Today, military history has a much broader scale than what the preceding generations of academicians have granted it. In as much as the larger part of the story tend to talk more about armed conflicts, battles, and campaigns, the history also highlights how societies unite and establish institutions for security purposes and how those institutions function in times of peace and war. It is also the story of soldiers and the subcultures which they belong. It constitutes the extensive variety of economic, political, legal, social as well as cultural and technological issues that come from the state's need to organize conflict and violence to protect its people, preserve its integrity and fulfill their domestic goals. Military history cannot be perceived as a distinct, peculiar, subdivision of the more extensive history of a society, preferably, it is an essential part of the society, and the spirit of a military, the armed citizen, is a portrayal of that society. The US military history is rigidly inclined in the mainstream of contemporary western military department. Being heirs of the customs and traditions of the Europeans, the US military has both added and borrowed from that main current. Designed by the contemporary world environment, an outcome of both democratic and industrial revolutions, the US military has also evolved alongside the country it provides service to in a unique manner. To this new era and to the current generation whose national security is always at stake, the role that the US military has played in America and the entire world becomes of collective interest and of ultimate importance.
Establishment of the U.S
War is just a single aspect of military history; however, it is still the vital test of any military formation and hence an essential element. Thus, the changes in warfare that take place over a period is a genuine attention for any scholar of military history. The US military has been both a beneficiary and a backer of the yields of warfare changes that were initiated by western nations. The US was established in the 18 th century in the era of European succession wars which involved professional soldiers whose maneuvers and battles yielded little effects on the general population. Until the end of that century, wars were relatively simple and were limited to goals, territories, and forces. However, this changed with the initiation of "nation in arms" in the times of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars. Warfare assumed another perception, and it became conflicts of mass armies of recruits which were inspired by the concept of revolution. With the extension and growth of industrial revolution in the succeeding century, wars became more compound and multifaceted and wielded an ever cumulating influence on quite a considerable number of other components of the society. The emergence of this new era and warfare ideology corresponded with the evolution of the US as an autonomous and sovereign nation.
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In the first segment of the 20 th century, the effects and impacts yielded by warfare became so severe such that they were not only felt by the warring nations, but also the entire world which was propelled by the first growing transport and communication channels. The results and outcomes of these wars were no longer assessed and rated using the 18 th -century approach which constituted national and territorial honor. but rather by means of national survival. Hence, as warfare widened in the last two centuries to encompass more people and considerable resources, its definition was also protracted to involve more activities.
War of Independence (1775–83)
In 1775, the U.S. congress launched the continental navy, continental marine and continental army and declared George Washington as its commanding principle. After the formation of the military troop, George Washington was able to drive the British away from Boston, however, in 1776, they returned to New York and nearly conquered Washington’s army. In 4 th July 1776, the revolutionaries drove off the British representatives from the 13 states and declared sovereignty and independence amongst themselves.
In their part, the British were short of both a united command and a well laid winning plan. Using the Royal Navy, Britain was able to capture the coastal cities; however, their control of the countryside evaded. A British raid from Canada ended in 1777 with a tragic renunciation of the British military in Saratoga. With the advent of Von Steuben, the training and discipline in Prussia commenced, and the continental army started to develop into a more consistent force. The French and the Spanish entered into the war and allied with the US ("Sensibility and the American War for Independence," 2004). This weakened the British thus bringing to an end their naval advantage. Ultimately, the Netherlands allied with the French and this made the British to be outstripped both on land and in the sea since they had not formed principle alliances apart from their affiliation with the Indians, loyalists, and Hessian tribes.
The shift of targets to the south American states in the year 1779 by the British resulted in many victories. However, Nathaniel Green instituted the Guerilla warfare tactic which barred them from making tactical headways (Hill, 2016). The newly formed military wings under George Washington along with the French and Spanish military groups conquered the British army in 1781 at Yorktown. The new constitution which was sanctioned in 1789 declared the president as the commander in chief of the armed forces and having total authority from Congress to declare war, impose taxes, and make laws.
War of 1812
By this time, one of the most substantial military actions that the US had involved itself in was the war of 1812. Having Britain engaged in a big war with Napoleon of France, their policy was strategized to block American assistance to France. America chose to assume a neutral position while engaging in its international trades. Britain blocked the trade and recruited the American traders into their Navy seal.
