The War Of The Great War

Prior to the First World War, the USA was a flourishing power in terms of having one of the largest economies and military strength, however America had few foreign policy ambitions during this period. Despite purchasing Alaska from Russia in 1867, there was no real interest in expanding America. Before The Great War, it seemed unlikely that America would become involved in war over the conflicts of other western powers. They considered themselves a ‘City on the Hill’, an example to the rest of the world of stability and democracy. The large Navy ensured security of the North American continent and the small professional army, points to the overwhelmingly defensive front they put on. Washington adopted an isolationist policy with regards

Swimming against a current of pro-war fervor, McKinley stuck to his guns and persisted on remaining diplomatic with the investigation of the Maine explosion still ongoing. This seemed to infuriate the entire nation. Jingoists in congress, yellow journalists and the American public were clamoring for Spanish blood after the Maine, and to them McKinley came across as a feeble leader. McKinley offered one last chance for Spain to avoid war by agreeing to an armistice. He thought that the Spanish would understand that it would be a foolish decision to engage in war with a rising US power. The negative Spanish response did not leave McKinley with many options.

The Great War, or World War I as it came to be known, dealt a devastating blow to the optimism and self-confidence of Western civilization (Foner 733). In fact, when war occurred in the year 1914, President Wilson proclaimed American neutrality. However, as in the years leading up to the War of 1812, naval warfare which was in Europe made its way into the United States (Foner 734). In addition to this, Britain declared a naval blockade of Germany and started to stop American merchant vessels (Foner 734). Moreover, Germany made the decision to commence submarine warfare on ships seen entering and leaving British ports. What is more, is that in May of 1915, the British liner Lusitania (which was transporting an excessive amount of weapons such as firearms) was sank by a German submarine off of the coast of Ireland, this resulted in the death of 1,198 passengers, 124 of which were Americans (Foner 734).

The armies of the United States of America varied greatly from the beginning of America 's independence in 1775 to the end of the War of 1812 in 1815. Different presidents holding office during this period brought different political views towards managing the army. These views affected the size and capability of the army in war and peace, with varying effectiveness. Effective in this case refers to the ability of the army to perform tasks given to them by the government. Opinions differing from the actions performed by the government provide insight into alternative ideas for the military, which had varying degrees of viability.

It is fair to refer to the United States as the stray seed of Great Britain’s Earlier Empire, yet even with this relationship their executive leaderships and institutions are vastly different. Like an abused child, the United States vowed to, and successfully created a system of governing completely different from the monarch they were previously ruled under, giving birth to a presidential system that would become the leading example of political democracy.

With Chester at the helm of the train they had made great time from Washington D.C. to Quantico. People came out from all areas along the tracks to see this huge massive monster moving down the railroad tracks. The one thing they all noticed immediately was the Stars and Strips flying high over the train as it moved at a moderate speed down the tracks. People saw Soldiers manning the several turrets that lined the locomotive and its cars; it was surely a sight to see. The Soldiers threw out flyers to people as they passed them. The flyers expressed that within the next few months’ regular railroad service would begin again between their location and various stops along the way to Washington D.C., it gave people hope.

On May 31, 1993 the 42nd President of The United States, Bill Clinton, stood before a crowd of just about 4000 onlookers and millions more viewing from home. For those in attendance, and around the country, this was a extraordinary day. Memorial Day brings out many emotions for millions of people every year, emotions such as pride, fear, anger, sadness or anxiety. Memories of loved ones gone, a parent one may not have met because he was killed in battle while they were yet to be born, a fellow brother or sister of the United States Armed Services who they spent many years beside: training, sleeping outdoors, consoling forming a strong bond as if they were family, and possibly the most horrible event one could ever witness, watching their fellow solider die in battle defending the freedoms and rights of Americans and humanity around the world. To be more specific the Vietnam War. This war is the cause why when President Clinton sauntered to the podium to address the crowd, after being introduced by the well-respected Joint Chiefs of Staff General Colin Powell, there was no doubt that participants of the gathering did not agree he was the appropriate individual to give this speech, regardless of his stature as The President of The United States of America. In fact, many were disrespected, hostile and irritated with him and presented no fear in communicating their disapproval publicly.

Soon the Confederate States of America became a rebellion called the Confederacy that included 13 southern states. President Lincoln would not stand for this as his special message to congress on July 4, 1861 stated, “It was with the deepest regret that the Executive found the duty of employing the war-power, in defense of the government, forced upon him.” (Harris 2007) South Carolina firing on Fort Sumter was the opening salvo of the Civil War. Both the North and South believed in their causes, and both sides thought the war would be over after a few months. Both sides were wrong. Bloody battles such as, Antietam, Bull Run, and Shiloh made it clear that this war would drag on for a long time. The Union of the north was particularly frustrated by their inabi

It had only been a year since the man had pulled out his hidden stash, during a fit of desperation, which consisted of purely cash and gold his parents had rightfully given him, as said in their wills (and mind you, it was quite a large amount). Yet, he had already used the large amount of money, down to every single penny, for such shameless things such as drugs.

