Armies of The World~United States

Beginning as separate groups of rag-tag soldiers, the United States Military has a long history of fighting in wars either in its own nation or even abroad.

But how did it become one of the strongest militaries in the world? This is what this page will try to cover.

## American Revolution

During the early stages of the American Revolution, the US Military (as said before) was just a bunch of groups with rag-tag soldiers who barely had any military training or discipline to fight the British (which was considered the strongest Military in the world at the time). The Militia that fought for New York (led by George Washington) lost the many battles to the British and eventually lost the city. The Militia that fought in upstate New York had better luck as they used Gorilla Warfare against the British which would eventually made British General John Burgoyne surrender at the Battle of Saratoga. Washington and his army would continue to struggle as they would eventually lose the city of Philadelphia, and forced to set up winter quarters at Valley Forge. But after Washington's army trained under Prussian General Baron von Steuben, the US Army became a formidable fighting force, at the Battle of Monmouth Country Courthouse (which ended in a stalemate) the US Military proved itself a fighting force, eventually in 1781 the British would surrender to the United States.

## War of 1812

It would be around 30 years before the United States would go to war with Britain once more, but this time it's over not just American Shipping Interests which the British were interrupting, but also the US' ambitions to take parts of Canada from Britain. The US Military would move into British occupied Canada and take some (and burn) cities such as Toronto, the British would answer back as they would defeat the Americans in certain battles and take American cities such as Detroit and even Washington DC (though DC would be spared by a Tornado), this war would go on for 3 years until the Treaty of Ghent would end the war, the US and Britain would gain no territory from this war.

## Mexican-American War

After a few small wars such as the Pork & Beans War (which decided the northern border of Maine), the US Army had a relative time of peace. But the United States in the early and mid 19th century was a fast growing country and was gaining territory after territory. After the Annexation of Texas (which would eventually lead to statehood), the US found itself at war with Mexico in 1846. The war would go on for nearly 2 years with the US Army being vastly superior to the Mexican Army invaded parts of Mexico by 1848, which the Mexicans gave in and signed the Treaty of Guadoloupe-Hidalgo which saw Mexico lose all of its northern territories to the United States (which included California).

## American Civil War

A lot of the issues the United States faced (such as slavery) were coming to a head by the 1860s, which saw some of the states secede from the Union, and these seceded states would form their own army; The Confederacy. The rest of the norther states would form The Union Army. Eventually, the 2 sides would face each other in the Battle of Bull Run, which saw the Confederacy as the victor in that battle, for the next few years of the war, the Confederacy was victorious in a lot of battles. But the more important battles were won by the Union (including the decisive Battle of Gettysburg), then the Union army quickly became the dominant faction in the war as they took the cities of Atlanta and Savannah. The death knell for the Confederacy came as they surrendered in April of 1865 and the Army was reunified. The American Civil War remains to this day the bloodiest war in US Military history as 600,000 soldiers lost their lives.

## Spanish-American War

Even by the late 19th century, the United States was eager to expand its territory. Now it intends to expand beyond their continental borders as it has its eyes on Cuba, Hawaii and the Philippines. After the sinking of the USS Maine off the Cuban coast is when the United States declared war on Spain (which was a failing empire at the time) in 1898. The war would only last a few months but those few months would be good for the US Military as they took advantage over the failing Spanish Empire and gained more territories like Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, but would lead to the Filippino-American War a few years later.

## World War 1

The US Army was late getting into the war. It wasn't until the combination of the sinking of The Lusitania and the German message to Mexico got intercepted by the British (and relayed back to the US) is when the United States joined the war on the side of the Western Alliance with Britain and France. By 1917 when the US joined the war, they helped the British and French armies defeat the Central Powers. The US Army (the Marines in particular) scared the German Army so much, that the Germans were to call the US Army "Devil Dogs".

## World War 2

As War would break out again in 1939, the United States had promised to its people that it won't get itself entangled in another war abroad. That all change on December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked a US Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. Through military conscription as well as getting the people behind the war effort, the United States Army was prepared for war once again. President Franklin Roosevelt makes the decision to go after Nazi Germany first since it's a direct threat to Britain.

Eventually, the United States knew that it was going to fight a 2-front war against the Nazis and the Japanese, so it went after Japan as well. After the Battle of Midway which saw a decisive American victory, The US Army would proceed with their drive to Japan.

It wouldn't be until August of 1945 where the war would end as the United States would drop the Atomic Bomb on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the Allies' victory in the war, the United States would become a military superpower which is rivaled only to the Soviet Union.

## Korean War

After a relative peace, tensions were growing in Korea and eventually grew into war as the North Korean leader Kim-Il-Sung invaded the south. This is when the US Army intervened, and they pushed the North Korean Army all the way back to the Chinese Border, but that is when the Chinese Army also intervened (fearing an American Invasion) they managed to push the US Army to the 38th Parallel and the war became a 3-year stalemate and ended as that.

## Vietnam War

It wouldn't be until the 1960 where the US Army was needed again, this time in Vietnam. Unlike in the other conflicts however, the US Army wasn't as effective. With military Operations such as Rolling Thunder and the Tet Offensive being total failures, the war wasn't looking good back home which led to the Hippie Counterculture Movement and other movements to get the US Army out of Vietnam. It wouldn't be until the early 1970s when the US Army was withdrawn from Vietnam. A few years later, the north would win over the south. The Vietnam War was seen as a disaster for the US Army which saw 58,000 men lose their lives in the conflict.

## Gulf War

By the end of the Cold War, the US was tired of fighting in proxy wars around the world. But in the Middle East, something terrible was brewing, the Iraqi Leader; Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and was to meet retaliation if he didn't withdraw. The US Army came in and began Operation Desert Storm. After what was a several month conflict, the US Army would liberate Kuwait with only 13,000 lives lost.

## War on Terror

The US Army enjoyed some peace for the rest of the 1990s, but that all changed on September 11, 2001 when terrorists from the organization Al-Qaeda would attack the United States, leaving the cities of New York and Washington DC reeling in their wake. President George W. Bush declared a "war on terrorism" and by early 2002 the US Army was deployed to a country called Afghanistan which was run by the organization known as the Taliban and the hiding place for Al-Qaeda and its leader; Osama Bin Laden.

But it wouldn't be long until the US Army was back in Iraq in hopes to find Hussein and bring him in. This war on Terror would last for around a decade, and during this time did see the overthrowing (and execution) of Hussein and the killing of Bin Laden, but left both countries in bad shape, even after the rise (and fall) of ISIS (a radical Islamic group), the US Army was tired. Eventually the US Army withdrew from both Iraq and Afghanistan while both nations were still in bad shape, especially in Afghanistan where the government was overthrown by the Taliban in 2021.

That'll do it for this page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis as well. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out.