thedrifter
01-21-06, 07:03 PM
1/30/06
War!
For independence, for territory, for democracy. A close look at eight major conflicts shows how American presidents waged the battles that shaped the nation
By Katy Ibsen, Michelle Andrews, Diane Cole, Thomas Grose, Ilana Ozernoy and Sarah Blake
WAR OF 1812
Why: Britain, then at war with France, was seizing U.S. merchant ships off France. Moreover, many western Americans believed that the British in Canada were inciting Indian attacks on pioneers. Congress declared war on June 18, 1812.
Number of soldiers: 286,730. The United States fought the war using regulars, militias, even bayou pirates.
Casualties: 6,765
Cost of war: $90 million, $2.2 billion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by President James Madison: None specific, but the sea-trading New England states'economies were savaged by commercial losses.
Wartime song: Francis Scott Key penned "The Star-Spangled Banner" after he witnessed Baltimore's Fort McHenry withstanding a British shelling.
Public mood: Mixed. Was least popular in Federalist New England.
Antiwar movement: Some Federalists convened a convention to debate a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult to declare war.
Strange but significant: America's huge victory at the Battle of New Orleans occurred two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent ended the war on Dec. 24, 1814. News traveled slow back then.
How it ended: Essentially a draw. No territorial gains for either side.
Lesson for today's war makers: Don't initiate a war if you don't have enough ships to win it. - Thomas K. Grose
MEXICAN WAR
Why: To defend the United States' annexation of Texas and establish the Rio Grande as its border. President James Polk also saw the war, which began on May 13, 1846, as a chance to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico.
Number of soldiers: 78,718
Casualties: 17,435, but many died of diseases like malaria, cholera, and dysentery rather than in combat
Cost of war: $70 million, $1.1 billion in 2002 money
Wartime song: The first two verses of the popular "Marines' Hymn" (From the Halls of Montezuma) are thought to have been penned at the end of the war.
Public mood: The notion of Manifest Destiny--Americans had a God-given right to expand their territory--was popular, and most citizens supported Polk's goals.
Antiwar movement: Abolitionists opposed what they saw as an attempt to add more slave territory to the nation. The war also prompted poet-philosopher Henry David Thoreau to write "Civil Disobedience."
Strange but significant: In the final campaign to capture Mexico City, Gen. Winfield Scott brought more than 8,600 men ashore at Vera Cruz in the first ever large-scale amphibious landing. Following a brief siege, the city surrendered.
How it ended: Once their capital fell, the Mexicans surrendered. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on Feb. 2, 1848, established the Rio Grande border and ceded 1.2 million square miles to the United States, expanding the territory of the United States by a third, including the states of California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming.
Lesson for today's war makers: The law of unintended consequences: Polk got the land, but the war fueled the conflict over slavery, fracturing the Democratic Party and leading to the Civil War. - Michelle Andrews
CIVIL WAR
Why: By the 1850s, the issue of slavery had polarized the country along sectional lines. When Abraham Lincoln (whose newly formed Republican Party objected to slavery) won the presidential election of 1860, 11 southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy. Combat commenced on April 12, 1861.
Number of soldiers: 2,213,363 federal troops vs. 1,064,200 Confederates
Casualties: Both sides endured staggering losses: 646,392 Union; 335,524 Confederate.
Cost of war: $5.2 billion combined, the equivalent of $62 billion in 2002 currency
Wartime songs: "Yankee Doodle" (Union), "Dixie" (Confederacy), and, among blacks, "Many Thousand Gone,"whose lyrics proclaim, "No more auction block for me."
Public mood: At first, North and South enthusiastically supported what each side smugly assumed would be a quick, easy victory. As fighting became protracted, sentiment fluctuated depending on battlefield results.
Antiwar movement: The anti-Lincoln Copperhead wing of the Democratic Party advocated a negotiated end to the war. There were antidraft riots in New York City in 1863. And during the last months of the Confederacy, there were demonstrations against a government no longer able to function.
