The War and the Americans

WW II was a conflict of ideologies and great powers like no other.

Although the conflict itself is interesting, you probably already have an understanding of the war. This is why my podcast episode is about one of the greatest consequences of WW II.

(Insert link to my podcast episode)

My episode will be released to streaming platforms on April 3rd.

My episode is set in one of the longest lasting consequences of WW II, one that impacts us until today – liberal hegemony and the rise of the USA to a global superpower and the leader of the ‘Free World’ as a consequence of WW II.

Although I must add, there were also a multitude of events that were formally not a part of the USA’s plan to reconstruct Europe, but still had great influence in European democracy and peace. Such as the Helsinki Accords. I did not talk about these events in my podcast for time purposes.

A lot of the factors; which you can hear about in my podcast episode, were what surged the USA into a global superpower that we see today as direct consequences of WW II.

In March 17, 1948 Brussel Pact (aka The Treaty of Brussels) was signed, on April 4, 1949 NATO was formed in Washington DC. The answer of the eastern block after rejection of USSR’s request to join NATO in 1954 was the creation of Warsaw Pact in May 1955. Both NATO and the Warsaw Pact led to the expansion of military forces and their integration into the respective blocs. Creation of the Warsaw Pact also allowed USSR to increase its hold over its satellite countries.

With these actions, and the former soviet satellite states inheriting many of these institutions and practices, Europe went into a 6 decade long period of unprecedented peace. The theory was that, if Europe was interdependent economically, and people could move throughout Europe freely, then there would be more people democratically deciding not to have wars, and up until Russia’s attack on Ukraine, it worked.

So, how was it that I learned about these things in this project?

Our teacher did a great job with teaching us about WW II and also giving us the freedom to pursue our own topics without being held down by information which we don’t really need to memorize, such as stats which I could google anytime.

I think I utilized her kindness well, and used much of the time that would’ve been done on homework, researching my topic and things that I find much more interesting then how many people died in battle.

I find it quite interesting to see all of the consequences of one event and how they lead to another, it is one of the things that makes studying history so interesting. History is a wormhole of causes and consequences. Everything has reason, even the most unlikely outcomes, when closely studied, will show that there was, in reality no coincidence, but a coalition of different past events that led to that moment in time.

Another part of studying historic events is that you have all sides of the story. I can tell this from my own life. People who I frequently climb with think I’m good in school and am well rounded in life, while I, myself always feel as if I could’ve done more and regret many of my actions, often only when it’s too late. I do not want to bother my friends from climbing with all my problems, so I only tell them the partial truth. Only by studying all of my life, would someone know the big picture.

Now, down to how I did in this project in general.

I think that, considering how much of my week was already occupied by other activities, I did quite well on the project. My only regret is that I didn’t spend more time researching, and that I only went into full research mode after the project had already concluded. I hope that on the next project, I will be able to dedicate more of my time to creating an outstanding piece of work which will impress my teacher. I want to extend my learning, not just because I’ll get better grades, but because by extending my learning, I will be able to accomplish goals and be better at doing my schoolwork in long term.

I think that the only way in which I will extend my learning is by taking notes, and lots of them. I want to expand my Zettelkasten with two literature notes per week, and a few more permanent notes.

I do hope you enjoyed my blog post, and I hope you enjoy your life.