American History

The American experience of World War II forever changed America. The America that was on December 7, 1941 did not exist on August 8, 1945.

The United States was a completely changed nation after they entered the Second World War.  Before the war, the United States had been wary of the growing clouds of war in the 1930s.  Although they were very vocal about it and were endorsing and imposing sanctions against the Axis powers, most of the United States opted to maintain its isolationist stance which had been taken since the end of the First World War (Carnes and Garrary, 900).  The reason behind this was the United States back then no longer wanted to be involved in any foreign entanglements (in Europe) where they felt they had no business intervening since they had no vested interests there and not worth sacrificing their material and human resources, especially at the start of the Second World War in 1939.

Americas entry into the war transformed it completely.  Strangely enough, the poverty and unemployment caused by the Great Depression virtually disappeared as war production increased the demand for employment, misery and despair was replaced by patriotic zeal when Americans realized they were fighting a just cause though fighting wars might not be just at all.  By the time the war ended in victory for the Allied powers, the war gave America one valuable lesson (Carnes and Garraty, 911).  While they may not want to interfere in the business of other states, they realize that their status as a world power deny  them the luxury to be apathetic or indifferent to what goes on around them.  That their role as a world power made them the stabilizers of the world whenever it is needed.

List and discuss the American reaction to the Cold War and the Atomic Age.
When the Second World War ended, everyone thought everything will be back to normal just like what it was when the First World War ended.  What most did not realize was that newer tensions emerged as the former wartime allies, the United States and the Soviet Union.  Both sides were suspicious of one another.  The Soviet Union wanted to spread communist influence around the world, believing this is the future of the world.  The reaction of the United States and its allies was to try and contain communist expansion by creating new alliances such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to stop the advance of the Soviet Union westward.  Besides forming military alliances, economic assistance was given to the former wartime enemies, Germany and Japan.  By rehabilitating their economies, it prevents instability and unrest which the communists would take advantage.  As the economies of these two countries developed, communism could not gain a  foothold (Carnes and Garraty, 1065).

The Cold War as also the start of the Atomic Age as nuclear weapons were greatly developed and increasing, resulting in a nuclear arms race that would run for 40 years (Carnes and Garraty, 971).  The American public welcomed the Atomic Age with wariness and fear for should war break out, it would be different as mass destruction would ensue and it would be a war where no one would win.  While this was one aspect of the Atomic Age that made them wary, they welcomed the march of modernization in their lives as newer technology made life easy and convenient for them as society tried to maintain a semblance of normalcy in their lives while politicians and diplomats battle it out in the international arena.