The Most Significant Events in the Decades Following World War II - Case Study Example

The Most Significant Events in the Decades Following World War II Introduction The facade of imperialism collapsed soon after the massive losses of lives and properties in World War II. Future course of world politics was very much laid down by the time the Axis forces surrendered to their Allied counterparts, thus marking the end of a brutal bloodbath. Stage was set for socialism to assume control of the direction of world economy and politics. The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the two major superpowers in the global arena. What it also meant was that the global power game became polarized in terms of allegiance and dependence. On one hand, the United States tried desperately hard not to let communism spread across the borders. On the other hand, the Soviet Union, having risen to the position military ascendancy, wanted to make sure it had a hold over other countries’ foreign, military and defense strategies. Additionally, the threat of a nuclear warfare became imminent with the respective centralizations of power in two regions that were geographically far apart. Europe became a focal point of contention for both the nations as neither of them was ready to forsake the advantages gained during the Great War. The Soviet Union assumed control of Eastern Europe courtesy of German’s defeat. The United States had political ambitions far greater than any other western countries in that it wanted to extend its military laterality to far and wide. Under these circumstances, developments on the political upfront following World War II were closely interlinked with one another. One event somehow heralded and legitimized its succeeding chain of events. Moreover, each major event was conditioned by the situation leading up to it. This essay is going to elaborate on the major political events that took place in the next five decades following World War II. The events to be discussed are the rise of consumerism in the 1950s, the Vietnam War in the 1960s, Iranian revolution in the 1970s, the fall of Berlin Wall in the 1980s and global terrorism in the 1990s. 1950s: The Cold War & Rise of Consumerism – Breaking Away from Conformity Differences of opinion between the Soviet Union and the United States had existed for a long time, much before the Great War broke out in 1939. The great economic depression in the 1930s following the labor movements in Canada had already had a detrimental effect on American political idealism. An overwhelming sense of disillusionment and despair hovered upon the general psyche in the country. However, this difference of opinion did not surface much as both the nations formed allies to defeat the Axis forces. But once the War was over, the discordant elements between the two nations began to show up. The difference of political aspirations can be held as the main reason for this incongruity (Spielvogel, 2008, p. 876). Since the paper focuses primarily on the impact of major events on the policies of the United States, it is imperative to look into the direct consequences of the Cold War on the US society. As stated earlier, the Soviet Union and the United States of America had different standpoints with regard to political aspirations. Unlike the Soviet Union, politics in the United States has always conformed to the notion of multiparty democracy where the civil and political rights of every citizen are expected to be preserved. Equality of opportunity for the people of the country is mandatory as per the US constitutional provisions (Schofield & Sened, 2006). The ideologies were therefore more dynamic and commercially oriented. What we imply by commercial orientation is that the postwar political ambience in the United States was defined by a marked digression from the country’s earlier trends. The society witnessed a rapid growth of consumerism as the buying capacity of people gradually increased after attaining a state of economic liberty that stemmed from being tagged as one of the global superpowers. Standards of living in a pluralistic and multicultural societal framework also got better and affluent. Fancy cars and television sets were entering the US consumer market, ousting the ideals of communist austerity (OPPapers.com, 2010). On the contrary, the Soviet system was governed by a communist propaganda in which equal distribution of properties featured as priority. Nobody was allowed to own personal properties and the state owned the right to interfere in personal affairs. Rise in consumerism in the US society during the Cold War may be attributed to tourism development as well. Many immigrants from Europe and Africa began to settle on the US soil once the Great War was over. The constant inflow of immigrants led people into believing that the country is enriched with natural resources, which was the case in reality too. In a way, it projected a prosperous image of the country to the world outside. It also succeeded to foster cultural interactions across various ethnic communities. Consequently, people came closer to each other and adopted each other’s values and habits. A sense of defiance to the prevailing norms and customs surged throughout the 1950s, which manifested itself through various forms of anti-establishment movements. The younger generation broke away from traditional viewpoints prevalent in arts, sociology, politics and science. Albeit such an event is difficult to represent within a particular timeline and in the light of a specific antecedent, it can be safely claimed that the Cold War between America and the Soviet Union did contribute to the US people’s changing worldviews on how society should function. The fact that they could elect their chosen representatives in the parliament contributed enormously to a growing sense of individual authority within a democratic system (Advameg, Inc, 2010). 