US AND WORLD WAR II

Progress and decline of the US during WWII

Progress and decline of the US during WWII

Introduction

With the surprise Japanese air attack on the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941, America's isolationist stance in the Second World War came to a sudden and dramatic end. Over the next four years, the US fought a two-front war in Europe and the Pacific alongside the other Allied powers. In addition to political and military developments, America's involvement in the war also brought important changes on the domestic front, with Americans from all walks of life becoming involved in one way or another. Women joined the American workforce in record numbers, taking over jobs normally held by the men who were now at war, creating the enduring 'Rosie the Riveter' image. Women also participated actively in the war by joining special military units, as did African-Americans. At the same time, German- and Japanese-Americans faced discrimination and the government established internment camps for the confinement of Japanese-Americans. The tide of the war turned in favor of the Allies after the Normandy landings on D-Day, and the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought an end to the conflict (Barro, 2009).

Thesis Statement

US emerged as a superpower after World War 2 and helped number of countries re-builds their economy. Besides that US involvement in the war gave birth to poor relations with some counties.

Progress and decline

According to experts, progress refers to his notion that the world can become more and better in terms of science, technology, and quality of life. During the last few decades, science has played a major role in the progress of different societies and economies.

According to Oxford dictionary, decline means to fail in strength, vigor, character or value. World War 2 resulted in number of casualties as well as economic losses to nations which resulted in their decline (Bostdorff, 2008).

Discussion and Analysis

History has not been kind to the World War II propaganda initiatives of the U.S. government. The work of the Office of War Information (OWI)— the best known and most influential of the wartime propaganda agencies— has received very little acclaim indeed (nostalgic appreciation for the iconic images of Rosie the Riveter and The Four Freedoms notwithstanding). During the war, the OWI provoked howls of protest, mostly from conservative critics, who complained about incompetence, waste, and liberal bias. In subsequent years, historians have redirected those criticisms, but not the overall judgment, in characterizing the organization as mismanaged and ineffective.

Overall, the OWI story— although not exactly relegated to the dustbin of history— is certainly not regarded as central to the plot line of World War II. 2 And this is unfortunate because while the OWI may have failed on its own terms, its existence and its operations symbolized and precipitated a broader transformation in conceptions of U.S. foreign relations. Before World War II, overseas propaganda was widely viewed as peripheral to, if not entirely separate from, the foreign policy ...