The Two World Wars and the Great Depression
World WarⅠbrought the United States into a major international conflict for the first time in its history.At the beginning of the war，the American government under President Woodrow Wilson adopted a neutral policy，in part because most Americans did not want to be involved in a European conflict.In addition，neutrality would bring America economic advantage because it would allow Americans to trade with all warring states.
However，Americans were emotionally on the side of the Allies because of their close cultural and economic relationship with Britain.American factories produced large quantities of military goods and sold most of them to the Allies.American financiers also lent large amounts of money to Britain.By 1917，Britain owed American lenders﹩2.3 billion.This made British victory over Germany extremely important to American businessmen and financiers.
In addition，Germany’s disregard for neutrality helped push the United States into the war on the Allied side.Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare and its attack of merchant ships led the United States to sever diplomatic relations with Germany.But the immediate factor that finally pushed the United States into the war was the Zimmerman Telegram from German foreign minister Arthur Zimmerman to a German minister in Mexico which promised the return of Mexico’s lost territories in New Mexico，Arizona，and Texas if Germany won the war.The message was intercepted and decoded by British intelligence services and was sent to the U.S.government.Americans were outraged by this.The United States declared war on Germany five weeks later on April 6，1917.In May 1917，Congress passed a law instituting a military draft.More than five million people were drafted into the military，of whom more than 100，000 died before Germany finally surrendered on November 11，1918.
President Wilson declared that the United States was fighting“a war to end all wars”.To achieve this purpose，he outlined principles for a peace settlement in his speech to Congress on January 8，1918;these became known as the Fourteen Points.They included open diplomacy，freedom of the seas，free trade，arms reductions，withdrawal from territories occupied during the war，impartial adjustment of colonial claims，national self determination，and，most importantly，the creation of an international organization to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity of member states.Wilson called for a peace“without annexations or indemnities.”
However，the victorious Allied countries thought the Fourteen Points were too lenient to the Germans.The Allies had suffered tremendous losses during the war and they were determined to make the Germans pay for that.As a result，the Treaty of Versailles which Germany was forced to sign forced it to give up part of its prewar territory and all its overseas colonies.It also forced Germany to accept responsibility for the outbreak of the war and to pay a large sum of reparations to the Allied countries.The only one of Wilson’s Fourteen Points that was included in the Treaty of Versailles was the League of Nations.Ironically，the American Senate rejected the treaty for which Wilson had worked so hard.The United States later signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921.
Many people believe that the Treaty of Versailles sowed the seeds for World WarⅡ.Germans were unhappy about the treaty because they believed that Germany was treated unfairly.The large sum of reparations demanded by the Allies caused tremendous suffering for ordinary Germans.
While the war brought economic disaster to Europe，it generated economic prosperity in the United States as war production provided an opportunity to all kinds of businesses.After the war，pent⁃up desire for cars，household appliances and other commodities among the people allowed the economy to continue its prosperity.Automobile production soared with the use of the assembly line.The automobile revolutionized American society and stimulated the growth of other industries such as oil，rubber，steel，and glass，as well as promoting the construction of roads.Big businesses also made millions of dollars in profit each year in manufacturing household appliances such as washing machines and refrigerators.
The First World War also brought many other changes.Women，who had been fighting for suffrage since 1848，finally got their right to vote when Congress passed the 19th amendment in 1919 and enough states ratified it in 1920.For the first time in American history，more people lived in the cities than in the rural areas and the country turned into a consumer society in the 1920s.People began to buy all kinds of things with credit.Middle class Americans began to have more leisure time and were attracted by all kinds of cultural activities which promoted the development of mass culture.Jazz，a distinctive American form of art，became so popular in the 1920s that people sometime named the decade as the“Jazz Age”.
