Monday, November 9, 2015

World War II

Why does Eric Foner conclude that World War II ends with "Peace but not Harmony?" What does he mean?

This post will be available for comments until Monday, November 16.


29 comments:

  1. War ended with "peace but not harmony" because the fighting had ended between nations, but America's internal war against racism and discrimination is still going on. For example, the internment of the Japaneses and the continued lynching of African Americans created more and more boundaries between the different types of people in the country, thus keeping everyone from "harmonizing" with each other.

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    1. EDIT: The first time I heard the term, I associated it with America's internal conflicts for some reason. Now that I look back at the textbook, "peace but not harmony" meant that nations such as Britain and France are weakened after the war, and the remaining powers are the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The two held guard against each other because of their different ideologies, resulting the Cold War. Both sides were scared because the U.S had used a bomb before, leaving a "legacy of fear" (Give Me Liberty 891).

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    2. Yes! Both points you made are essential to Eric Foner's statement. On the Int. platform, in order for each Allied Nation to enforce their self interests, they undermined one another's. US desires to establish a world wide free trade ( and avoid another depression) influenced the desire to push for India's & other British colonies independence. Britain had no interest in losing territory esp. after losing power due to the war. Adding insult to injury, the US dollar replaced the pound as the int. trade unit. Stalins desire to influence social order over Eastern Europe conflicted w/ the Britian-US plan in the Atlantic Charter that states, "all people choose their own government."

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    3. To add to my previous point, Stalin stated, "whoever occupies a territory, also imposes his own social system." (GML pg 875) With all the international powers pushing to maintain their own social order & territories, this was seen as a possible threat. The relationship between nations was very delicate; power was leveraged very strategically.

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  2. Eric Foner concluded that World War II ends with "peace but not harmony" because although there was no longer global controversy, there were many problems within the nation that weren't helping the country move forward as a whole, "in harmony." As already aforementioned, the internment camps the Japanese were sent to and lynching of African Americans caused further societal barriers. The immigration policies that other Asian immigrants/Americans fell victim to was also a huge issue. Minorities who were of legal citizenship remained susceptible to being deported to their country of descent, despite being born on US soil.

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  3. Eric Foner concluded that World War ll ended with peace but not harmony because there were two super powers who did not have the same ideals. The Soviet Union embraced communism while the United states believed in democracy. Aside from this fact, within the United states faced discrimination, not only the Japanese but many other minorities. This divergence makes it hard for the country to be in harmony although peace has been restored.

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  4. Eric Foner concluded that World War II ended with peace but not harmony because even though the war has stopped, the United States was still facing internal problems. Harmony was difficult to achieve since minorities were still fighting for civil rights. Racism still continued throughout the country, for example, lynching was still going on.

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  5. Eric Foner stated that World War ll ended with peace but not harmony because there was still war in the air, tensions were growing between America and the Soviet Union which would lead to the cold war. By dropping the atomic bomb America projected the idea of fear and the soviet union made its mark by occupying Eastern Europe. Two large powers influencing the modern world with fear, peace but not harmony.

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  6. I do agree after war world II many changes did come to the United states and other countries. Political activism wasn't just in the african-american culture after the war it spread to the Japanese and other ethnic groups. it was peaceful because the war did eventually end but there wasn't any harmony meaning there isn't any agreement of action or opinions throughout the countries.

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  7. Eric Foner stated that World War II ended with "peace but not harmony" because there were still many problems after the war. Ethnic Minority still doesn't have equal rights, which lead us to the civil rights movement. Also, tensions between the US and the Soviet Union continues to grow. The Soviets are communists and Americans were very much against that.

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  8. Eric Foner concluded that World War II ended with "Peace but not Harmony” since the war ended with redistribution of power between America and the Soviet Union. Yet, the two super powers held different national beliefs which created tension and made it difficult to achieve harmony.

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  9. Eric Foner said that World War II ended with "peace but not harmony" because there were many issues settled however still left everyone with more issues to come. There was a racial distribution of world power. Even though Britain and France won they were weakened. U.S was the dominant world power however there was still tension because of the Cold War, and also the fear after the atomic bombs.

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  10. What Foner meant by his statement "peace but not harmony" was that while World War II finally ended, there was still a lot of disharmony between various nations. For example, post World War II, there was a political struggle between the Soviet Union and the United States as communism was expanding at a fast rate. This conflict eventually lead up to the Cold War.

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  11. Eric Foner concludes that World War II ends with "Peace but not harmony." Although the war had ended and peace was restored globally, internally the United States still faced internal conflict. The U.S. and the Soviet Union were they two main powers in the world at the end of the war and because they had different views of government harmony could not exist. Americans were very much against the idea of communism which was strongly enforced by the Soviet Union. Harmony also did not exist at home for Americans because many ethnic minorities still did not enjoy equal rights.

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  12. Eric Foner states that WW II ends with peace but not harmony in the sense that the war did end therefore there is peace but the way that it ended left a lot of tension around the world. The reason why was that the U.S and the soviet union the two super powers at the time had a lot of tension between them.

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  13. The reason why it is "Peace but not harmony" is that though the war ended communism was spreading. Places like Russia and China became communist and was against capitalism which America is. This would cause the start of the Cold War two great superpowers that were against each other causing disharmony.