In June 1775, Congress ordered General George Washington to take command of the Continental Army besieging the British in Boston. Despite having little practical experience in managing large, conventional armies, Washington proved to be a capable and resilient leader of the American military forces during the war. While he lost more battles than he won, George Washington employed a winning strategy that included signal victories at the Battle of Trenton in 1776 and Yorktown in 1781 . Washington’s greatest wartime legacy was his decision to surrender his commission to Congress, affirming the principle of civilian control of the military in the new United States.The revolutionary war was a result of the conflicts between the original

The year was 1898, and America had just finished fighting Spain in Cuba and the Philippines. Spain had been in control of the islands, but when they islands wanted their independence America volunteered to help. America promoted the islands fighting back, and were encouraging the revolution against Spain. Little did these nations know that once Spain had lost, America got signed over everything in the Treaty of Paris, and they did not plan to let these premiere locations go without another fight. We wanted the Philippines for three main reasons: missionaries wanted to spread Christianity and the word of God, we couldn 't leave them to govern themselves because they were unfit, as well as business leaders wanted a way to easily become immersed in the vast markets of China. So in February of 1899, America found themselves in another bloody war, known only as the Philippine-American War.

In April of 1861 the bloodiest war that America had ever been involved in broke out between the states in the North, the Union, and the South, the Confederate States of America. This war was costly for each side in terms of man power, will and finances. In order to counteract the financial drain that the war was putting on the Confederacy’s economy the treasury began producing sheets of bonds that could be bought by the public and then sold back to the Confederate government at the end of the war for certain percentage gain.

During the Great War, soldiers were plunged into a previously unexplored style of combat. Due to unwavering enemy and allied frontlines, soldiers dug into the landscape in order to better defend their positions. This is essentially how the four remaining years of the war were fought. Due to these stationary holdout positions and the use of new technology, such as long-range artillery, soldiers were subject to unceasing bombardment. As a result of these bombardments, military offensives, horrific scenes of death and other trench related experiences, soldiers and officers alike were psychologically traumatized. Soldiers who did not succumb to a mental breakdown had employed various coping mechanisms. This enabled them to effectively operate under extreme conditions for extended periods of time as well as to lessen the realities of war. These coping mechanisms include, but are not limited to, gallows humor, superstition, preoccupying activities such as drills and trench repair, and above all, adapting to trench warfare; learning new methods of both surviving and fighting in the trenches.

Before World War I, the economic system of many countries was at its pinnacle. As that continued, the gap between the rich, poor, and middle class just got bigger and bigger would cause major problems and contribute to the Great Depression. In the 1920s, the U.S. was not touched by the war, the United States had the opportunity to boom in agriculture and industry, and America succeeded. Many companies began to produce more materials than they could sell, because of the pay gap happening. The gap between the rich and poor caused people to not be able to afford materials being sold. Other countries like Germany and Austria could not afford the materials either due to all of their money going to the war at that time. Countries had to start taking loans from the United States, and the U.S. counted on these countries to pay the loans back to them. Eventually, they began bringing in and paying off the loan. However, the stock market in the U.S. caused prices of goods to increase a lot, so the stock market crashed on October 29th, 1929 . To continue, at the end of World War I the Treaty of Versailles was signed to end the chaotic war. This treaty was made by the Allied Powers to reassure and make sure Germany doesn’t go back to war with France, Great Britain, and the United States. The treaty also made Germany have financial obligations to the Allied Powers which put the country of Germany in their very own Great Depression which caused very unhealthy living conditions, homeless people, poverty, and etc. To conclude, WWI was a onset of the Great

Meanwhile, one of the most difficult issues with Vietnam was that the American public was against the war because it was not a just war; so, upon their return home soldiers were treated not with a hero’s welcome but with hate-filled shouts of “baby killer” (Newman 6). As a result, it was hard for a soldier to find peace with the acts of war he/she had committed, whether morally right or wrong, when the public viewed the war as totally meaningless. General Westmoreland makes the same observation, “I recognized that it was not the job of the military to defend American commitment and policy. Yet it was difficult to differentiate between pursuit of a military task and such related matters as public and congressional support and the morale of the fighting man, who must be convinced that he is risking death for a worthy cause. The military thus was caught in between” (Summers 29). Vietnam was also the first time television crews were allowed access to all aspects of war leading to the loss of innocence with a nation itself.