Strange but significant: Both Union and Confederate armies pioneered the use of aerial balloons for troop reconnaissance.
How it ended: On April 9, 1865, after four years of fratricidal battle, General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Virginia's Appomattox Courthouse. On April 14, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln.
Lesson for today's war makers: To encourage solidarity, Lincoln would "get himself to the battlefield to visit the soldiers, walk amidst their ranks, see the wounded in the hospital," says historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. - Diane Cole
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
Why: In 1868, Cuban rebels started fighting for their independence from Spain. On Feb. 15, 1898, the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 260 men on board. The United States declared war on Spain on April 19, 1898.
Number of soldiers: 306,760
Casualties: 4,108; 90 percent because of infectious diseases
Cost of war: $400 million, over $9.6 billion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by President William McKinley: He found the Army depleted by the Civil War, with only 26,000 soldiers, so he had to request 125,000 volunteers.
Wartime slogan: "Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!"
Public mood: Supportive
Antiwar movement: Only a few minor protests
Strange but significant: Students at the Naval War College helped draft battle plans.
How it ended: On Dec. 10, 1898, the United States and Spain signed a peace treaty granting Cuba its independence, surrendering Puerto Rico and Guam to America, and allowing the United States to purchase the Philippine Islands. America paid Spain $20 million.
Lesson for today's war makers: McKinley planned in advance to withdraw as soon as the crisis was over. He accomplished this by involving Congress as often as possible. - Katy Ibsen
WORLD WAR I
Why: Two serious provocations: Germany's submarine attacks against U.S. merchant ships and Germany's clumsy overture to Mexico, suggesting an alliance if America entered the fray, which it did on April 6, 1917. Oxford University historian Hew Strachan says that President Woodrow Wilson also concluded that a German victory would crush his dream of a peaceful international order.
Number of soldiers: 4,734,991
Casualties: 320,518 soldiers
Cost of war: $16.8 billion. In 2002's currency: $190.6 billion
Sacrifices asked for by the president: The "Clean Plate" campaign asked citizens not to waste food so there'd be enough wheat for European Allies.
Wartime slogan/song: A war to "make the world safe for democracy,""Over There"
Public mood: Very supportive
Antiwar movement: None, but some German-Americans suffered discrimination.
Strange but significant:
Sauerkraut renamed "liberty cabbage"
How it ended: Germany and its allies surrendered, signing the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
Lesson for today's war makers: Idealism, such as Wilson's hope for peaceful international cooperation, requires a healthy dollop of realpolitik. - T.K.G.
WORLD WAR II
Why: Although President Franklin D. Roosevelt saw German and Japanese aggression against their neighbors in Europe and Asia as a threat to United States security, he promised only to be the "arsenal of democracy."On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States declared war on Japan on December 8.
Number of soldiers: 16,112,566
Casualties: 1,077,245
Cost of war: $285.4 billion then, more than $2.8 trillion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by president: In October 1940, the first peacetime conscription in U.S. history began. There also was extensive rationing of food and other supplies.
Wartime slogan/song: "Goodbye, Mama (I'm Off to Yokohama),""We Can Do It!"
Public mood: Americans rallied solidly behind the "Good War."
Antiwar movement: In January 1941, mothers prayed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol protesting Bill 1776, which promised munitions to Britain without a price tag. It passed that March.
Strange but significant: Before the president's 20th "fireside chat," he asked citizens to have a map before them. There was a considerable run on maps. In fact, 2,000 maps were sold in just one day at a single store in Manhattan.
How it ended: On April 30, 1945, as the Russian Army entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. One week later, Germany surrendered unconditionally. On August 14, President Truman accepted Japan's surrender just days after atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Lesson for today's war makers: Carry a big stick. The United States' ability to mass-produce weapons, stemming from President Roosevelt's call for a "crushing superiority of equipment," demonstrated that modern warfare can favor machinery over men. - Sarah Blake
KOREAN WAR
Why: Encouraged by the Soviet Union and China, Communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea on June 25, 1950. President Harry Truman rallied the United Nations to send an international army.
