America at war in the 20th century

WWI

The incident meant little to most Americans, but it would have great consequences for them as for much of the world. On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was shot and killed by a young Serbian nationalist at Sarajevo in the Austrian province of Bosnia. WWI was a result of leaders' aggression towards other countries which was supported by the rising nationalism and imperialism. Soon two camps emerged: Central powers with Germany and Austria-Hungary x Allies with Great Britain, Russia and France. Early they got engaged in an armed conflict that would soon engulf the rest of the Europe.

Preoccupied with domestic problems, most Americans saw no reason why they should be drawn into an overseas war they barely understood. Yet disruption of international trade threatened the US economy. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed America's neutrality, however, when ocean liner Lusitania was sunk by German submarine in 1915 it resulted in anti-German mood. Zimmermann Telegram was in 1917 a diplomatic proposal from the German Empire to Mexico to make war against the United States. However, the proposal was revealed, made Americans angry led to US declaration of war in April 6.But even before the Congress declared war, thousands of Americans had volunteered. With Selective Service Act all men between 21 and 30 years had to go to military service.

WWI ended on November 11th 1918 with Armistice and the defeat of Germany and Kaiser Wilhelm II abdication. Versailles Treaty was signed on May 1919 and also Paris Peace Conference took place from January to June, represented by David Lloyd George (GB Prime Minister), George Clemenceau (France) and Woodrow Wilson. Germany was stripped of its colonies, had to pay 5 billion dollars of reparations and was not permitted to new League of Nations formed in 1920 to ensure lasting peace.

However, Wilson did not agree with such reparations, insisted that United States was fighting not against German people but against their warlike leaders and presented his 14 Points: no more secret agreement, free navigation of all seas, an end to all economic barriers between countries , reduction of weapons. They were accepted but only with some compromises.

Between two wars

Dawes Plan was an attempt in 1924 to collect war reparations debt from Germany by banker Charles Dawes. Proved to be unsuccessful, it was replaced by the Young Plan in 1929 with reduced payments, schedule and an international loan. In 1928 Herbert Hoover, the first president of German ancestry, was elected. However, the Great Depression ruined it all and opened a path for Hitler and his National Socialist Party (Nazis) and his book Mein Kampf.

Refugees from Nazi Germany included Albert Einstein and Marlene Dietrich. In 1933 Adolf Hitler came to power, established gestapo (military police in long coats), SS for offence attacks and SA for defence but after the Night of Long Knives when some leaders were killed because there were creating wrong picture of new Germany (leader of SA was gay), SS became military force. In September 1938 Munich Treaty about us without us a great part of Czechoslovakia of Sudetenland was sacrificed to calm Hitler. Nevertheless, 1 September 1939 Hitler he attacked Poland anyway and WW2 began.

WW2

Already shaken by the experience of Great Depressions, most Americans refused to believe that the USA might become involved in another war. As the law still required, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt invoked the Neutrality Act but tried to persuade the Congress to assist Britain in its lonely fight against Hitler. In 1940 Germany, Japan (emperor Hirohito) and Italy (Benito Mussolini) signed Tripartite Pact and became known as Axis Powers. Allies were Great Britain (Winston Churchill) and France.

On June 1941 Hitler decided to invade Soviet Union so Roosevelt transferred the US Navy’s Pacific fleet base to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Before, Americans continued to sell large quantities of scrap metal, steel, cooper, oil, lead and machinery to the Japanese. Yet to address the growing Japan threat, Roosevelt imposed embargo on Japan. This reacted with a surprising assault on Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941. Next day the Congress declared war on Japan, thus the US finally entered the war.

In 1942 Germany attacked Russia by operation Barbarossa so Russia joined Allies. June 1942  American naval victory at Battle of Midway marks turning point in Pacific War, the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign where Japan lost naval superiority. On 6^th June 1943 D-Day (D = deliverance) Allies disembarked in Normandy under operation Overlord with supreme commander Dwight Eisenhower. On April 30th 1945 Hitler committed suicide.

Throughout the war, Allied leaders met constantly to plan strategy and conduct diplomacy. Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill met at Yalta Conference in February 1945 and made decisions about the multiple administration of Berlin, the partitioning of Germany and trials of war criminals. These decisions would be confirmed at the Potsdam Conference in July and August 1945 with Stalin, Clement Attlee (new British PM) and Harry S. Truman (new US President).

The European war ended but Japan was still struggling. However, the USA had its Manhattan Project – development of atomic bombs (first nuclear device ever detonated was at the Trinity test in New Mexico). By executive order of new President Harry S. Truman, the USA dropped the nuclear weapons on Hiroshima (Little Boy, August 6) and Nagasaki (Fat Man, August 9). 10^th August Japanese surrendered but their condition was they wanted to keep Hirohito as emperor.

Germany was divided into four parts – Soviet, British, American, French but later rather two parts – communist East lead by Russia and capitalist West. Nuremberg War Crimes Trials began. In 1948 the Marshall Plan puts Germany on a path to economic recovery.

Korean War (1950-1953)

During WW II the Allied powers had agreed that Korea, occupied by Japan, should be made independent. Although both the USA and Soviet Union favoured a united Korea, mutual suspicion and the unwillingness to accept unification under Communist or anti-Communist control led to the establishment of separate regimes. Korea wad divided into communist North (People´s Republic of Korea) supported by Soviet Union and capitalist South supported by USA, UK, France and Canada and ruled by USAMGIK (United States Army Military Government in Korea). With the partition, many Koreans were separated from their families.

