe and was a very big threat.

World War I (WWI) had many main events from 1914 – 1918. It was known as the Great War and the war to end all wars. It also introduced us to many new technology to including Barbed wire, machine guns, artillery, poison gas, airships, aircraft 's, new naval vessels and tanks. All these wartime machines and equipment resulted in unprecedented carnage and destruction, with more than 9 million soldiers killed by the end of the war. This First World War or the Great War, was a global war centered in Europe. This global conflict pitted 2 groups against each other “The Allied Powers” and “The Central Powers”. The Allied Powers was made up of Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy and The United States. Important people that were known for the Allied Powers were Herbert Henry Asquith, Prime Minister (UK), Woodrow Wilson (U.S. President), Aristide Briand, Prime Minister (France), and Prime Minister (France). The Central Powers was made up of Germany, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Important people that were known for the Central Powers were Prince Max Von Baden, Chancellor (Germany), Heinrich Von Clam-Martinic, and Prime Minister (Austria).

Promptly after the First World War had ended there were many debates about who or what caused the war. Historians such as Fritz Fischer argued that Germany was the to blame for the entirety of the war but there have been many more ideas of what was the cause of the war and therefore causing peace to fail. The main ideas amongst historians for the underlying causes of the war are the different balance in power due the formation of alliances, imperialism, militarism and also the July Crisis of 1914. This essay will argue that the alliances were the main cause of peace failing as with the constant conflict of interests and increasing tension it made it almost impossible to create peace in Europe in 1914.

Following World War I, America turned inward and began to focus on itself. Yet, coming home from war Americans were also fearful of communism due to the recent Bolshevik Revolution where Lenin and the Bolshevik party gained control of Russia and made it communist. This scare led to drastic changes within our nation’s borders as America fought to keep communist influence out of its borders. This was such an impactful event that even the Attorney General of the time, A. Mitchell Palmer, set up a section in the Justice Department to handle issues relating to radicals, this sect of the Justice Department would be very active as, “More than ten thousand people were arrested—some for membership in Communist or left-wing groups, others on no greater pretext than that they looked or sounded foreign—and then jailed and interrogated with little regard for their right to due process” (Lehman, Phelps 260). This severe response to the scare of Communism demonstrates an inward focusing of America. Similarly, in the post-World War I time period America would demonstrate its interest in nativism which it would demonstrate through multiple acts being passed on immigration primarily, the Immigration Act of 1924. During this period of nativism, “Through the whole movement, from 1921 on, for more drastic curbs on the new immigration ran an increasingly assertive racial nativism” (Higham 313). That is America had

World War I (WWI) brought unprecedented change to the world. Never before had the entire world engaged in such brutal conflict. World War I brought about great pain and sorrow for the whole world. Even countries who were not directly involved in front line combat bore the suffering of financial and social limitations that affected the entire world during this time.

A state of isolationism was a goal too great for America to handle. America and its leaders had sought to stay out of both World War I and World War II only to be pulled in by intense happenings that inflicted chaos on the nations people. World War II would be a time in American history that would bring many fresh war tactics and developments, that helped to pull a depraved nation from the depths of a depression as well as pledge the freedom and prosperity of its opposing nations. Dangerous discoveries will be made in the world would be left to be governed by two world powers.

During the 20th century, devastating events prevailed over the encouraging ones. Two World Wars appeared during the 1900s: World War I and World War II. Many countries lost soldiers over the course of both wars. During the First World War, America originally decided to remain neutral. American ships had to cease trading with Germany due to a naval blockade by Britain. This effect did not stop Woodrow Wilson from exchanging products with European countries. Wilson trading with Britain and France angered Germany and forced America into war. This war that America was forced into caused roughly 100,000 deaths, and World War II, alone, led to nearly 500,000 deaths. However, the citizens elected one president who beneficially changed American

Helga Arthur was born January 16,1943 right in the middle of the second World War II in Berlin Germany. When I was interviewing Helga she discussed how her parents were originally from Estonia and had lost everything which lead them to fled to Germany. But then Germany became unsafe when her father hear the communist were moving in and that there was the potential for Germany to be divided between the U.S , Britain and Russian. So Helga’s father got them forged german red cross papers and they escaped in the middle of the night through farm lands and keep going in the directions of where the Americans were. There was a tremendous amount of hunger along the way and the farmers that didn 't really want to help the people escaping the city because they did not want to get in trouble but Helga informed me that they could not say no to a hunger child so her parents and her got sheltering along their journey. After a perilous trip they mange to get themselves to Hesse Germany where there was a big American base. Helga mentioned at this time that her parents were both university educated and spoke multiple languages which was very good because her father ended up going to work for the American army and they hired him because he spoke English, Russian, Estonian, German, and a little bit of French which allowed him to support his family. The American soldiers were also extremely good to Helga’s family in terms of her father was able to bring home extra food at night which

World War II spanned over 5 years, 1939 to 1945. WWII was the largest spread war, including 100 million people located in almost 30 different countries. World War II was a very brutal war, many bombings took place, Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing 129,000 alone. The Holocaust also carried very high death tolls in Europe. WWII was the most violent and deadly war in world history with an estimated total 45 million to 80 million

Throughout history the United States has been involved in many different wars. Their involvement has brought forth many significant events and changes that have affected the American way of life. I will briefly discuss the events and the United States involvement in World War I and World War II. I will give a brief overview of both wars and explain exactly how and why the United States joined in each.

"The era of anxiety and economic depression was also a time of growing strength for political dictatorship. Popularity elected governments and basic civil liberties declined drastically in Europe"(McKay 967). Most say the start of the second World War was due to the depression across the world. Others, like Monetarists, believe that the second World War was no accident. The worldwide depression left countries with dictatorship that seemed to be the wave of the future and therefore the start of World War II.

Lets return to the earth shattering occasions from 1939 to 1945 that reshaped the world. It may well be that this recognition will prompt rediscoveries and new gratefulness — the way the Bicentennial provoked prominent and scholarly rediscovery of American convention going back to the Revolution and the Constitution.