US History Final - Essay Example

US History final US History final Domino theory The domino theory was a theory at the period 1950-1980 which held that in case one country in a region fell under communist control or influence, its neighboring states would follow in a domino effect. According to this theory, decreases or increases in democracy in one country spread to nearby countries, increasing or decreasing their democracy. During a press conference in 1945, then U.S. president Dwilight Eisenhower prominently gave a description of what he termed as “the falling domino principle” surrounding American foreign policy. He explained that if you have a row of dominoes arrangement, the first one is knocked over, what happens to the last one makes it certain that it will spread remarkably quickly. This could result in a beginning of a disintegration that would create the most intense influences. The dominoes he depicted where states and the contagious factor they carried with them were the political-economic features of democratic capitalism or totalities communism. This theory depicts that increases in democracy in one state extend to its neighbors, increasing their democracy, which spreads to their neighbors etc. this results in greater democracy in that region and globally. Conversely, decreasing democracy in one state also infect neighboring countries, lowering their democracy, which extends to neighbors, depreciating global democracy. The domino theory played a significant role in U.S. foreign policy decisions well before it became explicit in the 1950s. Domino theory way of thinking has contributed a critical role in key American foreign policy decisions dating back to almost a century. One instance is Woodrow Wilson’s logic for starting U.S. participation in the First World War. Wilson undoubtedly used the domino reasoning when declaring America’s operation as “making the world safe for democracy” on the eve of the First World War. In recent years, the domino theory has been used to justify American intercession in Iraq and the Middle East. Gulf war The gulf war was a war authorized by the U.N. that was staged by a coalition force from 34 states led by the United States, against Iraq after Iraq’s invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Iraqi troops’ invasion of Kuwait in august 1990 was heavily condemned by the international community and drew immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by the member states of the U.N. Security Council. Then U.S. president George w bush sent American troops into Saudi Arabia, urging other countries to send their forces to Iraq. A range of nations joined the war, with the majority of the troops being from U.S., Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and U.K. The war was characterized by the start of live news on the forefronts of the fight with the dominance of the U.S. network CNN. The preliminary battle to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait started with an aerial bombardment followed by ground assault. The coalition forces achieved a decisive victory, with Iraq withdrawing from Kuwait. However, the war resulted in the destruction of Kuwait and Iraqi infrastructure and heavy casualties. The gulf war marks the foremost time in history when air power played to the most significant role in deciding the result of a war. It was also the first key international crisis to occur after the cold war. The gulf war pioneered a new element in modern warfare- the entire operation was telecast around the world. The war also put to test the ability of the Soviet Union and America to work together in world affairs. The gulf war marked the first extensive display of modern technological warfare- use of modern data communication systems, global positioning systems, infrared sensors, cruise missiles, guided missiles, night-vision equipment and free-flight rockets with multiple warheads. Stimson Doctrine The Stimson doctrine is a non-recognition foreign policy accepted in America. The policy was pronounced in a note from the United States federal government to Japan and china of January 7, 1932. According to the doctrine developed during the Manchuria crisis of 1931, a conquered country will be non-recognized by the U.S. The doctrine is as a result of U.S. endeavors to put an end to the Manchurian crisis following Japan’s independent annexation of Manchuria in northeastern china. The invasion by Japanese soldiers at Mukden put then U.S. secretary of state Henry M Stimson in a challenging position. The secretary was hindered by president Herbert Hoover‘s open suggestion that would not be in support of economic sanctions as an instrument to create peace in the Far East. Stimson then delivered identical notes to China and Japan that incorporated a diplomatic resolution of disputes employed by former secretaries facing crises in the Far East. However, the doctrine is deemed powerless due to the fact that it lacked any room for mediating the Manchurian conflict and instead it did more in alienating Japan. It did not have any significance; U.S. lacked the resources or intent of actually doing anything about the crisis while Japan still occupied Manchuria ignoring the Stimson doctrine. The U.S. still exported steel, oil and scrap iron to Japan all of which the Japanese used to develop war machine they used to invade china. Historically, the Stimson doctrine was a case of hypocritical rhetoric and a key example of the pacification