On 25 June 1950 North Korean forces invaded South Korea, beginning a three-year war since Kim Il-sung wanted to unify Korea under his authority. Upon the border on 38th parallel, President Harry S. Truman ordered US forces to give South Korea support. The US forces pushed across the parallel and pressed on toward the Yalu River, the boundary between North Korea and China. Chinese threatened to intervene if American troops approached their border.

Being ignored, Chinese forces moved into Korea and inflicted heavy casualties on American and South Korean troops and pursued the fleeing armies back below the 38th parallel. The armistice on 27 July 1953 restored the pre-war division at the 38th parallel. The war did not solve anything, country is still divided. Ironically, both sides claimed victory. China showed that America is not undefeatable and USA “proved” that there’s no use fights against her. Crazy.

Vietnam War (1955-1975)

The longest war in American history and the most unpopular with demonstrations on college campuses since the horrors were filmed. Americans were divided into 2 groups: pro-war hawks and anti-war doves. Many Americans still wonder whether this war had any sense at all. Vietnam was former French colony and fought for independence. By Geneva Conference country was divided into two parts: North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) supported by Soviet Union and North Korea and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) supported by USA and South Korea.

North was led by Ho Chi Minh (who stole his speech of independence from Declaration of Independence and renamed city Saigon as Ho Chi Minh City), South with elected president Ngo Dinh Diem. President Dwight Eisenhower felt that the USA should help South Vietnam. However, South Vietnamese generals murdered President Diem and overthrew his government.

Viet Cong was an army in South Vietnam and Cambodia that fought against the USA. It had both guerrilla and regular army, as well as network that organised peasants. The Vietnam War was one of ambushes and sudden attacks. After an attack, the Viet Cong would melt away in jungle or hide between villagers. American soldiers grew frustrated and begun burning down villages suspected of sheltering Viet Cong soldiers. NAPALM and chemical weapons (Agent Orange) were used.

Tet Offensive in 1968 turned many Americans against the war as many cities were assaulted, including capital city Saigon = Saigon massacre. President Lyndon B. Johnson was bothered by saying: „LBJ, LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?“ As a result, the next president Richard Nixon presented Vietnamization = process of withdrawing American troops from Vietnam that began in 1969. However, his attempt to slow the North by sending American forces to destroy Communist supply bases in Cambodia in 1970 was a violation of Cambodian neutrality provoked antiwar protests.

Easter Offensive in 1972 was not meant to win the war but aimed to gain as much territory as the North could to improve its position at Paris Peace Accords in 1973. In 1975, South Vietnam surrendered to the North and Vietnam was reunited under the communist rule. As a political result, the Congress enacted the War Powers Act, requiring the president to receive explicit Congressional approval before sending American forces overseas.

The Gulf War (1990-1991)

Even if the Cold War was over, the Middle East was no closer to peace with Palestinians continuing to struggle for an autonomous state in territories occupied by Israel. On 2 August 2 1990, after a long unresolved border dispute, Iraq invaded and annexed the oil-rich Kuwait. Ironically, Iraq’s military capability had been partly financed by American government in an effort to moderate Saddam Hussein’s behaviour and improve relations with Iraq.

The United States along with its Western allies, denounced the invasion of Kuwait as a threat to regional stability and to a principal source of world’s oil. 41th President George Herbert Walker Bush dispatched more than 400 000 troops to the Persian Gulf to forge an international diplomatic and military coalition to drive the Iraqi army from Kuwait. The United Nations imposed economic sanctions on Iraq and authorized the use of armed force if Iraq did not withdraw from Kuwait.

When the deadline passed and Iraq’s forces remained in Kuwait, a coalition of military powers, dominated by the United States and financed by Saudi Arabia launched a massive air bombardment of Iraq and assault that quickly liberated Kuwait and occupied large portions of Iraq in April 1991 = Operation Desert Storm. United Nations inspection teams sought to make certain that Iraq’s ability to wage nuclear or bacteriological warfare had been destroyed.

The popularity of the war manifested in an outburst of patriotic celebrations upon the return of the troops with the fact that the war cost very few American lives (less than 100 soldiers died), proving America’s military power. The devastation persisted long after the war because Iraqi army set fire many 5 hundred oil wells and destroyed infrastructure and business in Kuwait. Kuwait had been liberated but the ruling family restored to power remained as repressive as it had been before the war, making little of promises of democratic reform.

The Iraq War (2003-2011)

The Iraq War or the Second Gulf War or Operation Iraqi Freedom was a conflict of Bush Doctrine because 43^rd President George Walker Bush expressed his beliefs that the United States had the right to prevent any hostile enemy. Prior to the war, the USA and the UK governments claimed that Iraq's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. Also some accused Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of supporting Al-Qaeda but no evidence of a meaningful connection was ever found.

 Other proclaimed reasons for the invasion included Iraq's financial support for Palestinian suicide bombers, human rights abuses  and an effort to spread democracy to the country. Hussein was eventually captured, his regime fell and he was hanged in 30 December 2006 but the execution was improper and humiliating. Also Iraq owning nuclear weapons was not proved. President Barack Obama announced that all U.S. troops would leave Iraq by the end of 2011 and they actually did after first democratic elections.