The document summarizes key events of World War II and the postwar period that led to the end of American isolationism and the emergence of American rivalry with Japan. It discusses how the US initially remained neutral but eventually entered the war after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. It also outlines the Atlantic Charter signed by the US and Britain that established their alliance and principles for postwar peace. Finally, it examines how globalization accelerated after the war and how the US took on a dominant global role as the sole superpower after the fall of the Soviet Union.

1. Comparative History: Article ReadingsHist 141 Theme 8Summer 2011By: Le Thi My Ho

2. The war that began in Europe in 1939 and inquired the intervention of the Isolationists America at the end of 1941“WW II changed Americans from a nation of provincial innocents, ignorant of the great world, into a nation that would often have to bear the burdens of rescuing that world”The aftermath of war brought the collapse of all overseas Western empires, a cold war between communist and noncommunist nations, and finally, the arrival of Japan at the world’s economic and political centerThe end of American isolationism and the emergence of American rivalry with JapanWW II

3. 1930s - Adolf Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles and boldly reasserted Germany’s military power. The Nazi leader took Germany out of the League of Nations; formed an alliance with Italy’s fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini; and began a series of territorial seizures that culminated with the invasion of Poland in 1939, which plunged Europe into war 3 days later1939 – Neveille Chamberlain, British Prime Minister, flew to Munich and made an appeasement that gave Hitler half of Czechoslovakia in exchange for pledges that he would make no further territorial demands and that Britain and Germany would never fight each other again but Hitler didn’t keep his wordsWW II

4. March 11, 1941 - Congress passed Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease bill which gave billions of dollars of military aid to Britain and the Soviet Union, which Hitler invaded in June 1941 “An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States”December 1941 – Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, HawaiiAmerica declared war on Japan, and Hitler, in turn, declared war on AmericaWW II

5. How did the leaders of two Western democracies put aside their prejudices, surmount their domestic political obstacles, and negotiate their conflicting national interests in order to fight together against Hitler’s Germany?After France fell to the German onslaught in June 1940, US resolved to save England at all costsThe British were encouraged by Roosevelt’s plans for rearmament and his condemnation totalitarianismRoosevelt convinced Congress to permit the sale of arms to England on a “cash and carry” basis, for the British the revised Neutrality Act was a welcome improvementSept. 2, 1940 Us lend 50 destroyers to British and in return wanted 99 yr leases on 8 British possessions in the Americas on which the US could build air and naval bases to strengthen its own defensesWW II

6. Atlantic Charter – Issued in August 1941, 8 common principles of American and British for WWII and ensuing peace 1 No territorial gains were to be sought by the United States or the United Kingdom2 Territorial adjustments must be in accord with the wishes of the peoples concerned3 All peoples had a right to self-determination;4 Trade barriers were to be lowered5 There was to be global economic cooperation and advancement of social welfare6 The participants would work for a world free of want and fear7 The participants would work for freedom of the seas8 There was to be disarmament of aggressor nations, and a postwar common disarmamentWW II

7. The rapid acceleration of the movement of goods, capital, people and ideas across national boundariesPromoted by America’s aggressive free-trade policies and dominated by its mass culture industryCreated a worldwide consumer culture that spread American music, TV programs, clothing, and fast food everywhereEnglish as the true international language and the medium for 90% of transactions on the Internet, the “World Wide Web” that facilitated global exchange and came to symbolize itGlobalization and Empire

8. American leaders moved form the nation’s “multilateral” tradition of pursuing international alliances and agreements toward “unilateral” economic decisions and military interventionsUnited States must take on greater responsibilities in the new, hyperconnected world where local crises had immediate global repercussions and where terrorism threatened the rule of lawComparative and transnational approaches can place current trends in broader perspective and may also suggest “lessons” – both positive and negative – for us to consider as we debate America’s future and that of the world to which it is inextricably tiedGlobalization and Empire

9. Its disastrous war in Vietnam was evidence of imperial “overreach,” the situation where military commitments outrun economic resourcesThe U.S. was poorly prepared by its history and culture for the “multipolar” diplomacy and lowered economic expectations that this change would bring1980s-1990s – the American economy surged from gains in productivity, the rise of the computer industry, and booms in banking and real estateIn terms of both production and consumption, the U.S. is already a vastly wealthier empire than Britain ever wasGlobalization and Empire

10. The U.S. showcased its free-market economy and limited national government as the model for survival of the “fittest” global competitorsIn the sphere of international relations, when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and the Soviet Union disintegrated 2 yrs later, the U.S. became the world’s only superpowerWhen American presidents announce that they are intervening to supportfree trade, representative government, human rights, and international law around the world, they are promoting institutions that British officials successfully planted in their dominionsGlobalization and Empire

11. Empire – “a hierarchically organized political system with a hublike structure within which a core elite and state dominate peripheral elites and societies by serving as intermediaries for their significant interactions”3 level global power besides the politicalMilitary power – America dominatesEconomic power Transnational relations outside government controlGlobalization and Empire