Number of soldiers: 5,720,000
Casualties: 139,858
Cost of war: $54 billion, about $335.9 billion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by the president: Wage and price controls on big industry
Public mood: The country was largely ambivalent.
Antiwar movement: None, but McCarthyism may have inhibited potential protesters.
Strange but significant: The war helped desegregate the military, and returning black servicemen accelerated the civil rights movement.
How it ended: A July 27, 1953, cease-fire brought a status quo. The Demilitarized Zone still follows the 38th parallel.
Lesson for today's war makers: Listen to the experts. Policymakers ignored analysts'warnings that China would enter the war. - T.K.G.
VIETNAM WAR
Why: President Lyndon B. Johnson believed in the "domino theory," that if Vietnam came under the control of a Communist government, communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia.
Number of troops: 8,744,000
Casualties: 211,512
Cost of war: $111 billion then, $494.3 billion in 2002 currency
Wartime slogan/song: Make love, not war, "Give Peace a Chance,""Blowin' in the Wind"
Public mood: Antiwar sentiment was high; protesters questioned the morality of U.S. involvement. Martin Luther King Jr. railed against the disproportionately high casualty rates among black soldiers and called America the world's greatest purveyor of violence.
How it ended: The war halted on Jan. 27, 1973, with the Paris Peace Accords. The United States withdrew but continued to provide financial and military aid.
Lesson for today's war makers: There's a line about fighting with guerrillas: If the guerrillas don't lose, they win. "You can never deter an enemy who is willing to sacrifice himself on the battlefield," says Max Cleland, a former U.S. senator and Vietnam veteran. "It's what happened in Vietnam, and it is what is happening in Iraq." - Ilana Ozernoy
Ellie
War!
For independence, for territory, for democracy. A close look at eight major conflicts shows how American presidents waged the battles that shaped the nation
By Katy Ibsen, Michelle Andrews, Diane Cole, Thomas Grose, Ilana Ozernoy and Sarah Blake
WAR OF 1812
Why: Britain, then at war with France, was seizing U.S. merchant ships off France. Moreover, many western Americans believed that the British in Canada were inciting Indian attacks on pioneers. Congress declared war on June 18, 1812.
Number of soldiers: 286,730. The United States fought the war using regulars, militias, even bayou pirates.
Casualties: 6,765
Cost of war: $90 million, $2.2 billion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by President James Madison: None specific, but the sea-trading New England states'economies were savaged by commercial losses.
Wartime song: Francis Scott Key penned "The Star-Spangled Banner" after he witnessed Baltimore's Fort McHenry withstanding a British shelling.
Public mood: Mixed. Was least popular in Federalist New England.
Antiwar movement: Some Federalists convened a convention to debate a constitutional amendment that would make it more difficult to declare war.
Strange but significant: America's huge victory at the Battle of New Orleans occurred two weeks after the Treaty of Ghent ended the war on Dec. 24, 1814. News traveled slow back then.
How it ended: Essentially a draw. No territorial gains for either side.
Lesson for today's war makers: Don't initiate a war if you don't have enough ships to win it. - Thomas K. Grose
MEXICAN WAR
Why: To defend the United States' annexation of Texas and establish the Rio Grande as its border. President James Polk also saw the war, which began on May 13, 1846, as a chance to acquire the Mexican territories of California and New Mexico.
Number of soldiers: 78,718
Casualties: 17,435, but many died of diseases like malaria, cholera, and dysentery rather than in combat
Cost of war: $70 million, $1.1 billion in 2002 money
Wartime song: The first two verses of the popular "Marines' Hymn" (From the Halls of Montezuma) are thought to have been penned at the end of the war.
Public mood: The notion of Manifest Destiny--Americans had a God-given right to expand their territory--was popular, and most citizens supported Polk's goals.
