Thematic+Unit

My Thematic Unit is titled "**World Changing Wars**" beginning with World War one and ending with the Vietnam Conflict. The purpose and theme is to show how wars shape and determine geographical and human boundaries around the world and how these man made boundaries continue to cause conflict even after the wars that created them are over.

This Unit will begin with WWI, at the beginning of this war America had just emerged into the global picture but really didn't want anything to do with other countries outside of trade. Europe was still Empire based and land hungry, taking up huge chunks of Africa and other smaller European nations that were too small to defend themselves. This war is where we start because by wars end massive empires have collapsed, new territories are created redrawing century old boundary lines both cultural and geographical. Who drew these lines? The winners did and they did not pay much attention to how these lines were drawn. After drawing the lines some one had to govern these new nations so again us winners stepped in and began a chain reaction that will lead to more problems.

After the creation of these new nations we skip ahead to WWII, these new nations are not getting along quite so well. Some of them used to belong to the German Empire and now they want them back. The best way to do this is by quick, rapid, and deadly force. The Blitzkrieg is on and Hitler is moving across Europe and Russia. Japan is conquering the Philippines and fighting through China, once again we do not see this as our fight. We were allies with France and Great Britain during the first great war but we still saw this as a European problem. Until the attack on Pearl Harbor then we went into full mobilization. Repairing the fleet and producing all types of military needs. After four long years of fighting and many killed and wounded we and our allies win the war. Again more countries our created that will later cause problems. This time cultural problems more than just land disputes.The creation of a Jewish state will come back to bite us on the but again and again. Also after this war we decide that it is our job to protect democracy world wide.

The third section takes us into the Korean war, not the biggest war that America has fought in but the first war fought by the United Nations as a police action. This is the war against Capitalism and Red Communism. The U.S. and South Koreans (U.N.) and the Communistic North Koreans backed by China. This is important because another geographical line that was drawn after WWII caused another war. As a result of this war we drew another line along the 38th parallel which is one of the most militarized zones on the planet and has been till this day. And with North Korea developing Atomic Weapons what happens next.

The final portion to this theme is the Vietnam Conflict. Once again another country that used to be one and then divided into two. Again a political ideology conflict between communist north and capitalist south. This time however a deployment of troops and United Nation contribution would not be enough to win the day. Vietnam has been under occupation for centuries and has always regained itself until some other country came along. China, France, and the United States are all countries that at one time or another lost out to these tough determined people that would not and could not be conquered. The reason that this war is so important is because its the first war since the War of 1812 that the United States did not win showing that no matter how great we thought we were, we were not invincible.

These wars changed the world drastically and there is no telling what this planet would be like today if they never took place. With out WWI the continent of Africa would be a series of European colonies. The same could be said for the middle east, or maybe it would still be part of the Ottoman Empire. WWII brought about the creation of Israel a Jewish state. This has cause conflict both near and far since the lines separating Israel and Palestine were drawn, not to mention other countries. Korea showed that through the United Nations countries threatened by invasion could be protected and preserved and Vietnam showed that no mater what was thrown at them they would not quit. These are the wars that have shaped our world to how we know it today. Politically, religiously, geographically, and culturally.