However，the prosperity was not shared by all people in America.Many people did not see a marked increase in their income as the wage for many factory workers did not rise as fast as prices and their working condition was not markedly improved.Farmers also had difficulties as prices of farm products declined.Many Americans blamed the large numbers of immigrants for their difficult situation because they believed that new immigrants took jobs from native⁃born people and drove wages down.They demanded that the government should end unlimited immigration.As a result，in 1921，Congress passed the Immigration Quota Law which limited the number of new immigrants to 350，000 each year，and then reduced the number to 150，000 in 1924.Racism was also strong after the war.The racist Ku Klux Klan organization spread to the whole country and its membership rose to 4.5 million people who attacked blacks and harassed new immigrants.
Many writers saw the problems of the period.A group of influential writers including Earnest Hemingway and F.Scott Fitzgerald，known as the Lost Generation，saw troubling elements amid the boom times and left home for France.They wrote about the disillusionment and unhappiness underneath prosperity.Another group of realistic writers such as Theodore Dreiser and Sinclair Lewis wrote about the emptiness they saw in middle class life.
The postwar prosperity did not last very long.Wealth was concentrated in the hands of a small group of people，and the majority of the population did not have enough money for the things they needed.Towards the end of the decade，many people could not pay their credit bills and had to cut back on purchases.The result was a surplus of goods and businesses had to reduce production，which in turn caused an increase in unemployment.Business profits started to decline and investors began to lose confidence in the value of company shares，resulting in a stock market sell⁃off.On October 24，1929，a day remembered by Americans as Black Thursday，the New York stock market crashed.Soon afterwards，more than 5，000 banks failed，and millions of people lost their savings.This marked the beginning of the Great Depression，the worst economic crisis in U.S.history.Between 1929 and 1932，GNP fell from﹩150 billion to﹩108 billion and national income fell from﹩81 billion to﹩41 billion.About 85，000 businesses went bankrupt and industrial production declined by 45％.By the end of 1932，investment had dropped to 5％ of the 1929 level and more than 16 million workers had become unemployed.Many people lost their homes and had to live in shantytowns.
Natural disaster rubbed salt in the wounds.Severe drought hit the Great Plains in 1930 and strong winds carried away the fertile top soil，turning the formerly rich farming area into what became known as“the Dust Bowl”.Many farmers had to leave their homes and became migrant workers in California.John Steinbeck vividly described the region’s difficulties in his novel The Grapes of Wrath.
After the first few years of the Depression，many voters had lost hope in the Republican President Herbert Hoover，who failed to take effective measures to solve the crisis.In 1932，Americans elected the Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt as President.Roosevelt promised a“New Deal”to save the country from the Depression，and asked Congress for broad executive power to resuscitate the economy.Just after his inauguration，he called a special session of Congress and pushed through more than 70 bills during his first hundred days in office.The main legislation that formed the foundation of the New Deal was passed between 1933 and 1938.
The New Deal gave the President unprecedented power to intervene in the nation’s economic life.For the first time in U.S.history，the government deliberately practiced deficit spending.Congress passed the Unemployment Relief Act in March 1933 which authorized the President to use federal funds to assist people who had lost their jobs.The National Labor Relations Act guaranteed workers’right to organize themselves and to bargain collectively for better working conditions and higher pay.The Fair Labor Standards Act required most industries to implement maximum working hours and minimum wages.Child labor was also prohibited by federal law.The government also introduced programs to deal with agricultural problems.The Agricultural Adjustment Act sought to raise the price of farm products by reducing production and provided farmers with loans to pay for their farm mortgages or to buy new farms.
Aside from economic policies，Roosevelt’s administration also initiated large⁃scale of social reforms.The most significant and enduring part of the New Deal was the Social Security Act of 1935.In an effort to ensure greater economic security，the Act established three major programs：a retirement fund，unemployment insurance and welfare grants to the states.The retirement fund was established from contributions from both employers and employees and provided for benefit payments to retirees over 65 years old.Later amendments to the Social Security Act provided for payments for the spouse and minor children of retired workers and an insurance program to benefit disabled workers.The Unemployment Insurance program provided short⁃term benefits for people who became unemployed through no fault of their own.These programs had lasting effects on American society，and have become an important safety net for most Americans today.
