War and empire: the American way of life PDF
Preview War and empire: the American way of life
War and Empire AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree ii 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3322 AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree iiii 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3333 WAR AND EMPIRE The American Way of Life Paul L. Atwood AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree iiiiii 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3333 First published 2010 by Pluto Press 345 Archway Road, London N6 5AA and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 www.plutobooks.com Distributed in the United States of America exclusively by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 Copyright © Paul L. Atwood 2010 The right of Paul L. Atwood to be identifi ed as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7453 2765 5 Hardback ISBN 978 0 7453 2764 8 Paperback Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data applied for This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental standards of the country of origin. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Designed and produced for Pluto Press by Chase Publishing Services Ltd, 33 Livonia Road, Sidmouth, EX10 9JB, England Typeset from disk by Stanford DTP Services, Northampton, England Printed and bound in the European Union by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree iivv 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3344 For Adrian and Amelia AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree vv 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3344 AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree vvii 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3344 Contents Acknowledgements xi Preface xii 1 Introduction: American Ideology versus American Realities 1 2 By the Sword We Seek Peace 17 Microbes: The ally of rape, torture and conquest? 18 Spaniards discover civilizations far more advanced than their own – except for ‘guns, germs and steel’ 22 Faced with economic and social disruption at home, the British join the game of empire 26 The Virgin Queen’s colony 30 A blood-soaked city on a hill 34 Property and profi t as the sign of God’s favor 36 The ‘Spawn of Satan’ 38 The fi rst all-out war 39 3 French, Indians, Rebellion and Repression 43 The fi rst global war prefi gures more global war 43 Americans who wanted war now refuse to pay for it 49 Those who made the greatest sacrifi ces are betrayed 52 The new American elite taxes and forecloses on those without representation 54 4 An Empire for Liberty? 59 Creating an enemy to thwart the Bill of Rights 59 Many trails of tears 62 Land hunger provokes an unnecessary war 64 Laying claim to the hemisphere 66 ‘Anglo-Saxonism’ and the march to the Pacifi c 69 To the halls of Montezuma 71 5 From Ashes to Empire 75 Not fi ghting to free slaves 75 The compromise of 1877: Selling the freedmen out 78 AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree vviiii 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3344 viii WAR AND EMPIRE Massacres in the west 79 Industrialism renewed and the ascension of fi nance 81 Cycles of boom and bust produce political instability 83 Class war intensifi es 84 To contain the revolt of the masses and restore profi tability, the plutocrats opt for empire 86 The Monroe Doctrine enforced 89 The ideology of expansion 91 6 War with Spain, then Another and Another 97 As a pretext for war, Spain is declared a threat to American security 97 The press reveals its racism and lust for empire 100 Cubans on verge of winning independence on their own alarm Washington 101 7 World War I: Making the World Safe for American Capital Investment 104 Germany’s potential dominance in Europe a threat to the Open Door 106 The standard interpretation of American entry is superfi cial 107 Britain violates American neutrality but Wilson does nothing 110 Though its blockade damages the American economy the House of Morgan invests in Britain 111 Wilson’s neutrality a charade 112 Wilson positions himself to be global messiah 114 Bolsheviks take Russia out of the war and pose a new threat to the Open Door 116 American entry tips the balance though Germany is not militarily defeated 117 Wilson’s peace plan fails but the US becomes the global fi nance capital 119 A war against democracy at home 119 A world made safe only for more war 121 8 Pearl Harbor: The Spark but not the Cause 124 Day of infamy – or deception? 126 Japan’s empire threatens western colonialism 127 Admiral Richardson warns FDR that his measures threaten war 128 AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree vviiiiii 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3344 CONTENTS ix American military offi cials long understood that Pearl Harbor was vulnerable to surprise attack 129 Electronic intercepts and radio direction fi nders indicate Japan’s intent 130 Philippines left vulnerable by General MacArthur 133 Neither Germany nor Japan capable of attacking the continental US 134 If the Axis posed no military threat to the US what was the real worry? 138 America and the Holocaust: Not rescuing Jews 143 The atomic bombings: To save lives or to intimidate communists? 145 Downfall 147 9 Cold War: The Clash of Ideology or of Empires? 151 Soviets indispensable to defeat of Hitler 152 Yesterday’s essential ally becomes the new threat 154 The atomic arms race begins 157 Soviets withdraw voluntarily from conquered areas 157 Capitalism and communism vie for the loyalties of the defeated empires’ colonies 159 The threat of a closed world remains: Germany becomes a new axis 161 Control of oil becomes the linchpin of American policy 163 The ‘Martial Plan’ 165 The future of Germany further polarizes the Cold War 168 Building the permanent war economy 169 Losing China to the Chinese 171 10 Cold War/Hot War: Savage Wars of Peace? 174 Creating the warfare state 175 Korea 178 Vietnam 188 The Middle East and the Cold War 200 11 War on Terror 215 A new American century? 215 Giving the Soviet Union its Vietnam War 216 Terrorists as ‘freedom fi ghters’ 218 Terrorizing Iraqi civilians 219 Abandoning Afghanistan to warlords and the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda 220 AAttwwoooodd 0000 pprree iixx 99//1100//0099 0088::5544::3344
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