Recent American History & Other Important Historical Facts
American Wars of the 1900s
Just as America fought wars in the 1800s, there were five wars that the United States fought during the 1900s, but unlike the Civil War of 1863, all of the wars in the 1900s were fought against other countries and most times fought with allies. The five wars were:
- World War I
- World War II
- The Korean War
- The Vietnam War
- (Persian) Gulf War
Let’s look a little bit more at these wars.
World War I (1914-1919)- also known as the Great War or the First World War
Fought against: Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman EmpireAllies: Britain, France, Italy
Cause: German submarines attacked British and U.S. ships
President: Woodrow Wilson
World War II (1939-1945)- also known as the Second World War
Fought against: Japan, Germany and ItalyAllies: France, Great Britain and the Soviet Union
Cause: Germany invaded Poland; Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
President: Franklin D. Roosevelt (also President during the Great Depression)
Major General: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe, who would later become the 34th U.S. President
The Korean War (1950-1953)
Fought against: North KoreaAllies: South Korea
Cause: North Korea moved across the boundary with South Korea (38th parallel)
President: Dwight D. Eisenhower (at war’s end)
The Vietnam War (1959-1975)
Fought against: North VietnamAllies: South Vietnam
Cause: To resist the communist takeover of the democratic south Vietnam
President(s): Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon
The Gulf War (1991)
Fought against: IraqAllies: International coalition forces
Cause: The invasion of Kuwait by Iraq
President: George W. Bush
The Cold War
The Cold War (1945-1991) was not an actual war, but rather a war of ideology or beliefs-capitalism and its freedoms in a democratic government vs. the principle of communism. The USSR (Soviet States of Russia) was a powerful country at the end of World War II that operated under the principles of communism. The United States and its allies (democratic governments) feared the expansion of communism to other countries by the Soviet Union.
That spread of communism was the main concern for the United States during this Cold War period and an arms race began between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, which did not end until the breakup of the USSR in 1991.
Other Important Historical Information
Besides the wars being fought during the 1900s, and ideologies being tested, there were also movements, people and events happening in America that would change many American lives. Among them, the civil rights movement and its leader, Martin Luther King, Jr., the American Indian Movement and the attack on American soil by terrorists.
The Civil Rights Movement & Martin Luther King, Jr.
The civil rights movement began in 1954 and its goal was to end racial discrimination against African Americans and to gain full and equal rights for all Americans of all races. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the main leader of the civil rights movement during the 1950s and 1960s, fighting for civil rights and equality for all Americans. It is through his efforts that civil rights laws were passed.
The passage of those civil rights laws ensured the end of racial segregation and the protection of voting rights.
The American Indian Movement
During the 1960s, there was also an American Indian Movement, with much the same goals as the civil rights movement: to end racism, civil and human rights issues against the American Indian. In 1968, the National Council on Indian Opportunity was established by President Johnson to focus on their plight.
The plight of many American Indians, or Native Americans, the first indigenous people of the United States, began during the 1700s and 1800s, when they were displaced and forced to relocate to Indian reservations and give up their culture.
American Indian Tribes
Strides have been made though and today, there are over 500 federally recognized tribes, with their own languages, political system and cultures.
A few of the recognized tribes are the: Cherokee, Navajo, Sioux, Choctaw, Pueblo, Apache, Creek, Iroquois, Seminole, Cheyenne, Huron, Shawnee, Crow and Hopi.
Terrorists attack the United States
On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked 4 aircraft and crashed two of them into the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in New York City, destroying both buildings. One of the planes was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia and the fourth plane, originally aimed at Washington, D.C., crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
Almost 3,000 people died in these attacks, most of them civilians. This was the worst attack on American soil in the history of the nation.
