Why world war II is a good war for THE UNITED STATES - Research Paper Example

This brief analysis will attempt to elaborate upon some of the primary means by which the Second World War worked to benefit the United States, increased the economic output, level of industrialization, set the United States predominately upon the world stage, opened up new markets and reduced the competitiveness of former rivals. Additionally, the war helped to differentiate the world into a bipolar system that forced nearly each and every nation to either select the United States or the Soviet Union as a protector and potential market for goods.

In particular, the war brought the economy in America back to life after the malaise of the Great Depression. A number of contradictions thus arise from the actions taken by leaders during the activities of World War II. In this way, the proceeding analysis will attempt to detail the most prominent ways in which the Second World War was actually beneficial to the United States. Firstly, and perhaps most obviously, the war helped the United States to rapidly define and integrate a formerly backwards and relatively un-industrialized economy.

Moreover, due to the level of malaise that the United States experienced as a result of the Great Depression, a spike in the level of industrial growth and the need to integrate a high number of skilled professionals into the economy meant that the nation was able to rapidly train and employ a high number of skilled professionals in a variety of industrial crafts. Though the industrial revolution had occurred many years previously, the level of development was neither impressive nor complete.

However, as a result of the need to rapidly expand the economy and provide the soldiers fighting in the field with the necessary hardware of war, the industries of munitions production, heavy manufacturing, ship building, advanced electronic devices, early forms of computing technology, an advanced aircraft production industry, and a litany of other fields came to be well developed and robust by the end of the war. According to Mooney, the United States was keen on providing the Allies with the necessary equipment for continuing the war even prior to the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

This meant that the United States industry was required to produce and replace many of the goods and materials of war that were being sent to the allies overseas. Says Mooney, “In September 1940 the United States agreed to trade fifty old naval destroyers to British in exchange for leases on naval and air bases in British possessions throughout the Western Hemisphere.”(Mooney 187). As such, even the “trade” of 50 old destroyers is in and of itself a monumentally important factor due to the fact that these destroyers represented a percentage of United States naval power and must necessarily be replaced by the powers of industry.

Such a representation of lend-lease or cash and carry was adequately defined by Mooney on page 185. The rampant growth of American wartime industry combined with the fact that many of the men in the nation had vacated their jobs and were now joining the armed forces created a unique opportunity for women. Due to the fact that women had previously been confined to the home as a result of gender norms and the identification that a woman’s place should be in the home, this opportunity was a powerful dynamic in helping to shape the way in which the United States developed and industrialized.

The United States government soon got on board with the untapped labor pool and began to promote propaganda to engage even larger numbers of women in the workforce. By utilizing such evocative posters as “Rosie the Riveter”