HIST-1700 Timeline

- HIST-1700 -

A History of Frivolous Government Defense Spending

Lorenzo Casto

Current National Debt - Total of all mentioned costs* 26,586,409,000-11,421.316,000,000=

-11,400,000,000,000

In conclusion, had the USA not participated in 'foreign entanglements or established a 'military complex', our national debt would not only be nonexistent, but we would have a positive surplus of 11 TRILLION USD.

In his farewell Presidential address, George Washington issued a special warning to be wary of attachments and entanglements with other nations.

*The 'mentioned costs' does not encompass all military spending, just the 'entanglements' that were spoken about in this presentation.

On January 17, 1961, in this farewell address, President Dwight Eisenhower warned against the establishment of a "military-industrial complex*."

*a country's military establishment and those industries producing arms or other military materials, regarded as a powerful vested interest.

The neglect of these presidential warnings, as well the establishment of a national defense system that is 'important and monetarily powerful' led to a trend in which the nation spends an abhorrent amount of money in the name of 'defense'.

The Manhattan Project

The Manhattan Project was a federally funded project dedicated to the creation of nuclear weapons. This secret project cost taxpayers roughly 20 billion USD; Actual costs for each facility per year are unknown to the public.

On top of the development costs, each bomb clocked in at about 5 billion; and these prices do not include Project Silverplate, the missile delivery method, which cost the USA 76 million dollars.

Korean War A.K.A 'The Red Scare'

The Abandonment of the Gold Standard

World War I

The Persian Gulf

Operation

Desert Storm

Begins

WWII

WWI

When the Iraqi president Saddam Hussein invaded nearby Kuwait, the other Arab powers called for aid from Western Nations, as Hussein violated UN decree.

The USA ended up dumping around 61 Billion Dollars, 2019 Standard, into this foreign conflict.

With the success of both Stalin and Castro's communist regimes, the USA began to view communism as a direct threat to democracy, and thus to themselves. This ideology led to a foreign involvement whose sole purpose was not the protection of American allies, but the prevention of communistic propagation.

With Stalin's support, 'North' Korea invaded the 'South' to install a communist government. Acting quickly, NATO, and thus the USA, entered the fray, and eventually reaching a consensus and establishing the two separate nations with two separate governments.

The United States overall spent roughly 390 Billion USD, 2019 standard, in the Korean War, ultimately deeming it a success in containing communism.

Meant to be a cure for the inflation the US dollar was suffering, sitting President Nixon and his committee abolished the Gold Standard along with the Breton Woods (BW) economic policy; BW policy was one where the 44 major nations of the world based their currency off of the dollars' strength, and the dollar was based off of the price of gold.

The abandonment of the Gold Standard meant that the government could now pump out money at both greater speeds and quantities, as the limit was not measured in how much gold was possessed. .

Involvement in a 'political conflict' between nations across an ocean led to a drastic increase in military and defense spending, reaching roughly 382 Billion USD, 2019 Standard.

-1946

1939 -

1918

1991

1950

1971

1955 -

1950

1975

2000

1900

1956 -

- 1990

1941

1948

The Lend Lease Act & WWII

2003

The Race Towards Nuclear Deterrence

The Marshall Plan

Iraq War

During the apex of the Cold War, both the USSR and the USA were in a heated race for nuclear superiority. This led to a consistent 'living at the edge of your seat' as the bombs could begin dropping any second, and wipe out all of humanity. This arms race consisted of:

-1975

Claiming Iraq possessed WMD that violated prior UN treaties and accords, the United States 'invaded' in the name of peace; this event eventually led to both the upheaval of Saddam Hussein as ruler, as well as gas price changes throughout the world.

This "peaceful intervention" of the Gulf's politics eventually led to the total 'war' cost of 1.01 trillion USD, 2019 standard.

Vietnam War

Also known as the ERP, the European Recovery Program, filled Western Europe with gross amounts of currency, loosening trade barriers as well as reconstructing the destroyed nations. This plan eventually gave Europe anywhere between 13 and 15 billion USD, 2019 standard. And to top it all off, only about 5%, or 750 million was re-payed to the nation between all the assisted nations.

• The research development of new WMD - Weapons of Mass Destruction.

With the passing of the Lend Lease Act, which permitted the sale/gifting of military supplies to nations 'deemed' important the USA's defense. This policy led to yet another spike in spending, reaching a total of 4.67 trillion USD, in 2019 standard.

This increase in spending remained a trend throughout history, eventually becoming 21% of modern national budget.

Another attempt at "containment of communism", the Vietnam War was a sub-conflict between the USSR and the USA during the Cold War. The main parties were the communist North and the democratic (monarchic) South.

Due to the complicated situation the Cold War was, the USA never sent troops, but in fact supplied the Vietnamese with over 300,000 "advisers".

All together, between Kennedy's Advisers and Johnson's Rolling Thunder, the USA spent almost 845 Billion USD in warfare costs, 2019 standard.

• The maintenance of these facilities and weapons for years to come.

• The construction of National Protective Services; such as bunkers, anti-aerials, as well as the expansion of the military.

All the aforementioned points, as well as the 'life extension' processes warheads undergo to assure their safety cost the USA 5 trillion USD, 2019 standard, since the year 1940.

Bibliography

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