Unscathed by bombs and battles on the home front, the United Sates industry and agriculture grew rapidly after WWII. The postwar United States enjoyed the highest standard of living in the world. The nation also wielded enormous military power as the sole possessor of the atomic bomb. However, the Soviet Union represented an obstacle to American dominance on global affairs. The Cold War between two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, boosted military expenditures, fueling a growing arms race. Moving away from neutrality, the United States started to involve in other nations’ affairs such as giving economy and military aid in civil wars and nation building; and furthermore, the United States created a permanent alliance with
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In the China civil war between Communist forces and Nationalist forces, the United States sided and gave aid to Nationalists until Truman found out that the they were corrupted. Truman, therefore, cut off the aid and sealed the Nationalists’ fate. The mainland China was taken by the Communists, and the nationalists fled to Taiwan. In Korea as in China, cold war confrontation grew out of World War II. The civil war broke out between South and North Korea at the thirty-eighth parallel. Truman believed that the United States should take a firm stand against the spread of communism; and as a result, he convinced United Council to take a police action against Communism. The United Nation forces led by MacArthur took control South Korean capital, and passed the 38th parallel. Despite the Chinese warning, MacArthur continued his attack. After a massive Chinese counterattack, the stalemate set in at the 38th parallel, dividing Korea into democratic nation and communist nation. The war in Korea also expanded American involvement in Asia, transforming containment into a truly global …show more content…
The foreign policy of the United States always had been based on Monroe Doctrine and George Washington’s farewell address, protecting Latin American nations from European countries and avoid creating a permanent alliance with other nations. The post-era of WWII international relations had been dominated by the Cold War, and the United States emerged as the superpower. Not only did the United States influenced in the Europe, but it also took place in Southeast Asia, new nations that were emerging in the Third World, and Middle East, extending to the most distant areas of the globe. Among the postwar divisions, protecting the South Vietnam from falling into the hands communism was the most tragic as many American soldiers served in the conflict and the lives of many soldiers from the other part of nations including the civilians’ lives were lost. The massive commitment of troops and air power threatened to destroy Vietnam’s country side. The defoliation campaign had seriously damaged agricultural production, undercutting the economic and cultural base of Vietnamese society. Superpower competition indeed took the world close to a nuclear war, but it also inflicted heavy damage on countryside and caused many civilian deaths in Vietnam and other several
In the China civil war between Communist forces and Nationalist forces, the United States sided and gave aid to Nationalists until Truman found out that the they were corrupted. Truman, therefore, cut off the aid and sealed the Nationalists’ fate. The mainland China was taken by the Communists, and the nationalists fled to Taiwan. In Korea as in China, cold war confrontation grew out of World War II. The civil war broke out between South and North Korea at the thirty-eighth parallel. Truman believed that the United States should take a firm stand against the spread of communism; and as a result, he convinced United Council to take a police action against Communism. The United Nation forces led by MacArthur took control South Korean capital, and passed the 38th parallel. Despite the Chinese warning, MacArthur continued his attack. After a massive Chinese counterattack, the stalemate set in at the 38th parallel, dividing Korea into democratic nation and communist nation. The war in Korea also expanded American involvement in Asia, transforming containment into a truly global …show more content…
The foreign policy of the United States always had been based on Monroe Doctrine and George Washington’s farewell address, protecting Latin American nations from European countries and avoid creating a permanent alliance with other nations. The post-era of WWII international relations had been dominated by the Cold War, and the United States emerged as the superpower. Not only did the United States influenced in the Europe, but it also took place in Southeast Asia, new nations that were emerging in the Third World, and Middle East, extending to the most distant areas of the globe. Among the postwar divisions, protecting the South Vietnam from falling into the hands communism was the most tragic as many American soldiers served in the conflict and the lives of many soldiers from the other part of nations including the civilians’ lives were lost. The massive commitment of troops and air power threatened to destroy Vietnam’s country side. The defoliation campaign had seriously damaged agricultural production, undercutting the economic and cultural base of Vietnamese society. Superpower competition indeed took the world close to a nuclear war, but it also inflicted heavy damage on countryside and caused many civilian deaths in Vietnam and other several