How WWI and WWII Shaped the United States

Between both World War I and World War II was the virtual shaping of the world as we know it today. Not only on a materialistic level with radios, automobiles, airplanes and more, but also politically. A completely neutral country for many years not wanting to interfere in European affairs, the U.S. was influenced by many different situations throughout this time period which changed the lives of many. Fortunately for us, it helped shape our future as a country.

The United States used isolationism as a ways to keep expanding the country without having to interfere in World War I and remain neutral. The Germans changed that however sinking the Lusitania without warning(which their policy was to give warning allowing evacuation) killing one hundred twenty Americans. In 1916 the Sussex was also attacked and in turn still without declaring war president Wilson went into talks with the Germans to cease submarine warfare, which they did until 1917. As a conspiracy was set to influence Mexico and Japan to attack the United States the message was intercepted and by April 6th America had declared war.

As the end of World War I was winding down something far worse was surfacing. Spreading across the United States with a vengeance. 1918-1919 brought death to over six hundred thousand lives in the United States from the devastating influenza epidemic. Many believed that gases from the war into the air mixed with weather conditions was one of the major causes of the atrocity that was circling the globe. In the United States alone a quarter of the population was infected with the influenza flu. By the end of the epidemic, the death toll tallied between 20 to 40 million people around the world.

As politics between the United States, Britain and France were stagnate, due to Woodrow Wilson's efforts to form the Fourteen Points which was to create peace, and of course the "League of Nations" which would hinder any future wars from happening. Britain and France conspired in peace talks excluding president Wilson and the United States due to the lack of trust in Wilson. The first council for the L.O.N. was held in Paris in January of 1920 and it would be the last official participation by the United States. Although there was much left to discuss in the political world it was stagnate.

However, "The New Era" was an experience of steady growth and expansion throughout the country. A time of mass production led to more machinery in factories, faster production rates, higher wages, and basically a greater demand for consumer goods like radios, washing machines, and refrigerators. Even motion pictures were becoming the great source of entertainment which started out as 40 million tickets a week, and grew to as many as 100 million a week by 1929. Automobiles were a big success as well in the 1920s two million automobiles had been sold and by 1929 5.5 million were sold per year. This promoted acceleration in other industries such as steel, rubber, and petroleum.

However, the lack of proper distribution of wealth throughout the country would eventually create an unstable economy. Production overcompensated for what was actually being purchased throughout the country and problems began to rise. Many European countries were still trying to rebuild from World War I and the United States lent them more than one billion dollars by 1928 which when the U.S. was in need these countries could not possibly pay back there debts.

During the early months of 1929 the stock market was a craze with brokers offering credit to purchase shares. Before the beginning of summer, brokers loaned out approximately 8.5 billion dollars. Most were confident the the price drops in September were nothing more than a hiccup. Unfortunately, on October 21st, 1929 people were becoming fearful of the price drops, but because of the extensive volume the ticker fell behind and no one was able to tell how badly. Everyone was selling and by October 29th (Black Tuesday) everyone had lost confidence and continued to sell. This affected not only the Americans but surrounded exporters and the spiral effect of the Great Depression was in full swing. As production stopped by 1932 thirteen million people were unemployed.

Many believe the Great Depression ended once World War II began for the United States in 1941. However, it is still debated today that there is no substantial proof that the spending on the war actually contributed to the end of the depression. Many believe that it did in fact create more job opportunities for those unemployed and even paved the way for women working abundantly as men were over in the war. As there was no response to the slight depressions in 1907 and 1920, some felt doing nothing may have been the best answer. Others believe the end of the depression started with the "First 100 Days" of Franklin D. Roosevelt's term in office. Starting with the Emergency Banking Act which protected large banks from being closed down because of smaller ones.

By the end of 1933 the economy was believed to be on a steady uphill climb until Roosevelt's second term in 1937-1938. To quarantine the problem before it became any worse Roosevelt launched a program for spending which was set at five billion dollars. Which kept the economy afloat until the beginning of the war. Which the United States did not enter the war until the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7th, 1941.

The entering of the war is also another debate by some who believe that when Britain ran out of funds to purchase weapons from the United States it was the "Lend and Lease Act" allowing the U.S. to give weapons away for free to any country that began their assertion in the war. It could also be said that in June of 1941 when the United States occupied Iceland not far from the British combat zone that they were first entered into the war. All could be true but the reason the United States stayed isolated as long as they did is because the majority of the population felt that the war was not affecting them. Which was an afterthought was Pearl Harbor was attacked.

By the end of World War II twenty-one Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes and committing murder to over six million Jews during the span of the war. The Judgment at Nuremberg tried to go as far as convicting not only the ones on trial, but also the organizations that were associated with the defendants without having to try them based on a conspiracy theory. Unfortunately, the defendants did nothing more but blame each other and the fact that they feared for their lives if they disobeyed a direct order, caused many problems for Robert H. Jackson and the prosecution. Eventually all were convicted of war crimes and ten were hung in the courthouse gymnasium, one committed suicide and the other eleven were sentenced to time in prison.

Soon there after the Cold War began with the Yalta conference with Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. The leaders made many important decisions such as creating a new international peacemaking body (the United Nations) which would establish a charter made up of all nations, which also setup other governing bodies. Roosevelt died a couple months after the conference and Harry Truman stepped in as president. The fall of Germany in 1945 was split between the United States, Britain, Russia, and France. Although this was a time working towards peace the Cold War is considered by many as both a political, and military conflict between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. Although the two countries never went to war against each other, both would back opposite countries in other wars.

Dividing up Berlin was a conflict between the two major powers as Stalin believed that Germany should pay for their destruction and clear their debts. As Russia controlled the slow recovering East Berlin, Truman and the United States controlled West Berlin which was recovering in a timely fashion. Stalin felt this as a threat and in 1948 he blocked railroads, water sources, and roads, so the United States could not re-establish West Berlin. However as persistent as Truman was he airlifted supplies into the area for over a year until finally Stalin lifted the blockade.

To contain expansion of the Soviet Union the Truman Doctrine was released in 1947. The doctrine would support Turkey and Greece with military, and economic aid from the U.S.S.R. It was a way to control communism from spreading across European lands. Which included keeping communist groups out of governments. As Truman's Doctrine was for controlling communists, The Eisenhower Doctrine released ten years later was geared towards aiding in force on a more military ground for any country that opposed communism.

A country that was hesitant to join World War I, I believe prospered more than any other country afterward. As many were trying to rebuild, the United States was living the life of expansion at such a rapid pace it finally caught up with them by the end of the 1920s. However as the rise of politics in the U.S. grew and the depression subsided, it helped shape the country as we know it today and the dealings that we continue to make with other countries on every aspect of life.