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Prerequisites to the Spanish-American War
In February of 1898, the De Lome Letter was published which called President McKinley weak. A week later, America's USS Maine mysteriously exploded and sank in the Havana Harbor killing 268 Americans. -
Spanish-American War
US declares war on Spain and the first battle was in the Philippine Islands and the US defeated Spanish army to allow Filipinos gain their independence. War spread to Cuba and American volunteers defeated Spanish troops. By August, US and Spain agreed to stop fighting with the signature of the Treaty of Paris. This war resulted in Spain withdrawing from Cuba and the US having a greater presence in the Pacific (got Guam, Puerto Rico, and Philippines) making the US a world power. -
Annexation of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was valuable to America's military and economy due to its position in the Pacific and natural resources like sugar and fruit. Stanford B. Dole took control of Hawaii and lobbied for the US to annex it, securing America's position between the United States and Asia. -
Panama Canal
The US needed a water route across Central America, so President Roosevelt helped Panama declare independence from Columbia in order to secure some of their land to construct a canal. The canal was difficult to build due to the warm tropic climate, lack of workers, mosquitoes, and unstable terrain. However, the canal reduced travel time due to the shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. -
Beginning of World War I
Underlying tensions like nationalism, imperialism, and militarism were brought to the surface when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia which led to Russia taking sides with Serbia and mobilizing its military. As countries took sides, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia followed by Germany declaring war on Russia and France then Britain declaring war on Germany. -
The Machine Gun
The Machine Gun was invented decades before but perfected during WWI and became a dominant weapon. This transformed how soldiers fought and introduced Trench Warfare because it was extremely dangerous to be in the open. The Vickers Machine Gun and Lewis Gun were the most popular at this time, and they could fire over 600 rounds per minute. -
Response to Machine Guns
With the addition of Machine Guns in battle, multiple innovations such as Poison Gas, gas masks, tanks, airplanes, and submarines were introduced. The gas would attack soldiers hiding in the trenches, and tanks were used to go across "No Man's Land" which is the stalemate area where people would avoid because machine guns would kill them easily. Airplanes were used to gather enemy intel/attack infrastructure while submarines/U-boats enforced blockades and launched torpedoes on ships. -
US declares War on Germany
For the first three years of the war, America was neural. However, Germany hit the Lusitania ship killing 128 Americas and launched the Zimmerman Telegram where Germany was asking Mexico to form an alliance with them to attack the US. This violated our neutrality and President Wilson declares war to prevent communism. -
Assembly Line Invention
President Harding's policies increased the United State's economy, allowing for more technological innovations. Henry Ford's assembly line allowed for items to move on conveyor belts, so each worker was responsible for only one job allowing them to do it quicker. The assembly line resulted in more affordable pricing, faster production, and lower manufacturing costs. -
The Stock Market Crash
The economy was so high, people began to invest in the stock market where they could make a lot of money if the stocks grew. Investors bought more than they could afford and over speculated. In 1929, prices declined and on October 29th, it collapsed as people began to panic, taking as many stocks out as they could. -
The Great Depression
Banks began to fail because people took more money out than they had. People across America were in debt and poverty while businesses began going bankrupt and closing. -
The Holocaust
The Holocaust was led by Adolf Hitler as a genocide to eliminate Europe's Jewish population. They were stripped of their citizenship and rights. Some fled Germany and those who stayed/hided were forced into concentration camps facing inhumane confinement and subjected to mass extermination or extreme labor. -
World War II begins
After Germany being blamed so harshly for WWI, Adolf Hitler was able to aggressively rise to power with his extremist agenda. Hitler removed Germany from the League of Nations, annexed Austria, and demanded Czechoslovakia to surrender, trying to invade and expand. Finally, in 1939, Germany invaded Poland promoting France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany. -
The Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was started due to the race to the Atomic Bomb and the fear Nazi Germany would develop one first. Some of the greatest minds (Oppenheimer, Rabi, Teller, and even Feynman- my personal favorite) worked together to come up with one first. -
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The United States remained neutral for the first two years of WWII but supported the Allied countries (France/GB). Due to Japan invading China, the US cut off trade with Japan and they retaliated by attacking a military base in Hawaii (Pearl Harbor) killing thousands of Americans. President Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war and it was approved. -
Liberty of Concentration Camps
Allied troops marched into German-controlled lands and discovered (what was happening to what extent wasn't very publicly accepted) 250,000 prisoners kept in Nazi concentration camps. The death toll was 11 million, with 6 million being Jewish. After the war, Nuremberg trials charged high-ranking Nazi officials for war crimes against humanity. -
D-Day/Operation Overlord
The Allies had secured a presence in Southern Europe so they turned their attention to Western Europe. They launched the largest land-sea-air invasion in history against the German occupied city Normandy, France. It was a success and the Allies regained most control over France preparing to advance into Germany where Hitler surrendered at the Battle of the Bulge. -
Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bombing
As President Truman took office after the death of Roosevelt, he heard about the Manhattan Project. Japan refused to an unconditional surrender to the US after the US warned them that they had figured out the Atomic Bomb. There was also a group invasion expected to caused heavy Allied casualties, so Truman made the decision to drop a bomb (Little Boy) on Hiroshima and because Japan still hadn't surrendered, another one (Fat Man) on Nagasaki where Japan finally surrendered, ending WWII for good. -
The Korean War
North Korea (communist) invaded South Korea (republic) in order to reunite the countries into one nation. As a response, the United States led a United Nations military intervention to help South Korea and contain the spread of communism. General MacArthur drove North Korean army out of South Korea and invaded North Korea where they reached a stalemate. The war ended in 1953 and Korea remained divided along the 38th parallel. -
The Space Race
The Space Race was during the Cold War and it was a competition between the US and Soviet Union to get to space and explore first. It started when the Soviets launched the dog Sputnik in 1957 and then the US landed on the moon in 1969.