The American Republic To 1877 © 2007Chapter 19:
The Making of Modern AmericaChapter OverviewsIn the 1930s the United States fell into a severe economic crisis called the
Great Depression. The economy crumbled, and joblessness and poverty skyrocketed.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal programs sought to ease Americans'
suffering and fight the Depression. It was not until World War II broke out,
however, that the nation fully recovered from the Depression. World War II began when Adolf Hitler, leader of the Nazi Party in Germany,
invaded Poland. The United States joined the war on the side of the Allies—Great
Britain, France, and the Soviet Union—when Japan attacked the U.S. naval
base at Pearl Harbor. Japan, Germany, and Italy formed the Axis powers. In April
1945, the Allies achieved victory in Europe. The war in the Pacific ended after
the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. On the American home front,
the war caused industry to expand rapidly and created new opportunities for
women and African Americans. As World War II ended, a rivalry—known as the Cold War—developed
between the United States and the Soviet Union. The United States was committed
to stopping the spread of communism, a goal that led to American involvement
in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The post-war era was a time of economic
prosperity for Americans. The civil rights movement also began in the 1950s
as African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans, and women struggled for equal
rights. The second half of the twentieth century brought many challenges to the United
States. During the 1970s the United States suffered from an oil embargo imposed
by the Arab states. President Nixon was caught in the Watergate scandal and
became the first U.S. president to resign. President George Bush became involved
in a war in the Middle East when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Another crisis emerged
soon after Bush's son, George W. Bush, won the presidency in 2000. On September
11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City and the
Pentagon in Washington, D.C., leading Bush to gather a worldwide coalition to
support a war against terrorism. The effort to protect Americans continued when
the U.S. military attacked Iraq in March 2003. President Bush argued that the
Iraqis were hiding weapons of mass destruction. Even after the regime of Iraqi
dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled, it was clear that the path toward a stable
Iraq would not be easy.
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