1) At the close of each World War, America entered an era in which its foreign policy would shift. The similarities and differences in these shifts are the reason as to why our foreign policy is the way it is today.
Some similarities to the foreign policies after both world wars lied in economics. The economic influence exerted by the US on different countries helped protect US interests on foreign soil. For example, after WWI, America continued its military intervention in Latin America. Investors doubled their investments and continued to intervene in internal affairs to protect US interests. Although military use was initially cut back, it was would reinstated in other Latin America countries. For example, in Haiti, the military was used to keep US-friendly governments in power. This is similar to the division and occupation of Germany by the allied powers after WWII. In order to make sure Germany didn’t fall into the hands of Communist Russia, the US and its allies occupied West Germany and west Berlin with their armed forces. They even conducted the Berlin Airlift, which delivered 2 million tons of supplies to West Berlin, which had been blockaded by Russia. The Dawes Plan was also another example of US economic intervention post-WWI. The plan called for a reduction of German reparations and a $200 million stimulus in loans to the German economy. Similar to the Dawes Plan, the Marshall Plan of post WWII called for a $13 billion stimulus to not just Germany, but to seventeen different European countries. This was done so that the democratic governments in power could rebuild the country, thus instilling trust within the people for democracy. Even though the US invested into Germany after WWI, it would mark an end of their foreign intervention for the rest of the 20s. Thus, here marks a difference between the foreign policies of post-WWI and post-WWII.
After WWI, America was growing impatient with foreign intervention. For example, America did not end up joining the League of Nations, and remained isolationist instead. They also increased the tariff rate through the Fordney-McCumber Tariff, which made is extremely difficult for foreign nations to export into the US. However, after WWII, the US began to view itself as a world power. They realized that they needed to advocate and spread democracy and freedom around the world, or else communism would strike, which would go against their interests because the US is a democratic nation. Thus, many international peace organizations were formed, such as the United Nations (UN) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). With the joining of these two international bodies, the US effectively ended its foreign policy of isolationism and began a new era of US interventionist foreign policy. The Truman Doctrine only further exemplified America’s shift in foreign policy. The Truman Doctrine stated that the US would go on a “containment” campaign to stop communism from spreading elsewhere in the world.
The foreign policy of the US after WWII made US into a global presence; this view still carries on today. Thus, the major difference between US foreign policy after WWI and WWII is that the US went from isolationist to interventionist. However, there were similarities, for example in how the US intervened economically with other countries.
2) McCarthyism was an “anti-communist witch hunt” that swept across America in the early to mid 1950s. Led by Senator Joseph McCarthy, the accusations were targeted against politicians, people of the entertainment industry, authors, and even Army officers. One reason for its flourishing is the fact that leaders of the Republican Party realized that his outrageous accusations could be of good use. McCarthy’s claims could be used to strengthen their claims about the fact that Truman’s administration had lost China to the Communist revolutionaries. McCarthyism was appealing because of the paranoia within American society. After both Russia and China succumbed to Communism, and while in the midst of the Cold War, Americans were overly apprehensive about the Communist issue. They feared that communism was going to strike within the country, but they didn’t know where. Thus, McCarthyism provided a scapegoat for Americans because it found alleged communists to target. People hopped on board because their need to find communists was taken care of McCarthy’s blacklists.
3) In the 50s and 60s, American pride was in full swing. They had recovered from a war, and prosperity was rife throughout the country. The communist fears also began to subside as Stalin was no longer in power. One theme of this affluence was the economic growth that Americans experienced during this period. Consumer goods were plentiful, and consumers themselves were earning much more money. This growth in consumer income helped speed the development of suburbs, where middle class families could live and commute back and froth to their jobs in the cities. A leap in middle class profits also allowed more Americans to popular goods such as cars, radios, televisions, and fashion materials. Another theme of America’s affluence lied within the government. The government, while quite affluent, maintained a steady and tightly controlled budget under President Eisenhower. They reduced military expenditures and kept a balanced federal budget. But that is not to say that Ike didn’t improve America domestically. Ike sponsored what was known as the “largest public works project in the history of the world.” The Highway Act of 1956 created a network of expressways all across America. Although the basis of such support was military purposes (military supplies could travel faster along highways), it had a much greater impact. It encouraged the buying of cars as the new way of travel and allowed citizens more freedom and ease to travel across the nation. Labor and management accord also contributed to the affluence in America. Ever since labor unions formed, there has always been constant bickering between them and company managements. However, in the 50s and 60s, management began to lean how to live with labor unions. It was led by the auto industry, in which labor leaders and company management negotiated a mutual contract. Affluence also touched upon the political atmosphere in America. Sociologist C. Wright Mills had a theory of that America’s policy and decision making was controlled by a small “power elite” of corporate leaders. The theory is similar to the modern theory of corporations sponsoring lobbyists to tell politicians to support certain bills. Although regarded as conspiracy theories, Mills claimed that the “power elite” were now kept in check by the labor unions, consumer lobbies, farm organizations, and others. This led to his idea of “pluralism” or basically the fact that no one group could control the political process. Pluralists believed that affluence mediated the disputes between different interest groups in politics, to reach a general agreement. This belief stems from the fact that affluence was thought to guarantee that all interests would end up “better off than before”. Another theme of affluence in the 50s was religion. Inspired to counter the atheistic communists, the government encouraged people to be more religious. Religion became associated with “health, happiness, and goodness”. Religion itself also became pluralistic, as religion no longer divided people. However, discontent was also felt. Critics argued that the new era ushered in conformity and not individuality. Employees placed the goals of their employers higher than their own. Sociologist David Riesman also began to explain a shift in identity with oneself; it used to be that identity with oneself was sought through family members, but now identity was sought through others and how they perceived you. With growing affluence, the youth also began changing there views on society. Society began to become less conservative, and the raciness of the adult world fell upon the youth. The youth were exposed to sex and violence. They also had all of their troubles voiced through the lyrics of rock and roll, most notably Elvis Presley.
4) America was in the peak of its boom, it experienced increases in wealth and overall happiness. Things were finally “normal” or at least more normal than they have been in the past two decades. Politically, people were still paranoid about communists. Bomb shelters were built and people everywhere feared communist take-over or bombings. Culturally, America began to conform to less traditional ways. For example, the youth of America began to listen to rock and roll stars, such as Elvis. Everyone also began having babies, which caused a baby boom in the US. Fashion also swept America. Trends swooped America, as girls wore tight sweaters, poodle skirts, and such, and boys wore jeans and a white t-shirt. Businessmen also conformed to the standard of wearing suits. Socially, Americans became generally wealthier, and some people began to move into the suburbs. Soon, a large number of America’s middle class began to migrate into the suburbs, conforming to places other than the city. People also became more receptive to change. Women wanted to increase their social status, as they were unhappy as “homemakers”. Blacks protested increasingly against stereotypes and discrimination towards them. People were also discontent about the concept of sexuality in society, and thus Playboy magazine and birth-control pills were introduced.
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