Transcript Lewis

Controlling International
Power
Shelly Lewis
The benefit of having a history of wars and tragedies is that as people of the future our
government can see where the United States went wrong and prevent it from happening
again. World War II is one of the major events that has been researched and now America
has a better understanding of how the conflict began and why it exploded into a massive
chaos. One country gained enough power to get resources that would help them get more
than what they already had. The power to kill is a strong force that Japan and Germany
used against the world. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and upset the United States,
practically forcing them into the war in order to defend democracy. Germany killed millions
of Jews during the holocaust, because that was their way of showing control over those
who were weak. Our government did what it had to in order to preserve democracy,
establish peace and save lives, not to take over the world. Japan and Germany became
irresponsible and abused their privacy rights. Both countries kept their plans of attack and
mass murder a secret from the rest of the world. The rise of powers came all throughout
the 1930s, Mussolini of Japan showed his position of power by attacking China in 1937.
Adolph Hitler climbed the ladder to the top of Germany’s leader as a dictator all throughout
the 1930s he used power to control. Hitler overpowered his citizens and turned a majority
of them into anti- Semitists and Nazis. With the rage and anger that Hitler grew in
Germany, so did the people, and they began to take advantage of the weak Jewish people
in Germany, and then Poland and so on. Eventually, concentration camps like Auschwitz
were in effect and killing lives everyday. While Hitler was gaining power one step at a time,
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and created a huge disturbance the
Americans with this surprise attack. The United States was dragged into the war, in order
to establish peace among all nations once again. So America became the central power of
World War II, fighting for the allies and against the hunger for control around the world.
Power was used in World War II as a necessity in order to gain control over others, but
when power was abused by an irresponsible force, death was the result.
Power was the evil mechanism that the enemies of World War II
abused because it was simple for them to kill and therefore gain
control over others.
The Nazi military was massive in numbers, and
overpowered German Jews, along with
other types of people who were
discriminated against. In the co-mix to the
left, Arte Spiegelman drew of his father at
one of the selections that he had to go
through in Auschwitz. The prisoners of war
look very skinny, much like skeletons. Those
who passed through these selections
survived because they were fit and healthy
so they could work for the Nazis. But as the
right box shows, those who were sick and
close to death were sent to the crematory.
The way the Spiegelman makes the
crematory look is so dark, evil and
mischievous, which is exactly what it was to
the prisoners of war.
(Spiegelman, Arte. Maus; Volume 2, pg. 58)
Power was what Hitler and Mussolini used against the world, their
plan was to take over completely so control was the only advantage
they had.
The political cartoon to the right depicts what
Mount Rushmore would look like if Mussolini
and Hitler took over the world. Democracy
would no longer exist, a dictatorship of
Nazi’s would overpower our free country.
The lessons and laws that were established
by our founding fathers would be destroyed,
and Mussolini and Hitler would take over.
This is the vision that America fought
against in World War 2, letting these two
terrifying leaders take over would be a sin
to the world.
There needs to be a central control for the world, so in case of a time
of war, there are boundaries of which each side can not disobey.
Japan crossed the line when they bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. This action can
not be expectable, because justice is not right. This type of behavior from an international power
needs to be contained, this is why there is international law about war. Unfortunately, what
should have been the central power, was attacked and then had to be apart of the world war.
But if the United States hadn’t been involved, Japan or Germany could have done more damage
than they already had. In the comic above, all of the Japanese people are pulling in Uncle Sam
(America) into the war, because of their attack on Pearl Harbor. ‘The end of the Nap’ is referring
to how President Truman tried to keep our country as isolated as possible, but with the powers
and forces that were going on overseas, America had to step in and help save liberty.
America used power as well, but didn’t use it as a way to gain control,
just to preserve freedom and democracy in our country.
The first Atomic Bomb (Little Boy) was
dropped on Hiroshima on August 6th 1942,
killing 100,000 people immediately or
suffering through a causality that killed
them later on. The irony of dropping the
bomb, was that we helped Hitler gain more
power in a way, and that is what the comic
to the right is illustrating. When we attacked
Japan, we used all of the intelligence of our
scientists to create this killing monster
through radiation. Our intentions were to
make Japan realize we had more power
than them and that they should surrender
before we do something worse (Fat man).
The power that the United States used was
not to inflict
The End!!
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