Antiwar movement: Abolitionists opposed what they saw as an attempt to add more slave territory to the nation. The war also prompted poet-philosopher Henry David Thoreau to write "Civil Disobedience."
Strange but significant: In the final campaign to capture Mexico City, Gen. Winfield Scott brought more than 8,600 men ashore at Vera Cruz in the first ever large-scale amphibious landing. Following a brief siege, the city surrendered.
How it ended: Once their capital fell, the Mexicans surrendered. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on Feb. 2, 1848, established the Rio Grande border and ceded 1.2 million square miles to the United States, expanding the territory of the United States by a third, including the states of California, Arizona, and New Mexico, and parts of Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming.
Lesson for today's war makers: The law of unintended consequences: Polk got the land, but the war fueled the conflict over slavery, fracturing the Democratic Party and leading to the Civil War. - Michelle Andrews
CIVIL WAR
Why: By the 1850s, the issue of slavery had polarized the country along sectional lines. When Abraham Lincoln (whose newly formed Republican Party objected to slavery) won the presidential election of 1860, 11 southern states seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy. Combat commenced on April 12, 1861.
Number of soldiers: 2,213,363 federal troops vs. 1,064,200 Confederates
Casualties: Both sides endured staggering losses: 646,392 Union; 335,524 Confederate.
Cost of war: $5.2 billion combined, the equivalent of $62 billion in 2002 currency
Wartime songs: "Yankee Doodle" (Union), "Dixie" (Confederacy), and, among blacks, "Many Thousand Gone,"whose lyrics proclaim, "No more auction block for me."
Public mood: At first, North and South enthusiastically supported what each side smugly assumed would be a quick, easy victory. As fighting became protracted, sentiment fluctuated depending on battlefield results.
Antiwar movement: The anti-Lincoln Copperhead wing of the Democratic Party advocated a negotiated end to the war. There were antidraft riots in New York City in 1863. And during the last months of the Confederacy, there were demonstrations against a government no longer able to function.
Strange but significant: Both Union and Confederate armies pioneered the use of aerial balloons for troop reconnaissance.
How it ended: On April 9, 1865, after four years of fratricidal battle, General Lee surrendered to General Grant at Virginia's Appomattox Courthouse. On April 14, John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln.
Lesson for today's war makers: To encourage solidarity, Lincoln would "get himself to the battlefield to visit the soldiers, walk amidst their ranks, see the wounded in the hospital," says historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. - Diane Cole
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR
Why: In 1868, Cuban rebels started fighting for their independence from Spain. On Feb. 15, 1898, the USS Maine exploded in Havana Harbor, killing 260 men on board. The United States declared war on Spain on April 19, 1898.
Number of soldiers: 306,760
Casualties: 4,108; 90 percent because of infectious diseases
Cost of war: $400 million, over $9.6 billion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by President William McKinley: He found the Army depleted by the Civil War, with only 26,000 soldiers, so he had to request 125,000 volunteers.
Wartime slogan: "Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!"
Public mood: Supportive
Antiwar movement: Only a few minor protests
Strange but significant: Students at the Naval War College helped draft battle plans.
How it ended: On Dec. 10, 1898, the United States and Spain signed a peace treaty granting Cuba its independence, surrendering Puerto Rico and Guam to America, and allowing the United States to purchase the Philippine Islands. America paid Spain $20 million.
Lesson for today's war makers: McKinley planned in advance to withdraw as soon as the crisis was over. He accomplished this by involving Congress as often as possible. - Katy Ibsen
WORLD WAR I
Why: Two serious provocations: Germany's submarine attacks against U.S. merchant ships and Germany's clumsy overture to Mexico, suggesting an alliance if America entered the fray, which it did on April 6, 1917. Oxford University historian Hew Strachan says that President Woodrow Wilson also concluded that a German victory would crush his dream of a peaceful international order.
Number of soldiers: 4,734,991
Casualties: 320,518 soldiers
Cost of war: $16.8 billion. In 2002's currency: $190.6 billion
Sacrifices asked for by the president: The "Clean Plate" campaign asked citizens not to waste food so there'd be enough wheat for European Allies.
