Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

Although the United States has only been a country for a little over a mere 330 years, it seems hard to envision a world without an America in it. However, the United States hasn’t always been the dominant force that they are now. Back in the earlier days of America’s “Life” most of Europe just viewed the US as a little insignificant country across the Atlantic. This view of America started to change as they emerged from the Civil War and entered the late parts of the 19th Century. Led by some imperialistic conquests, Two World Wars, and some luck, the United States of America was able to emerge from the time period of 1885-1942 as the world’s new Super Power.
One of the three things that helped to shoot the United States from a measly country to a giant superpower was its economy. The thing that helped America to a good economy most was its vast array of natural resources. Most countries that were major powers in the late 19th Century had a smaller home land, but expanded their overall borders through Imperialistic wars and conflicts. The United States did expand its borders through Imperialism; however inside its own borders the United States Government could find a plethora of useful, needed resources. Many nations in the early parts of the 20th Century began a swift militarization campaign. This required a great deal of steel to create all of the weapons and machinery that were used in World War One. If countries did not find this inside of their own borders, they would have to get it from somewhere, which usually required importing it from nations around the globe. The United States had a huge jump that none of the other major countries in the world from 1890 through 1938 had. Throughout most of that time period, the United States had more than double and sometimes even up to four times as much steel production as the second place nation, Germany. (Kennedy, 200, Steel Production Chart). Even though the United States of America did not start to...

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