1960s: The Vietnam War The significance of the Vietnam War in the annals of US history is difficult to undermine not just because it compelled the US government to revise its foreign and defense policies, but more so because it exposed and perhaps magnified the anti-communist political standpoint of the US government. Despite commencing in 1959, this episode is categorized under the 1960s because of its considerable development in this decade. Before analyzing the consequences of the Vietnam War upon the United States, it is imperative to examine the background of the conflict. The entire episode of US occupation in Vietnam may be termed as an instance of colonial aggression the hint of which was rooted in the agreements inked between the allied powers in the build-up phase of World War II. The world order prior to the War was lacking in transparent diplomacy and democracy. The colonial aggressors tended to exercise their dominance in a secretive way, thus giving very little scope for self-determination (Daum et al., 2003, p. 27). Therefore, staging of Vietnam War, which was “possibly the most important American event of the twentieth century” (Wiest, 2002, p. 7), was long been set on papers. What occurred in 1959 was merely a reenactment of the Cold War, perhaps with the difference that the latter was fought on an even ground with two of the world’s superpowers settling scores while the latter involved a remarkable resistance put up by a diminutive power like North Vietnam. The most critical issue involving the conflict in Vietnam remains to be America’s continuing struggle against counter-culture movements and anti-conformist notions that surged within the country in the period leading to the 1960s. The country was plagued with internal conflicts as the beat generation rebelled against the establishment. Moreover, the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s created much turbulence in domestic politics (Wiest, 2002, p. 7). If we consider these factors in the assessment of the Vietnam War, it would be quite clear that America’s decision to conduct this single warfare was a major blunder that paid heavily later on. American economy went through a depleting phase during the War as it was getting extremely difficult to provide logistics support so far away from homeland. Sustaining more than 536,000 US soldiers deployed in Vietnam was proving to be not so beneficial for the authorities concerned. Moreover, objection to the War was mounting back at home as the fantasy surrounding an easy victory gradually began to fade away with the Northern Vietnamese putting up a valiant effort to defend their territories from relentless US bombardments (Campagna, 1991, p. 29-30). The guerilla tactics adopted by the opposition troops proved to be a runaway success against a well-organized US Army. By and large, the failure to arrive at a bilateral resolution in accord with peace and disarmament led to increasingly unstable situation in South Vietnam, much to the dismay of the US soldiers fighting over there. The tiredness of a long and seemingly fruitless military engagement took the wind out of the US Army. The war in Vietnam was not only a military failure for the US, but also a diplomatic botch. US foreign relations with the UK came under much stress and speculation as the top level officials cast aspersions to one another regarding the justifiability to carry out military operations against North Vietnam. Even the Russian premiers mediated into the matter to expedite negotiations (Ellis, 2004, p. 46-47). America had to revise its foreign and defense policies to appease all parties. By and large, the Vietnam War attained virtually nothing substantial for America. It rather dampened the spirit of the soldiers and civilians alike. Additionally, the US government upon realizing its faulty war strategies refrained itself from launching direct assaults over other countries until the Iraq War in 2004. 1970s: Iranian Revolution Ensuring justice and human rights for all had always featured prominently in the US political agenda. But it was not so lenient with the Muslim countries in the Middle-East, including Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan. Iran being one of the largest exporters of crude oil to a number of Western countries enjoyed a privileged position of sorts. But its internal problems, especially religious rigidity to accept pluralistic views, led to external conflicts with countries such as the Great Britain and America. The revolution in 1979 promised to harbinger a new era of religious solidarity and sovereignty. The promise to build parliamentarian democracy in the country featured prominently in the revolution manifesto. It goes without saying this proclamation of democracy made by the loyal subordinates of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini was cordially welcomed by the Western superpowers including the United States. What it meant to America was no less significant than what it meant to the people of Iran. A democratic regime in an Islamic fundamentalist nation could resolve many pending issues between the two countries. It won’t be an overstatement to purport that the root of decentralization of global power game and economic control lied in this historic instance of monarchic overturn in Iran. But the aftermath of this shift in authority in Iran did very little to improve the bilateral relations between the two nations. Democracy became a far cry as socio-political subversions by a group of extremists increased furthermore, violating basic human rights. Iran’s economy became fragile and it sought assistance from the US to boost its financial upfront. Trade relations with the US remained volatile for a long time as the Iranian government’s stand to tie knots with its US counterpart was not seen in the best of spirits by anti-government quarters in the country. Sanctions granted by the US government to build nuclear power plants in Iran are no longer appreciated by many in modern times. Moreover, the hostage crisis in 1979 also embarrassed the US government a lot (Askari, 2003, p. 172-3). So once again we come to a political situation where an earlier decision made by the US government eventually backfired, leading to future conflicts. 