How were the United States goals in World War I similar or different to the United States goals for fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan? The United States goals in World War I and Iraq and Afghanistan are very different, and this is partly because they are in totally different time periods and the technology is very different. World War I took place from 1914-1918 (Strachan 1), whereas the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started in 2003 and are still going (Deese 1), although many of the United States goals have already been accomplished.Also, the causes of the wars were totally different.
They were not started for similar reasons partly because of the time period, and because of some of the conflicts with other countries. The United States had a few prominent goals in World War I that stood out among some of the others, and one of them was making allies with other countries so that they could become more powerful (Strachan 1). They did this in many ways; one of them was joining to fight on the “allies” side of the war with Britan, France, and Russia (Varho 1).This would help them to become more powerful, and to win the war because the “axis” powers weren’t able to stand up to a whole new country pushing the military on them as well.
Also, the United States joined the allies because of the sinking of Lusitania, this was a British passenger ship, and it was sunken by a German U-Boat that was illegally off the coast of England (Strachan 1). Another cause that showed the United States was allying with other countries to become more powerful was that President Wilson stated that “The United States would make an effort to end the war by joining and defeating the axis powers. (Varho 1) Also another goal of the United states in World Fitzsimons 2 War I was to neutralize the Germans as a threat in the iron and steel industry, as they had been trying to surpass the United states in production for the past few years. The United States saw them as a threat as they started to rival the production by increasing the rate in which they produced steel greatly.
Germany had more than tripled their production, (Strachan 1) so it was very obvious to the United States that Germany was trying to surpass production.The United States needed to stay the leader in production because it directed the entire nation’s economy toward the war efforts, and if Germany was making more steel than them, then the economy would be weaker because of the cheaper German steel. (Varho 1). Another reason that the United States decided to join World War I was that Germany had launched unauthorized submarines to the east coast of the United States, and they needed to be removed or destroyed.
These German boats had already sunken the Lusitania, which was one of the main British passenger ships, that had not been a threat, so the German U-Boats were then viewed as hostile.Germany was also cutting off the British supplies, which was not allowed by the United States, so they had to step and in take a stand for the British. There were many causes from the United states involvement in World War I, and one of the most important ones was the United states became the first and foremost world power after. This caused the United States to be a formidable opponent, and they gained even more allies after the war because they seemed like the strongest, most dependable country.
However, this also made them more of a target for some of the other countries, because they wanted to gain what the United States already had.Another cause of the United States becoming the first supreme world power was that they could develop Fitzsimons 3 more powerful and stronger weapons than anyone else could at the time. (Strachan 1) The United States also lent out money that the other countries were supposed to pay back, although they never ended up doing it. Even though the money was never paid back, the United States ended up gaining allies for the future wars, and that was worth all of the money that they had used for the other countries.
The money was also lent to both sides of the battlefield, so the United States had allies on either side of the war which made them have power from more than just one side of the countries in the war. Also loaning this money out to other countries economies so that they wouldn’t fail helped the United States to make more allies and become more of a power. (Varho 1) The United States also made allies with Britan, Russia and France. This was very helpful for the United States because it had them gain allies on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, which helped them to make more trade, and made for a stronger military force.
Also with this power and the allies, they would be much stronger and even harder to defeat than they are in the first place. By making these allies, the United States was able to push through the war zones and make many victories as well. (Strachan 1) The United States also had a few prominent goals that showed up in Iraq. The main goal that showed up in Iraq was the invasion to try to locate and destroy the facilities for the weapons of mass destruction that we thought they were carrying.
We invaded in 2003 to try and stop n attack in advance, although nothing was found and all of the facilities were empty just like they had said they were.The United States was now a subject to criticism by the officials, because they had not just trusted what the officials had said, even though they are corrupt, the United States also lost credibility for making Fitzsimons 4 These false claims, so it would be less likely for some of the other countries to believe them in the future if they make more wrong accusations. Another main goal of the invasions of Iraq was to weaken the militias that were holding the cities hostage, so that the Iraqi people could go back to living their lives the way that they normally would.Some of the causes that the war in Iraq has cause for the United States is that the United States may seem to be less trustworthy now that it had made the false accusations of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction and running facilities to make them.
Also the United States has made more progress by greatly weakening the local militias and giving the people more power so that they are able to stand up against the power that the militias have on them.Also now that the United States is fighting in Iraq it has greatly lowered the terrorism rates because they are putting all of their effort into trying to defeat the United States and have stopped trying to show that they are stronger than other countries. (Gallagher 1) The war in Afghanistan also has a few very clear causes that we have goals for. One of the main goals in the war in Afghanistan is to get revenge on the Taliban, a terrorist group that attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.
There was an attack on the world trade center and the pentagon on the same day, made by planes that the terrorists hijacked and crashed into the structures. (Mockaitis 1) Also, the Taliban, the major terrorist group that controls Afghanistan, has control over many of the towns in Afghanistan and they are had to find because there are so many, and they are very well protected. Another reason that we are in Afghanistan is to fix their government which is now very corrupt, and although they are named as a democracy, they are not actually a Fitzsimons 5True one, their elections are rigged and none of the votes that didn’t go on the side that the government officials want are counted. The causes of the United states being in Afghanistan, is that we have capture a few of the leading Taliban officials, and have still not found them all, although they will still be searched for until they are found.
Another cause from the United States fighting in Afghanistan is that the Afghanis were forced to renounce violence by the United States and Israel. (Deese 1) Both of which will enforce their laws to make sure that they stay peaceful.Another important cause of the United States being involved in Iraq and Afghanistan is that the department of homeland security was established. This is to make sure that the airports are safe, and that there is almost no chance of there being another critical attack on the United States like there was on 9/11.
The wars were very different in many areas, such as motives, because the United States joined into World War I because it wanted to join the world powers, and it joined the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to protect them and it.The goal of joining World War I was to make the United States stronger, and to make sure that it would become a part of the main powers of the world. Some of the main goals in Iraq are not the same at all, such as trying to liberate the people, and trying to make sure that there are no weapons of mass destruction that they can use against us. Also, one of the main goals I Afghanistan is to make sure that the people have the power to be able to stand up to the militias and to make sure that there are no more attacks on United states soil.
There are very different goals in the wars economically as well. The United States was trying to gain allies in World War I, where in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan they are just trying to Fitzsimons 6 Help people be able to stand up to the corrupt government. (Maley 1) In Afghanistan, the United States is not gaining any money; they are only spending it because they are trying to help the people be able to stand up against their corrupt government. Another huge difference in between the wars is how humane they are.
The weapons back then were very brutal and would kill people slowly and painfully (Varho 1). Where we have weapons that are very efficient and will kill in a much more humane way. Trench warfare back in World War I was a huge issue because it would only injure people who would later die of blood loss or an infection. In Iraq it is much different because we don’t try to kill people all together; we want to avoid casualties so that we seem to be friendly and helpful to the people.
Also in Afghanistan we don’t want to be the ones to blame for all of the fighting that are going on.And the towns are supposed to be the ones leading the uprising against the militias. Not the United States. World War I and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are very different.
They have totally different motives in the social field, such as being powerful, and making allies. They also have totally different economical motives by having money spent and tried to get back in one, and the other two are just being spent so that the people can be saved from the power that the government has over them.
