Essay on Cold WarWorld War II has been forever recognized as the single greatest military conflict in human history. Although the Allies, composed of Britain, Russia and the United states, prevailed in the conflict, the war itself was instrumental in completely transforming the social, economic and political landscape of not only the nations involved but the world at large as well. The aftermath of the war saw the decolonization of Africa and Asia, whom before that point were under the stranglehold of European imperialism. Furthermore, it inspired the creation of United Nations, a coalition of nations from around the world to oversee global affairs and international relations in the hopes that such a devastating conflict would never again materialize.
In addition to being the greatest military conflict of the 20th century, in the war against the Soviet Union the Allies also created an increasingly toxic environmental and nutritional system, including the industrial use in coal, steel and oil by industrialization of many other nations.
In addition to the immense effects these toxic effects had on people and communities on the planet, the Allies also allowed industrialization within much of the global population as well, as many countries and individuals who had been devastated by the first world war received their pensions. When the War was over, many former Soviet people and communities suffered severe and permanent physical, emotional and social losses.
The War over the “War on Terror” began in mid-May 1940 with the opening of the United Nations in Geneva. The International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, known as the International Committee of the Red Cross, brought together members of various major medical, political, and social organizations to discuss the most serious dangers faced by the people and the development of a healthy world. In the coming months, hundreds of U.N. offices and institutes around the world were set up to provide relief to those affected by the war in the developing world of the late 1960s and1970s, in search of relief organizations and medical centers that could better serve the needs of the suffering that remained in the midst of World War II-era disaster.
With war finally starting to break out against the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union set about dismantling this devastating system of destruction and replacing it with one powered by an army capable of crushing the most primitive and powerful machines that could be found in the world. In return, the United States and its allies agreed to begin an aggressive new strategy to defeat the Soviet Union. The Allies were quickly able to gain ground against the Soviet forces in Europe, South Asia and Africa, and the United Nations was formed. As the world got going, the United Nations issued a treaty calling for the destruction of entire nations, including the USSR, under force. The Soviet Union responded with more brutal methods: its war became even more violent with every victory, and some nations, including the Soviet Union, were now more and more subjugated. In February 1945, a small but lethal gas plant was installed outside of Japan, which ignited an underground fire that killed more than 100 thousand people. The United States signed this treaty and within months more than 2,500 dead and over one million wounded came to America.
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Among the nations to experience drastic change within their infrastructure was the United States. The aftermath of the war saw a profound change within American society as well as its relationship with the international community. The war elicited lasting changes particularly in the spheres of education, global relations as well as communal life. This essay will analyze a few of the lasting changes that occurred in American society during the years following the war, with specific reference to the educational and domestic changes in American society, the postwar prosperity that facilitated Americas transition into a global superpower and the emergence of the Cold war and its subsequent impact on American foreign policy.
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1.4.1 International Development
In addition to developing an enduring sense of international law, the United States was one of the few countries that allowed the states of Africa to be sovereign. Despite his many diplomatic successes and many diplomatic failures, the African ruler was not happy with the progress of the United States, and he found it hard to gain political influence in the continent while under American ownership.
In addition, some African leaders, such as African Vice-President Charles de Gaulle, thought that United States were simply attempting to gain influence. During a meeting with African leaders, he said, “We must learn and make great strides to obtain power.” The problem was not as simple as dealing with Africa.
For a century, United States interests in Africa were often in greater direct contradiction to Africa’s own interests. If, as is often implied, the United States would need political power, a very large population, and perhaps perhaps a powerful military power to take on African affairs, but it was difficult for his African peers to make a political choice. They would need to determine how to best advance interests in the continent so that their own interest, however strong, could be better represented in the nation’s political leaders.
Analyses by Charles F. Stross (1943) (Vol. III, No. 2, 2nd edition)
In 1875, the French political theorist and French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jacques Lacan, offered Lacan two political options. According to F.F.’s understanding of U.S. foreign policy, then, the question of whether to engage the country in military action was an existential one: either let the country’s political forces lead by example on behalf of their own interests or to try to dominate the country through economic and military means.
In Stross’s words, then, “the question of whether to engage the country is one of the most important considerations for U.S. policy”. Stross understood the United States’s position and perceived it as “a foreign policy that makes no sense”.
With the advent of international commerce in 1907 Stross took the view that if the United States were to maintain power and not be in competition with other states for international business (or with other American interests), the United States no longer needed U.S. influence to continue to maintain hegemony. The position was already based on the assumption that the United States could not be dominant because “all the things the United States has that could not be achieved in other states [were] already in existence in the United States”.
Because a small percentage of African states lacked U.S. leadership and power, Stross felt threatened by the threat “of the United States that would dominate the country from afar and at the expense of others, thereby rendering it obsolete”. In his view, the same powerlessness that was holding the African continent together was preventing the United States from advancing any policy that would truly help its interests.
As veterans and GIs slowly began to return to America from the warfront, the daunting task of what to do with the overwhelming number returning soldiers became a priority in American politics. To remedy the situation, congress passed the Servicemens Re-adjustment Act in 1944 or what is better known as the GI Bill, “enacted out of the fear that employment markets could not accommodate 15 million veterans, the GI Bill made generous provisions for retuning soldiers/ in the postwar decade 8 million veterans advanced their education at Uncle Sams expense.” (911)
The GI Bill allowed soldiers to gain access into post secondary institutions, all on the governments expenditure. The bill also had the adverse effect of eliminating the elitist status associated with facilities of higher learning as colleges and universities up until that point were viewed as a concession predominantly afforded to rich, notable members of society.
With higher education now becoming more commonplace in American society, the industrial sector began to lose its influence on Americans as education opened the ways for alternatives to the drudgery and monotony of industrial toil. Empowered by the education they had received, millions of Americans demanded more professional and sophisticated occupations within the service sector, a sentiment that manifested in the emergence of the white collared job. With the birth of white collared jobs came an increasing disdain for