Furthermore, the British supported a revolt by the Indians in the American Midwest. After this, the U.S dropped its neutral position and declared war against the UK in 1812 which remains to be the first war declaration by the US. The US invaded the British empire by first attacking Canada with anticipation to use the captured territory as a negotiating chip. The annexation of Canada was a total fiasco, even though concurrent wars with the natives on the western front were a success (Gough, 2005). After the defeat of Napoleon of France, Britain forwarded its army in New York to get control of the Mississippi River. The New York raid was a total debacle after a considerable part of the British recoiled and withdrew back to Canada. This happened after their defeat during the war of Baltimore in the Chesapeake Bay. They ultimately drafted and signed a peace treaty with the US, and from that day henceforth, the US and the British have never been into war. The great losers of the 1812 war were the Indians since they never got the Midwest sovereign territory which had been promised to them by Britain.
American Civil War (1861–1865)
The deep cumulating anxieties between the Southern and Northern state soon arrived in their climax after the declaration of the anti-slavery Abraham Lincoln as a president of the US in 1860. The states of the southern region disaffiliated from the US and established a distinct confederation. The southern region declared war in 1861 after the firing of Fort Sumter. The civil wars caught both sides off-guard and no party was capable of winning it (Carlander, 2006). After neutrality, both sides battled to form armies which were huge than previous American forces. And after creating their militias, they declared the Battle of Gettysburg which left quite a considerable number of individuals died and others severely injured.
At first, the North tried to capture the southern confederates including their headquarters in Richmond Virginia. As the battle continued, the Northern region was more successful in using rivers, railroads, and the sea in supplying war resources. The war spread all over the continent and even protracted to the high seas. After battling for four solid years, with more sufferers than any other battle in the US, the vast northern population grounded in the south. The southern economy was left in debacle while the north flourished.
World War I (1917–18)
Right from the commencement of the world war I, The American wish was to remain neutral. Nonetheless, even remaining neutral, the US insisted on her rights to be respected. However, Germany attacked her submarine and ships which were transporting food and raw-material to Britain in 1914 (Tait Jarboe, 2010). Germans continued their attacks even after America insisted on its non-aligned position in the war. The US eventually declared war on Germany in 1917 and continued with their support on Britain and France.
By the climax of 1918 summer, one million US soldiers were already in Europe annexing the western front under the command of John Pershing. With a continuous increase of the US soldiers on the west front, Germany was overpowered, and this led the new German government to sign a conditional submission which instituted the culmination of the first world war in 11 th November 1918.
World War II (1941–45)
Initially, the role of the US in world war II was restricted to providing monetary support and war supplies to the Republic of China, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. However, it officially entered the war in December 1941 after the attack on the pearl harbor by the Japanese which resulted to the death of 2,403 Americans and the loss of 8 battleships. This made the US military to rely more on aircraft which ultimately won a significant victory on Japan at Midway just six months after entering the war. The Navy and marine forces later headed into the Pacific and arrived in the peripheries of Japanese land, and they extended their Midway victory into the battle of Okinawa in 1943 to 1945.
Earlier in 1942 and 1943, the US deployed its military personnel and resources to the UK which was followed by the bombing of Nazi Germany and which led to the surrendering of Nazi Germany in May of 1945. Though the ultimate European axis powers were conquered within a year, the struggle in the central part of Europe was horrendous particularly to the US, with many deaths of U.S. soldiers.
In the Pacific region, the US military was very successful in the blood-staining battles of Okinawa and Iwo Jima in 1944. However, the two battles made the US identify a way that could end the war with negligible and trifling deaths among the Americans (Dawes, 2018). They dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which eventually led to the surrender and withdrawal of Japan from the war on the 15 th of August 1945.
After the war, the US was able to stabilize in a short time and ultimately came out as the leading military power in the world. The US industries grew faster and the entire nation gained economic stands. The American military was able to fully assume and learn the importance of air superiority which remains to be progressive guidance in its 21 st -century military doctrines.
Cold War (1945–1991)
After bringing an end to the second world war, the US emerged as a worldwide superpower along with the Soviet Union. However, in the entire period of about 40 years, the US took part and offered military help to deputation wars against the Soviet Union. The US was the chief and main protagonist in Vietnam and Korean conflicts all during this time (Alcalde, 2018). They developed nuclear weapons beneath the idea of jointly guaranteed devastation with the Soviet Union. During this period, the concept of superiority complex between the U.S. and the Soviet Union was at its peak. No actual war took place during this time, but both the superpowers were inclined to providing support on their minor allies.