The New Deal enjoyed broad public support，and this backing helped Roosevelt to win election to the Presidency three more times，for a total of four.The New Deal programs succeeded in easing the hardships caused by the Depression and greatly increased the power of the federal government to intervene in the nation’s economic life.The economy did recover to a certain degree，but it took another world war to lift the economy completely out of the Depression.
When World WarⅡstarted，most Americans were determined to stay out of it.Before the war started，Congress passed several neutrality laws in an effort to ensure that the US would stay out of any European conflicts.The neutrality laws banned loans or arms sales to nations at war，and also warned Americans against traveling on ships belonging to nations at war.But after Germany invaded Poland in 1939，President Roosevelt successfully lobbied Congress to allow the sale of ammunitions to the Allied countries under a program known as Cash and Carry，which required the purchasing countries to pay cash and to carry the goods in their own ships.When France surrendered in June，1940 and almost the whole European continent was under the control of Nazi Germany，the United States decided to help the British to defend themselves against the Germans in almost all ways short of declaring war.In early 1941，Congress passed the Lend⁃Lease Act which authorized the President to lend or lease military equipment and other goods to Britain and any other nations whose defense was vital to the security of the United States.This turned the United States into what Roosevelt termed a“great arsenal of democracy”.In August the same year，Roosevelt and Churchill issued a joint declaration，known as the Atlantic Charter，which outlined the principles the two nations would follow after the war，including freedom of the seas and the right of all people to choose the form of their government.
On December 7，1941，Japan brought the United States into the war by attacking the U.S.Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.Japanese warplanes sank 21 American naval ships，destroyed 165 airplanes，and killed thousands of military and civilian personnel.The American public was outraged，and the next day，the U.S.Congress declared war on Japan.Three days later，Germany and Italy declared war on the United States，which formally brought the United States into World WarⅡ.
After Pearl Harbor，the United States mobilized massive resources for the war effort.A series of draft laws brought millions of people into the armed forces.Industries quickly switched to war time production，turning out guns，tanks and other materiel in large quantities.Numerous government agencies were set up to supervise war time production and consumption.
Although it was Japan which pushed the United States into the war，the Allies decided to concentrate their efforts on defeating Germany first.After invading Italy in 1943，the United States and Britain opened a second front in Europe the following year.On June 6，1944，known as D⁃Day，Allied forces landed in Normandy，in northern France.The landing in Normandy involved about 3 million personnel，4，000 landing craft，600 warships，and some 11，000 aircraft.Following the invasion，the Allies advanced through France into Germany，while the Soviet Union pushed into Germany from the east.On May 7，1945，Germany surrendered unconditionally.
The United States then concentrated its war effort on defeating Japan.When the Japanese refused to surrender，the U.S.dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6，1945，killing and wounding about 180，000 people.Three days later，another atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki，killing or wounding 80，000 more people.Both cities were virtually obliterated.Many of those who survived the holocaust suffered long term illnesses.On August 14，1945，Japan surrendered unconditionally and World WarⅡcame to an end.
The war was costly.A total of 322，000 Americans had been killed and 800，000 more wounded.Financially，the government spent﹩625 billion on the conflict.However，unlike the European countries which were completely devastated by the war，the United States emerged much stronger than before.The war ended the Great Depression and brought widespread prosperity.Unemployment virtually disappeared as a social problem.The nation’s industrial capacity increased to an unprecedented level.The war had made the United States the most powerful nation in the world.
The conflict also permanently changed American foreign policy.While the country tried to turn back to isolationism after World WarⅠ，it actively participated in international affairs following World WarⅡ.On April 25，1945，representatives from fifty nations gathered in San Francisco to discuss the framework of a United Nations organization and to draft a charter for it.Two months later，President Truman（Roosevelt having died on April 12，1945）signed the United Nations charter and the Senate approved it with no opposition.The United States was more fully committed than ever before to participate in international affairs.