WWI, Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War Essay

WWI, Great Depression, WWII, and the Cold War - Essay Example Although there is an uneasy balance in the power relationship between individual states and the federal government, it seems the federal government gained an upperhand in the power equation. The First World War (or WWI) started for no apparent or obvious reasons although it was believed the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria triggered it. This war started in 1914 and lasted until 1918 and it was originally mostly a European affair. This war later on became global and America, although leaning towards isolationsm, soon found it got involved in it on the side of the Allies or Triple Entente (Great Britain, France, and Russia against the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and later on, also Italy). It was the age of imperialism and colonization where countries vied for foreign territories and America entered the war supposedly to safeguard the democratic ideals it espouses but in real terms, America entered a period of its own imperialist ambitions. The federal government grew stronger in this period because of its Manifest Destiny polical doctrine (OSullivan 426). This was a time when America acquired several foreign territories such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hawaii, and the Philippines (in the 1898 Spanish-American War) after it had previously acquired vast territories formerly belonging to Mexico such as Texas, Illinois, Colorado, California, and Arizona. All these territorial acquisitions required a strong federal government for these actions to push through in Congress and in conduct of foreign policy. The expansionist strategy of America was soon followed by the Great Depression in 1929 that was started by a stock market crash on October 29, 1929 but later engulfed an entire world as assets prices collapsed. American citizens lost their life savings while the nations big wealth invested in its stock markets evaporated as panic ensued among the