War on Terrorism (2001–present)
The war on terrorism is an international endeavor which is a collaboration of different governments – mainly the US and its chief allies, to curb terrorism from global terrorists, primarily the Islamic Radicals including Al-Qaeda, to ensure that Rogue nations no longer back criminal activities. This idea was espoused in December 2001 after several attacks on the United States mainly in Texas and Arkansas.
The first intervention after the idea of global terrorism was sanctioned, was made in Afghanistan where operations were undertaken by the US military to overthrow the Taliban Government and terminate Al-Qaeda training camps. This operation is known and is understood to be the commencement and in many ways a definition of the campaign of the broader war on Terrorism. The focus on Special Operations forces, diplomatic consultations with independent military bodies, and the utilization of surrogate militaries, denoted a considerable change from the previous U.S. military techniques.
In January 2002, the United States deployed 2000 U.S military personnel to help the Philippine force combat terrorist groups characterized with al-Qaida under the OEFP operation. Military operations have been taking place in the Sulu Archipelago where terrorists’ activities have been vigorous. Nonetheless, there are some military troops which offer training and help in terrorism operations in Philippine.
With the formation of ISIL and its annexation of some of the areas of the Syrian and Iraq region, quite a good number of predicaments were experienced, which triggered global attention. ISIL had effected religious murders and conflicts in both Syria and Iraq. The Iraq army retreated in the Iraq war, and this made the ISIL group take over the cities and continuously enforce the Sharia laws which jeopardized the lives of ordinary citizens. The abduction and execution of various Western Journalists also sparked interest and wrath among the Western powers. The US mediated by air striking some ISIL territories. Ultimately, an alliance between the U.S. and Middle East governments was formed, and they instigated a bombing operation in Syria which was deliberated on terminating ISIL and Al-Nusra territories. By the end of the year 2017, ISIL territories had been destroyed. Currently, the U.S. military in coalition with the Middle East powers is continuing its operations in Syria against the Assad regime especially after the release of the chemical Douma, in 2018.
Conclusion
To this new era and to the current generation whose national security is always at stake, the role that the US military has played in America and the entire world becomes of collective interest and of ultimate importance. It is quite clear that right from the beginning, the focus of the U.S prowess in military action was to institute peace and neutrality in the world. After establishing its independence, the U.S has always been in search of military prowess, and this is crystal clear in the current world. Most nations are relying on the US competence and its ability to bring neutrality, especially in the Middle East.
References
Alcalde, Á. (2018). War veterans, international politics, and the early Cold War, 1945–50. Cold War History , 1-19. doi: 10.1080/14682745.2018.1455663
Carlander, J. (2006). Sacred Debts: State Civil War Claims and American Federalism, 1861-1880 (review). Civil War History , 52 (4), 444-446. doi: 10.1353/cwh.2006.0069
Dawes, J. (2018). American Writers and the Approach of World War II, 1935–1941: A Literary History Shell Shock, Memory, and the Novel in the Wake of World War I. American Literature , 90 (1), 177-179. doi: 10.1215/00029831-4326490
Gough, B. (2005). Book Review: Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812: A Full and Correct Account of the Naval War between Great Britain and the United States of America, 1812–1815JamesWilliam; Lambert Andrew (Intro.), Naval Occurrences of the War of 1812: A Full and Correct Account of the Naval War Between Great Britain and the United States of America, 1812–1815.London, 1817; reprint, London: Conway Maritime Press [www.conwaymaritime.com], 2004. vii + xvi + 408 pp., illustrations, appendix, index. £25, US$39.95, cloth; ISBN 0-85177-987-5. International Journal Of Maritime History , 17 (2), 460-461. doi: 10.1177/084387140501700280
Hill, S. (2016). The Socio-Cultural Impact of the War of American Independence on Liverpool, 1775-83. Journal For Eighteenth-Century Studies , 40 (2), 163-180. doi: 10.1111/1754-0208.12408
Sensibility and the American War for Independence. (2004). The American Historical Review . doi: 10.1086/ahr/109.1.19
Tait Jarboe, A. (2010). Tim Cook, Shock troops: Canadians fighting the Great War 1917–1918. First World War Studies , 1 (1), 67-68. doi: 10.1080/19475021003621119