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  14. Eric Foner stated that World War II ends with "Peace but not harmony" because of the issues between the Soviet Union and the United States that emerged after the war. The United States and the USSR emerged as the only two superpowers in the world, and due to conflicting economic systems of these nations, they entered a period of tension called the Cold War.

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  15. Eric Foner's conclusion of the chapter of American History concern World War II ended with "peace but not harmony," was because the war ended with a redistribution of power between America and the Soviet Union. These two became Super Powers, and because of this they held different national beliefs which created the tension that made it difficult to achieve this harmony, and also brought us to another war.

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  16. Eric Foner conluded World War II with "Peace but not harmony" because of the current conditions of the nations at the time. Despite the fact that World War II ended and fighting had stopped, internal conflicts were still relevant. The use of the atomic bomb not only left destruction on Japan, but also left a sense of fear on other nations regarding the United States' ultimate weapon. In addition with the fear of the United States' atomic bomb, the United States had its own problem with African Americans. The Soviet occupation of eastern Europe would soon lead to an internal conflict, which would evolve more in the Cold War. Although there was peace among the nations as World War II ended, there was no sense of harmony or balance internally with the major nations.

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  17. Eric Foner concludes that the war ends with "Peace, but not harmony" because, the fighting has stopped but there is still tension between countries. The United States and the Soviet Union are the only remaining super powers in the world, due to the weakening of Britain, France, Germany, and Japan from the war. The United States and the Soviet Union are the only two countries that can influence the world, and both countries had different ideals. The United States wanted to promote democracy while the Soviet Union promoted communism. There was also no harmony because the United States promoted freedom, but had inequality in its own country. The United States was also allies with Great Britain who still had colonial possessions such as India.

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  18. Eric Foner concludes that World War II ends with “Peace but not Harmony” because of the ongoing tension between the two superpowers of the world: the United States and Russia. World War II saw the rise of communism in the Soviet Union, which wanted to expand their ideals to Eastern Europe, which did not bode well with the nations of the west. The United States also had its own internal issues with racial boundaries that affected blacks and those who were affected by Japanese internment during the war.

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  19. I think that Eric Foner concludes that WWII ends with "Peace but not Harmony" because the "peace" that came about was a result of fear issued amongst other nations in the world after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. Dictionary.com defines harmony as "agreement." Although the UN was established as a means for avoiding future disagreements and tension, harmony was not an ending result of WWII because there wasn't much agreement between the U.S. and Japan or between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, a communist nation.

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  20. In addition between lack of agreement between the U.S. and other nations, the U.S. faced a lack of agreement, and therefore a lack of harmony, internally as well. The war was over and the world was at peace, more than it was before at least. However, within the U.S. itself, black Southerners were still facing discrimination and were not being granted full civil rights. As we discussed in class, this was problematic because if the Soviet Union were to discover that the U.S. faced weakness, they would be more willing to try and regain power. Either way, despite the power and peace that the U.S. had gained on a global level, there was not complete internal harmony.

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  21. According to Eric Foner "The language with which World War II was fought helped to lay the foundation for post war ideals of human rights that extended to all mankind". However not all political world leaders accepted these ideals,such as the British reluctance to accept freedom of speech and worship. This brought about a sort of discord internally and outwardly towards other nations part of the UN, while they operated in a sort of fear in the name of maintain peace.

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  22. Through the use of "Peace but not Harmony", Foner insinuates that although World War II ended and the fighting has ceased, there was still palpable tension in the air among the nations. The actions that transpired during the war won't be easily forgotten such as the atrocities of the Nazis or US' use of the atom bomb. These factors attribute to a clear lack of trust between people despite the war being resolved. I think Danielle makes a good point that Harmony is synonymous with agreement and that was lacking between countries such as the United States and the Soviet Union which results in the subsequent conflicts that arise after World War II

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  23. Foner's "Peace but not harmony" tells us that even though the war has ended it's fighting between the nations, harmony was nowhere to be found do to the very contrasting ideals of the two super powers left standing. The battle between Russia and the US was now fought more indirectly through different territories and defending their ways of living.

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  24. Eric Foner concludes with "Peace but not Harmony" because it means that wile there is no fighting between the countries, there are still lingering internal conflicts throughout the world. The only two super powers left were the US and Soviet Union due to the crippling of Europe. After the war there was fear in the air for the use of nuclear weapons from the US and the Soviet Union. The internal conflicts within the US such as black racial discrimination and the after effects of Japanese Internment were still weighed heavily on the public.

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  25. Eric Foner concludes that World War II ends with "peace but not harmony" because although the worldly conflict amongst the nations of Europe and American involvement in that conflict has concluded; a passive conflict between the two super powers of the world, post World War II, has begun. Those two super powers being the United States and the Soviet Union, " Freedom vs. Slavery."

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  26. Forner concludes with the "peace but not harmony statement" due to the fact that albeit WWII has ended there are still conflicts internally and globally. The internment of the Japanese still had a massive impact socially and economically for those who were forced to abide by the relocation and containment. Then there is the rising tension between the world's two prominent world powers, the US and the Soviet Union. The battle between Capitalism and Communism may have been stated to have been a silent war, however there are those who did lose many loved ones due to the conflicting powers.

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