Wartime slogan/song: A war to "make the world safe for democracy,""Over There"
Public mood: Very supportive
Antiwar movement: None, but some German-Americans suffered discrimination.
Strange but significant:
Sauerkraut renamed "liberty cabbage"
How it ended: Germany and its allies surrendered, signing the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.
Lesson for today's war makers: Idealism, such as Wilson's hope for peaceful international cooperation, requires a healthy dollop of realpolitik. - T.K.G.
WORLD WAR II
Why: Although President Franklin D. Roosevelt saw German and Japanese aggression against their neighbors in Europe and Asia as a threat to United States security, he promised only to be the "arsenal of democracy."On Dec. 7, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States declared war on Japan on December 8.
Number of soldiers: 16,112,566
Casualties: 1,077,245
Cost of war: $285.4 billion then, more than $2.8 trillion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by president: In October 1940, the first peacetime conscription in U.S. history began. There also was extensive rationing of food and other supplies.
Wartime slogan/song: "Goodbye, Mama (I'm Off to Yokohama),""We Can Do It!"
Public mood: Americans rallied solidly behind the "Good War."
Antiwar movement: In January 1941, mothers prayed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol protesting Bill 1776, which promised munitions to Britain without a price tag. It passed that March.
Strange but significant: Before the president's 20th "fireside chat," he asked citizens to have a map before them. There was a considerable run on maps. In fact, 2,000 maps were sold in just one day at a single store in Manhattan.
How it ended: On April 30, 1945, as the Russian Army entered Berlin, Hitler committed suicide. One week later, Germany surrendered unconditionally. On August 14, President Truman accepted Japan's surrender just days after atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Lesson for today's war makers: Carry a big stick. The United States' ability to mass-produce weapons, stemming from President Roosevelt's call for a "crushing superiority of equipment," demonstrated that modern warfare can favor machinery over men. - Sarah Blake
KOREAN WAR
Why: Encouraged by the Soviet Union and China, Communist North Korea invaded democratic South Korea on June 25, 1950. President Harry Truman rallied the United Nations to send an international army.
Number of soldiers: 5,720,000
Casualties: 139,858
Cost of war: $54 billion, about $335.9 billion in 2002 currency
Sacrifices asked for by the president: Wage and price controls on big industry
Public mood: The country was largely ambivalent.
Antiwar movement: None, but McCarthyism may have inhibited potential protesters.
Strange but significant: The war helped desegregate the military, and returning black servicemen accelerated the civil rights movement.
How it ended: A July 27, 1953, cease-fire brought a status quo. The Demilitarized Zone still follows the 38th parallel.
Lesson for today's war makers: Listen to the experts. Policymakers ignored analysts'warnings that China would enter the war. - T.K.G.
VIETNAM WAR
Why: President Lyndon B. Johnson believed in the "domino theory," that if Vietnam came under the control of a Communist government, communism would spread throughout Southeast Asia.
Number of troops: 8,744,000
Casualties: 211,512
Cost of war: $111 billion then, $494.3 billion in 2002 currency
Wartime slogan/song: Make love, not war, "Give Peace a Chance,""Blowin' in the Wind"
Public mood: Antiwar sentiment was high; protesters questioned the morality of U.S. involvement. Martin Luther King Jr. railed against the disproportionately high casualty rates among black soldiers and called America the world's greatest purveyor of violence.
How it ended: The war halted on Jan. 27, 1973, with the Paris Peace Accords. The United States withdrew but continued to provide financial and military aid.
Lesson for today's war makers: There's a line about fighting with guerrillas: If the guerrillas don't lose, they win. "You can never deter an enemy who is willing to sacrifice himself on the battlefield," says Max Cleland, a former U.S. senator and Vietnam veteran. "It's what happened in Vietnam, and it is what is happening in Iraq." - Ilana Ozernoy
Ellie