that encouraged aggression. Truman doctrine The Truman doctrine was a U.S. foreign policy proposed on March 12 1947 in a speech by then U.S. president Harry S Truman. It declared that the U.S. would support turkey and Greece with military and economic aid to avert the countries falling into soviet domain. Historically, The Truman doctrine is often deemed as the beginning of the policy of containment to discontinue expansion of the Soviet Union and the beginning of the cold war. According to Truman’s logic, the totalitarian regimes posed a peril to global peace and the state security of the United States because they compelled Free states. He addressed the congress stating that the doctrine was a foreign policy of the U.S. to offer to back to free people who are repelling challenged conquest by external pressures or armed minorities. Truman made this appeal during the Greek civil war crisis contending that I case turkey and Greece failed to obtain the support that they crucially required, they would without doubt succumb to communism which would bring severe consequences to the entire region. The doctrine that involved sending 400 million American dollars to the region, but no military support was supported by republicans who controlled the congress and went ahead to informally become the center of U.S. cold war policy in the entire Europe and globally. The Truman doctrine is historically significant as it overturned the Monroe doctrine and eventually led to the marshal plan. It was a precedential for the principle of collective security. This involved establishing a network of friendly countries and allies to which America provided with free military aid and NATO. The doctrine comprised the containment policy and aided in combating the spread of communism. It brought an end to the ‘red scare’ of the 1950s in the US; and in Russia it assured the Soviet Union that America was undeniably attacking soviet communism. It served to help nations that were not in support of communist rule with economic and military aid. The Truman doctrine is significant because it pledged America to the role of tackling and resisting communist rule globally which in fact upset the soviets. Jackie Robinson Born jack Roosevelt Robinson, Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player to take part in Major League Baseball outside of an isolated black league, in 1947. He made history by breaking the baseball color line when on April 15, 1947; the Brooklyn dodgers put him on first base. Robinson developed into a living milestone for equal treatment of all races, transforming the baseball sport forever. The dodgers brought an end to racial discrimination which had previously consigned black baseball players to the Negro leagues for more than six decades, becoming the premier team in the major league to play an African American player. Historically, the case of Robinson’s character and undisputable skill contested the customary basis of racial segregation which had marred various other aspects of American life, and hugely contributed to the civil rights movement. He was the first pro sportsman in any sport to be so honored when major league baseball, in 1997, wholly retired his jersey number, forty-two, across all teams in the major leagues. Major league baseball has since 2004 embraced a new yearly tradition called “Jackie Robinson day” in which every player in every team wears jersey number forty two. The battle of midway The battle of midway was the most significant naval battle during the pacific campaign of the Second World War. The United States navy effectively destroyed four of Japan’s naval carriers between 4 and 7 June 1942, six months after Japan launched an attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack by America inflicted extremely severe damage on the Japanese fleet. The Japanese action sought out to get rid of the united state as a super power in the pacific region thus offering Japan authority to set up its greater East Asia co-prosperity sphere (Symonds, 2011). The Japanese anticipated that another discouraging defeat would compel the United States to surrender in the pacific war and therefore guarantee the Japanese dictate the pacific region. The mission of the Japanese was to ensnare the American aircraft carriers into a trap and eventually inhabit Midway as part of the general plan to extend their protective border in response to the Doolittle raid. The mission was also deemed a preparation for further assaults on Samoa and Fiji. In historical perspective, the battle of midway was the premium decisive naval battle fought that involved aircraft carriers battling with aircraft carriers. Coral Sea was the first battle in history involving carrier to carrier, but it was not a decisive battle. Midway was a decisive naval battle that altered the path of the battle by permitting the united stated navy to have battling n edge during the subsequent sea battles. Less trained air men could not compare to the excellent experienced navy fighters in future aerial combat commitments. Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger is an American writer, diplomat, political analyst and businessman born in Germany on May 27, 1923. He was possibly the most powerful, visible, and controversial figure in the global political sphere America has ever had. A beneficiary of the Nobel peace prize, Henry is credited with creating the Détente policy, encouraging china to extend global trade and foreign relations, initiating negotiations to reduce strategic arms and bringing the Vietnam War to an end after negotiating the Paris Peace Accords. Henry Kissinger served America as a state security advisor and afterwards as secretary of state during the reigns of Presidents Gerald ford and Richard Nixon. His judgment was still useful later on during the administrations of subsequent United States presidents and other leaders of the world. He played a significant role in the foreign policy of the United States 1969 and 1977. The chairman and founder of the international consulting firm Kissinger Associates is still viewed as an influential public figure. On the other hand, Kissinger is accused of such atrocities as directing South Vietnam to withdraw from the Paris Peace Talks in 1968, eventually lengthening the Vietnam War. He is also blamed for ordering the initial phase of the secret bombing of Cambodia from 1969 to 1975, whose outcome was death of two hundred thousand people; and planning the covert oust and assassination of then socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende in the year 1973. Kissinger is accused of supporting United States sale of arms to Indonesia during a period when Indonesia was trying to seize East Timor in 1975, resulting in deaths of two hundred thousand East Timorese. Apart from presidents, no figure in the history of American public life in the 20th century has been the topic of as numerous books as has Kissinger. This is principally due to the significance of the transformations in American foreign policy that he oversaw. Huey Long Huey Pierce Long was an American political figure born in 1893 who served as the Louisiana governor between 1928 and 1932 and then as a member of the United States Senate until he was assassinated in 1935. He was a famous left-wing populist of the Democratic Party. He was a commandant of extensive networks of supporters during his term of service, generating assertions that he was a political boss. As governor and senator, Long established a strong political base in Louisiana, supporting segregation yet concurrently obtaining the support of many African Americans. He used his influence and power in helping the poor, distributing lunches and textbooks to school children, building hospitals and roads, including other social benefits which were unprecedented during that period. Long developed an enormous following during the Depression with his renowned "Share the Wealth" plan. The plan entailed taxing the rich and prohibition of any personal incomes exceeding one million dollars a year. The idea gained the support of the poor and unemployed during the Depression. After supporting Then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 presidential bid which he won, Long and Roosevelt fell apart in June 1933, and he arranged his own presidential bid for 1936. Then-U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt regarded Long as a peril to democracy and a hindrance to his successive reelection in 1936. Huey long was later assassinated in 1935 by a young man whose family had been victim to his policies in the state of Louisiana. His nationwide political movement died away while his state organization in Louisiana continued. Bay of Pigs The Bay of Pigs invasion was a failed military invasion of Cuba carried out by the paramilitary squad brigade 2506 in 1961. Brigade 2506 was a counter-revolutionary military that received funding and training from the central intelligence agency of the United States government. The group was at the forefront of the armed wing of the Democratic Revolutionary Front which intended to remove the revolutionary leftist government of the then-Cuban president Osvaldo Toraddo from power. The attacking force launched in Guatemala was overwhelmed within three days by the armed forces of Cuba which were commanded by Prime Minister Fidel Castro. The unsuccessful invasion reinforced the stand of Castro’s government, who afterward openly declared their target to embrace socialism and strengthen links with the Soviet Union. This led to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Historically, the Bay of Pigs invasion was a foremost embarrassing case for the United States foreign policy, prompting President Kennedy to order various internal investigations. It is historically celebrated across Latin Americas a demonstration of the imperfection of U.S. imperialism. Ken Starr Kenneth Winston "Ken" Starr is an American educational administrator, lawyer and federal judge born on July 21, 1946. He is historically best recognized for his inquiry of figures during the administration of U.S. president Bill Clinton. Starr was a solicitor general and court of appeals judge for President George H. W. Bush; he obtained massive publicity during his term as Independent Counsel during the Clinton administration. Currently serving as the president of Baylor University in Texas and member of the board of trustees of Baylor College of Medicine, Starr was previously assigned to look into the real estate investments of Bill Clinton in Whitewater and the suicide death of Vince Foster, deputy white house counsel. He later filed the Starr report after numerous years of investigation, which eventually led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton and suspension of his law license for five years. Reference SYMONDS, C. L. (2011). The Battle of Midway. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Read More