Week 6 Reflection: WW1 & Imperialism
The historical event of world war one is widely talked about in history and is covered in all U.S. textbooks. On the other hand, the topic of imperialism, in my experience, is not as widely talked about. Imperialism is when one country extends its control over the territory, political system, more economic life of another country. Imperialism in the U.S. began after the victory of the Spanish-American war in 1898. America gained the Spanish colonies of Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Cuba. Up until middle school, I did not even know Puerto Rico was a United States territory. Following the Spanish-American war, the United States soon entered another war with the Philippines. The Filipinos strongly resisted American colonization, and the war was much longer and had many more casualties than the Spanish-American war. The U.S. won due to superior weaponry and inspired debates over imperialism in America. Economic, strategic, and moral/racial discussions all sparked from the rise of imperialism. Overall, imperialism made the U.S. a stronger world superpower and encouraged them to focus on expanding the military.
We all know the reason the war started, but what is not as well known are the roots of World War 1 in Europe. These sparked tense relations regarding nationalism, militarism, and alliances within European nations, and by 1914 Europe was a "powder keg" of tensions. After one week of Serbia declared war on Austria-Hungary, all of Europe was basically in the war. The U.S. did not enter the war until 1917 when Wilson initiated the draft and stated that we have to make the world "safe for democracy." The American government elicited public support for the war and used lots of war propaganda to demonize the triple alliance. The political cartoons we were supposed to look at emphasize Americans joining the fight and make the enemy look like barbarians. There were over 10 million soldiers killed, 20 million wounded, and 10 million civilians died. The war overall expanded federal power, created profits for American business, and helped shape the world as a whole.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3158
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3160
We all know the reason the war started, but what is not as well known are the roots of World War 1 in Europe. These sparked tense relations regarding nationalism, militarism, and alliances within European nations, and by 1914 Europe was a "powder keg" of tensions. After one week of Serbia declared war on Austria-Hungary, all of Europe was basically in the war. The U.S. did not enter the war until 1917 when Wilson initiated the draft and stated that we have to make the world "safe for democracy." The American government elicited public support for the war and used lots of war propaganda to demonize the triple alliance. The political cartoons we were supposed to look at emphasize Americans joining the fight and make the enemy look like barbarians. There were over 10 million soldiers killed, 20 million wounded, and 10 million civilians died. The war overall expanded federal power, created profits for American business, and helped shape the world as a whole.
Pictured above is a political cartoon encouraging Americans to support the War
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3158
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtID=2&psid=3160
Good information and this was very interesting how the US knew a strategy and what they did to begin with. United States seem to bride Spain for their weapons. They are smart foe what they did because they knew they probably would have ran out of tools for the war.
ReplyDeleteThis was good information i like the way you broke it down so we was able to understand. This help me better understand how WWI went and it’s crazy how it left a effect on both the winners and loser both sides lost a lot.
ReplyDeleteHello, Great post! This time was a decent and terrible period for the US which you featured. The way that you have the post built is in acceptable organization. You appear to have a decent comprehension of the data and gave great input to bloggers to utilize.
ReplyDeleteI like how you broke it down and made it simple to read while including the important information. I agree that the weaponry and the sheer man power the US provided to the allied powers put turned the tide of the war and put it way. Once the US joined, the central powers became weak and started to falter and retreat. The US helped seal the war about a year into them joining the allied powers.
ReplyDeleteVery Informational post ! I am very fascinated with the cartoons you mentioned in your post.I could see why this form of advertising and persuading was used to recruit more soldiers. The stats of how many people were injured and killed is still mind blowing till this day .
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the picture that you chose. It looks as if it is one of the many advertising tools used to encourage people to join the war. I know back then these cartoon style posters where very popular.
ReplyDeleteHey Aleena! Reading our assigned readings for this week along with the different posts from our peers definitely made me realize if I hadn't before that the United States is really about that life. lol I honestly didn't know that Puerto Rico was a United States Territory either until about the beginning of high school so I liked how you were transparent about that because I'm sure many can agree.
ReplyDelete