Our expansion to the Philippines proved more difficult than taking Cuba, and perhaps a larger undertaking than the U.S. was ready to embark. Taking Cuba, which is located to very close proximity to the Unites States made sense, and allowed our presence in the Caribbean. However, the history of this country, people were, and still are, growing increasingly more selfish, and the great industrial period of our country was no exception. During the 1890’s the United States became the most important industrial power in the world. This meant with increasing problems with labor unions, they wished to find markets and areas overseas and abroad to provide cheap labor force and plenty of natural resources to continue to fuel the U.S. economy. The notion that the U.S. was isolated from the rest of the world was untrue, because trade made them an active member in world affairs. Simply put, the business leaders and politicians of this time desired new markets to sell and trade our goods, while simultaneously gaining resources that were not available at home. This coupled with a strong effort to show our military presence, and expand that presence is what ultimately led the United States foreign policy to be influenced, and eventually turn to an imperialistic state. If we arrogantly did not try and impose the manifest destiny ideology, of ‘What is good for America, is good for everyone’, and simply guided the Filipino people to self-govern themselves. Perhaps the expansion would have worked, and not create a foreign policy disaster, that in my opinion, still exists today. The industrial revolution was the ammunition for Imperialism, which was thriving during the late 19th century. Imperialism helped some alleviate the hunger for wealth desired by our western world. Unfortunately forming the modern world through warfare.
Essay 2
Why was World War One called the Great War? What were the origins of the war in Europe, and what factors forced the United States to enter the war in 1917 after three years of neutrality? World War 1 was referred to as the Great War because no other war until then had such an impact on the world. It was the first war to affect all of the major nations of Europe and the world. It took many lives and changed the lives of millions more. The term great is referred to in the sense of the scale, meaning large or huge. This is derived from the British meaning, and not the U.S. meaning of great, that refers to something as favorable. At this time in history, it was not known as World War One, as there was no future telling of the Second World War, hence the term Great War. The spark the initiated the war was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian archduke, and his wife on June 28th, 1914. The conditions in Europe at the time were ripe for war. A great sense of national pride existed in he countries, military buildup of numerous nations, economic self-interest, and the public outrage from the assassination. Tempers were lost, pride swelled, and diplomacy faltered for any sense of resolution. After waiting nearly a month after the assassination of the archduke, Austria had a reason, and a great excuse to attack its troublesome neighbor, Serbia. During the initial waiting period after the assassination, Serbia was able to get backing from Russia, and Austria was able to get backing from Germany, with whom they had a treaty. Thus, after Austria officially declared war on Serbia, many of the countries in Europe had become entangled in the dispute, and conditions for a major war were in place. The major players in the war were the allied forces-France-United Kingdom and Russia and the Central Powers of Germany and Austria Hungry. “Compelled by a treaty to support Austria-Hungary Germany on August 3 attacked Russia and France. In response Great Britain, upholding its treaty with France, declared war on Germany on August 4th (Roark p.657).” Germany was able to crush Russia rather quickly, but the