英语国家概况Lesson 4 A Brief History of the USA.pptVIP

Unit Two History---Lesson 4 A Brief History of the USA As with World War I, the United States had bound the country to neutrality. Its decision to declare war followed Japans surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. Four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 11, Nazi Germany declared war on the United States. Explosion of the battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor World War II (1939-1945) Pearl Harbor on 30 October 1941 * Unit Two History---Lesson 4 A Brief History of the USA There were two guiding principles of the wartime American diplomacy: 1. to win the war; 2. to establish a postwar political structure in accord with American interests and to prevent the Soviet Union from over-expansion. American and Soviet troops meet east of the Elbe River. Nuclear explosion at Hiroshima * Unit Two History---Lesson 4 A Brief History of the USA After WWII, the United States entered a period of economic boom. ---The cornerstones were the automobile, housing, and defense industries. ---Economy grew at an average rate of 3.5 percent per year ---Nation’s GNP（国民生产总值gross national product） rose from just over $200 billion in 1946 to close to $1 trillion in 1970. ---From 1946 to 1961, over 63.5 million babies were born. American Society During Postwar Boom * Unit Two History---Lesson 4 A Brief History of the USA Number of births in the United States * Unit Two History---Lesson 4 A Brief History of the USA Of the three cornerstones of the postwar economic boom, two were related to the upsurge in births. ---The first was a construction boom to provide houses and schools for all these children. ---the second was automobile manufacturing for the growing new communities. ---The third was military spending. When the Defense Department was established in 1949, the nation spent about $13 billion a year, on defense. By 1951, its budget was over $22 billion, and it has been going up ever since. * Unit Two History---Lesson 4 A Brief History of the U