World History
Question a
One of the most significant events of World War II was the German invasion of Poland. Hitler invaded Poland in September 1939 and Britain and France declared war on Germany (Roberts, 2012). After Germany conquered Poland, it attacked France. The Battle of Midway was another key event of World War II. The US forces destroyed hundreds of Japanese planes to regain control of the Pacific. D-day was also experienced during World War II. The US troops invaded Germany by passing through France and Belgium (Roberts, 2012). The Germans surrendered as they were attacked by both the Americans and Russians.
Question b
One of the reasons for the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was the Soviet Union’s refusal to be part of the United Nations (UN) (Leffler & Painter, 2005). Going back to World War II which had just ended, Stalin was piqued because he felt that the Soviet armies and populations had suffered unnecessary losses because America and Britain delayed D-Day being unwilling to end the war earlier. Moreover, the Soviet Union feared America’s nuclear weapons and America’s refusal to share its nuclear secrets. American society was plunged into anxiety because of the Cold War. The cultural antagonism between the then superpowers including the United States and the Soviet Union had both positive and negative impacts (Leffler & Painter, 2005). An adverse impact was political confrontations not only between the two countries but across the world thus interfering with the nature of U.S. politics. Further, the two countries engaged in economic competition due to their different economic philosophies resulting in America spending heavily on its military to win a potential war. McCarthyism led Americans to form anti-Communist groups such as the House Un-America Committee (HUAC) to eliminate the communists within the US through a witch hunt.
Question c
The Great Society, launched in 1964 by President Johnson, were domestic programs whose primary objective was completely eliminating poverty and racial injustice (Hinton, 2015). Its major aspects were the war on poverty, urban renewal, education reform, Medicaid and Medicare legislation, and support of the arts and humanities.
References
Hinton, E. (2015). “A War within Our Own Boundaries”: Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and the Rise of the Carceral State. The Journal of American History, 102(1), 100-112. Retrieved online from https://academic.oup.com/jah/article/102/1/100/686903
Leffler, M. P., & Painter, D. S. (Eds.). (2005). Origins of the Cold War: An international history. Psychology Press. Retrieved from http://www.hist.asu.ru/faculty/cafedrs/library/Origins_of_Cold_War.pdf
Roberts, P. M. (2012). World War II: The essential reference guide. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.