Recruitment Poster for World War 1

Popularity: 2% [?]

Above: The Allied battle plan Map

Amidst growing tensions between the two Persian Gulf neighbors, Saddam Hussein concluded that USA and the rest of the world would not interfere to defend Kuwait. On 2nd August 1990 Iraq invaded and came to control Kuwait. Within days USA along with the UN demanded Iraq’s immediate withdrawal. Few weeks later USA and member nations of UN deployed troops in Saudi Arabia. Under the aegis of the UN a worldwide coalition began to form.

Above: An Allied Aircraft deployed and dropping bombs in Kuwait

Above: Scene of Spanish - American War in 1898

{mosimage}(1898), conflict between the United States and Spain that ended Spanish colonial rule in the Americas and resulted in U.S. acquisition of territories in the western Pacific and Latin America.

The war originated in the Cuban struggle for independence from Spain, which began in February 1895. Spain’s brutally repressive measures to halt the rebellion were graphically portrayed for the U.S. public by several sensational newspapers, and American sympathy for the rebels rose.

Above: USS Maine battleship anchored in Havana, Cuba destroyed!

Abovee: Map of World War II

In the aftermath of World War I, the United States attempted to disengage itself from European affairs. The U.S. Senate rejected American membership in the LEAGUE OF NATIONS, and in the 1920s American involvement in European diplomatic life was limited to economic affairs.

Moreover, the United States dramatically reduced the size of its military in the postwar years, a measure widely supported by a public increasingly opposed to war. Events in Europe and Asia in the 1930s and early 1940s, however, made it impossible for the United States to maintain a position of neutrality in global affairs.

Above: Map of Europe during World War I (click map to enlarge)

The United States did not enter World War I until April 1917, although the conflict had begun in August 1914. After an intense period of military buildup and imperial competition, war broke out in Europe between Germany and Austria-Hungary (the Central Powers) and Britain, France, and Russia (the Allies). Turkey quickly joined the Central Powers and Italy joined the Allies in 1915.

Above: Picture of German U-Boats moored in the dock of Lisahally

Prelude to Involvement