key concepts

Unit 11 Key Concepts

Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world. 

II. World War I and its aftermath intensified ongoing debates about the nation’s role in the world and how best to achieve national security and pursue American interests. 

D.        In the years following World War I, the United States pursued a unilateral foreign   

            policy that used international investment, peace treaties, and select military 

             intervention
to promote a vision of international order, even while maintaining 

             U.S. isolationism.

 


E.         In the 1930s, while many Americans were concerned about the rise of fascism
and  

             totalitarianism, most opposed taking military action against the aggression of Nazi 

             Germany and Japan until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor drew the United 

              States into World War II. 



Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world. 


III. U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership. 

  1. Americans viewed the war as a fight for the survival of freedom and democracy against fascist and militarist ideologies. 
This perspective was later reinforced by revelations about Japanese wartime atrocities, Nazi concentration camps, and the Holocaust. 


  2. The mass mobilization of American society helped end the Great Depression, and the country’s strong industrial base played a pivotal role in winning the war by equipping and provisioning allies and millions of U.S. troops. 


  3. Mobilization and military service provided opportunities for women and minorities to improve their socioeconomic positions for the war’s duration, while also leading to debates over racial segregation. Wartime experiences also generated challenges to civil liberties, such as the internment of Japanese Americans. 


  4. The United States and its allies achieved military victory through Allied cooperation, technological and scientific advances, the contributions of servicemen and women, and campaigns such as Pacific “island-hopping” and the D-Day invasion. The use of atomic bombs hastened the end of the war and sparked debates about the morality of using atomic weapons. 


Key Concept 7.3 — Participation in a series of global conflicts propelled the United States into a position of international power while renewing domestic debates over the nation’s proper role in the world. 

III. U.S. participation in World War II transformed American society, while the victory of the United States and its allies over the Axis powers vaulted the U.S. into a position of global, political, and military leadership. 

E.       The war-ravaged condition of Asia and Europe, and the dominant U.S. role in the                   

           Allied victory and postwar peace settlements, allowed the United States to emerge 

           from the war as the most powerful nation on earth. 


Key Concept 8.1 — The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and working to maintain a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international consequences. 

I. United States policymakers engaged in a cold war with the authoritarian Soviet Union, seeking to limit the growth of Communist military power and ideological influence, create a free-market global economy, and build an international security system. 

A.      As postwar tensions dissolved the wartime alliance between Western democracies  

           and the Soviet Union, the United States developed a foreign policy based on 

           collective security, international aid, and economic institutions that bolstered non- 

           Communist nations. 



B.       Concerned by expansionist Communist ideology and Soviet repression, the United 

           States sought to contain communism through a variety of measures, including major 

           military engagements in Korea and Vietnam. 



C.       The Cold War fluctuated between periods of direct and indirect military 

           confrontation and periods of mutual coexistence (or détente). 



D.       Postwar decolonization and the emergence of powerful nationalist movements in 

           Asia, Africa, and the Middle East led both sides in the Cold War to seek allies among 

            new nations, many of which remained nonaligned. 



E.        Cold War competition extended to Latin America, where the U.S. supported non-

            Communist regimes that had varying levels of commitment to democracy. 






Key Concept 8.1 — The United States responded to an uncertain and unstable postwar world by asserting and working to maintain a position of global leadership, with far-reaching domestic and international consequences. 

II. Cold War policies led to public debates over the power of the federal government and acceptable means for pursuing international and domestic goals while protecting civil liberties. 

A.       Americans debated policies and methods designed to expose suspected communists 

           within the United States even as both parties supported the broader strategy of 

           containing communism. 


B.       (Skip, will come back to it in the next unit.) 



C.       Americans debated the merits of a large nuclear arsenal, the military-industrial 

           complex, and the appropriate power
of the executive branch in conducting foreign  

           and military policy.