1980s: Fall of Berlin Wall For America, the fall of Berlin Wall was one of the very few positives to have come out of innumerable negatives following the Cold War. During the Cold War, the US government made steadfast efforts to propagate the idea of socialism and capitalism as the two futuristic systems of governance (Latour, 1993, p. 8). But this campaign hardly generated any response in the global political arena. Both China and the Soviet Union endorsed communism and directly defied the US standpoint on the same. But the fall of Berlin Wall marked a visible route to capitalism and socialism not just in Europe but also in the rest of the world. Ideals of Marxism shattered to pieces as this polemic event foreclosed all possibilities for global communism to thrive in future (Wright, 2001, p. 441). But how did this event affect the United States? To find an answer to this question, it is imperative to examine the theoretical aspects of the longstanding stalemate situation that prevailed in Europe. Prior to the fall, the Eastern parts of Europe shared its allegiance with communist ideologies. The Wall stood as a symbolic barrier between the East and the West, or to put it more directly, between communism and democracy (Brune & Burns, 2003, p. 1163). Since its erection in 1961, the Western democracy was never allowed to exercise its influence on the Eastern side of the Wall. Resultantly, the world was distinctly divided into two political territories. On one side firmly lay its ideologies of liberation and secularism whereas the other side stuck to hardnosed communism. Under this impasse, the fall of Berlin Wall expanded the globe, so to speak, and facilitated greater cooperation between the West and the East. America for obvious reasons was the chief beneficiary out of this event as it, for the first time after the Cold War, got the opportunity to spread its capitalistic bundle of ideologies and materials to the oriental nations. 1990s: Global Terrorism When America sowed the seed of the Vietnam War in the 1960s and backed the guerilla commanders in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union in the next two decades, it actually dug up its own grave. The decade of the 1990s, which started on a bad note for the US with the Gulf War, eventually paved the path for greater destructions. The impassivity of the Cold War times was no longer there in the 1990s. Countries evinced their might in no uncertain terms as global economy faced numerous threats of collapse. Foreign policies of the United States government underwent scrappy changes during this decade with more number of international youths were permitted to set foot on US soils in their educational and professional capacities. But what it also meant was that a pool of Islamic fundamentalists sneaked into the country with deadly plans in mind. The enduring power of democracy and civil liberty was put to test as repeated terrorist attacks stirred the government up to its highest levels. As for the foreign and defense policies, President Bill Clinton had to forge a defense plan that categorically addressed the issue of terrorism. This decade saw a significant amount of money being allocated to internal defense. Key defense strategies were made and revised time and again to safeguard the mechanism. Moreover, state controlled intelligence agencies like the CIA and the FBI were fortified in view of possible terrorist attacks. However, as argued by Bellany (2007), the US government did not act proactively in the 1990s to gauge threat perceptions that were imminent. The CB technology, the author states, was fast becoming a potent tool for global militants. Yet it failed to come to the notice of the concerned law enforcing authorities (p. 130). The overall assessment of the 1990s would disclose some points that might be useful for further literature studies on the issue of terrorism. What happened in the following decade was very much a logical entailment to the events in the 1990s. American foreign policies for countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Palestine can be held responsible for the growth and expansion of terrorism. Additionally, the complacency factor also contributed to lapses in security measures. This is particularly true in the event of US Embassy bombings in Africa in 1998. Conclusion In essence, each of the major events following World War II is linked with one another in the common context of the Cold War. It is true that the world since 1945 has changed a lot. There has been a paradigmatic shift in the way political commitment is weighed in modern world. Moreover, economic liberty in an age of globalization has dissolved geo-cultural barriers to a great extent. It has bridged the gap between various social hierarchies and niches. Yet, the shadow of the Cold War between the United States of America and the Soviet Union still looms large in the events that have been discussed in this paper. Crafty diplomacy and political reticence adopted at one point of time by the two primordial superpowers in global politics eventually became the mantra of the new world order in the 21st century. References Advameg, Inc. (2010). Post – World War II: 1946 – 60. 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