Decades of Conflict and War: the American Tradition

Decades of Conflict and War: The American Tradition

Ginny Kleinhans

September 5, 2010

HIS135

Mona Rocha

Decades of Conflict and War: The American Tradition

The United States of America is a nation founded by and established through conflict and war. Sadly, this history of confrontation seems to have become an American tradition. This tradition is easily seen when reviewing American history after the end of World War II. Every decade from 1950 through 1990 this young nation has experienced at least one major conflict. The purpose of this writing is to detail what may be the single most significant event from each of the decades. This review will begin with the Korean War in the 1950’s and continue through the Gulf War in the 1960’s.

1950’s: The Korean War

Only five short years after the end of World War II, the United States found itself at war once again. This time the battle would be fought in North and South Korea. The United States became involved in the battle between these two countries due to the Cold War ideology. North Korea may have been a new battlefield, but the old enemy, Communism, was to be blamed. North Korea, a Communist country, had invaded its southern democratic country, South Korea. Since Asia had been identified as a region that would be crucial in winning the Cold War fight for democracy over communism, this invasion was unacceptable and had to be stopped.

In mid-September 1950 the United States, along with other United Nations countries, fractured the North Korean army through the Inchon invasion. As the months continued to be successful and UN troops were pushing further into North Korea, unexpected communist support occurred. Soldiers from the communist country of China poured into North Korea from the north, pushing UN soldiers back into the southern portion of South Korea. According to the United States Navel Website, it took until the middle of 1951 before the Chinese and North Korean armies were contained and...