The picture shows the U.S. Army
As we all know, there is a saying among countries that " security depends on the United States, and development depends on China ." This sentence shows that if a country cannot handle its relationship with the United States, it will be difficult to guarantee its own security.
This is because for many years, people have unanimously believed that the United States is the most powerful country in the world, so its military strength is also the strongest.
However, the world situation has already quietly changed, and all countries are constantly developing their own military power. Under such circumstances, can the military hegemony formed by the United States around the world still be called a "myth"? Today we will analyze the military hegemony of the United States.
The picture shows the propaganda poster of the United States during World War I
1, the development trajectory
Most people believe that the military development of the United States was mainly based on After World War II , it developed as a victorious country and accumulated a large number of fruits of victory. This is indeed the main reason. , but it cannot be called the key reason.
The reason why the United States was able to stand out in World War II is closely related to its national military development during World War I, and World War II.
The 20 years between the two world wars transformed the United States' military strategic thinking into a comprehensive strategy covering politics, economy and diplomacy.
The change in strategy has caused changes in the military construction of the United States. Combining military and diplomacy was the plan implemented by the United States after World War I.
The picture shows the signing scene of the "Contract of Versailles"
After the signing of the "Contract of Versailles", the great powers of various countries were increasing their naval construction in order to seize the maritime advantage. In order to find excuses for its own expansion of armaments and to prevent Japan from further expansion in China, the United States launched the so-called "disarmament" movement.
hosted the Washington Conference and participated in the Geneva Conference and London Conference. achieved four major strategic goals. They are:
ended the British history of dominating the ocean for more than 200 years , and the United States gained the opportunity to be on an equal footing with it; dismantled the Anglo-Japanese alliance , and laid the foundation for the United States to maintain its strategic advantage over Japan; the United States took this opportunity The opportunity to build the most powerful naval force in the world; the launch of the disarmament movement has allowed the United States to regain its leading role in the world order.
The picture shows the scene of the Washington meeting
Later, developed and trained the air force and naval aviation . It can be said that the air force and navy established by the United States after World War I laid a solid foundation for its military hegemony afterwards. .
After the end of World War II, the major Western countries were severely weakened. Germany and Japan were saddled with huge debts, and the United Kingdom was in trouble. Only the United States accumulated a large amount of funds and talents, allowing the country to develop rapidly.
To this end, the "National Security Law" and the "National Security Amendment Act" were also introduced. Since then, the US military agencies have been unified.
During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, both sides developed strategic nuclear forces, and the long-term arms race brought the U.S. military to a new level. Therefore, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States' military power began to dominate the world.
The picture shows old photos of the United States after World War II
2, the wars the United States participated in after World War II
After World War II, the world situation stabilized, and all countries chose the path of peaceful development. However, as the world's superpower at the time, the United States has been rushing between battlefields.
It adopts military intervention methods to carry out overseas armed intervention in some countries. , but the countries it targets all have certain similarities, that is, the country does not have an advanced economy or developed weapons and equipment.
For example, the United States attacks the Taliban , uses anti-terrorism as an excuse to attack Iraq , attacks the Islamic State , etc. There is a certain strength gap between the two sides.Therefore, the victory of these wars does not highlight the strength of the US military strength, but gradually makes it become an unstable factor that threatens world peace.
The picture shows the Taliban organization
3. The contest between the United States and China
The United States has had two contests with China, one was the Korean War . This is also called the founding battle of New China. After all, there is a huge disparity in strength between China and the United States in all aspects.
At that time, the People's Republic of China had just been founded and was very poor, with backward agriculture and basically no industrial base, let alone heavy weapons and equipment.
Give two examples. As for the Air Force, the US military had more than 1,000 aircraft in the Korean battlefield at the beginning of the war. However, the Chinese army lacked even air defense weapons and basically relied on listening and seeing to conduct identification operations.
Army light weapons , the US military uses fully automated and semi-automatic weapons, while most Chinese soldiers use 38-type rifles .
But even so, the Chinese People's Liberation Army still forced the United States to the negotiating table and won the Korean War.
This period of history has also been adapted into the movie "Changjin Lake", letting future generations know that when the people of a country have strong willpower and spiritual beliefs, they cannot be defeated.
The picture shows the Chinese People's Liberation Army going to participate in the war.
The other time was the Indochina battlefield in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although the main battle was Vietnam , China also participated in the war and had head-on confrontations.
These two battles between China and the United States can be called a contest between the world's strongest elder brother and the mediocre younger brother. What is worthy of pride is that China did not lose.
It can be seen from this that not many major countries have really appreciated how powerful the military strength of the United States is.
Today's United States regards China and Russia as powerful opponents, but it never takes action easily. Instead, it chooses to "kill with a borrowed knife." For example, it uses Ukraine to bring down Russia on the European battlefield, and it continues to provoke China on the Taiwan Strait issue in the Asia-Pacific region.
Therefore, does the United States really dare not take action easily or does it not want to take action? I'm afraid only it knows this in its heart.
4. The United States has done too many bad things, and the turmoil in the Middle East is the best proof. If it cannot maintain strong military strength, it will suffer backlash, so it must avoid challenging evenly matched opponents.
Only in this way can the "myth" of military hegemonism be maintained and other countries must be wary of it at any time.
It is undeniable that the military strength of the United States is indeed something.
First of all, has its own military bases in most parts of the world.
The picture shows the overseas base markings of the United States
According to the book "Overview of U.S. Global Military Bases" compiled by teacher Gong Xuping, we can understand that U.S. military bases are divided into three categories.
are respectively US military bases, managed military bases and overseas military bases.
If these military bases are divided according to geographical location, they can be divided into thirteen base groups, are Hawaii, Guam , Japan, South Korea, Alaska , the United States, Australia and New Zealand , Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Indian Ocean and North Africa , Europe and Latin America.
These military bases are like a huge spider web, firmly hanging over the heads of various countries, and many of them are located on important traffic arteries.
Hawaii base group, is used to connect the U.S. military and various bases in the Western Pacific; Guam base group, is related to the sea and air communication lines and submarine cables between the United States, Northeast Asia, , Southeast Asia and Australia. ; Japanese base group, is the core of the U.S. East Asian military base group and the primary link in the "island chain blockade" against China; while European base group, is one of the regions with the most military facilities owned by the U.S. military overseas. First, it is mainly distributed in three places: Central Europe , Southern Europe and Western Europe .
The picture shows the US military base in Japan
Secondly, the weapons and equipment owned by the US military itself are also prohibitive to other countries.
Naval Power
While other countries are still working hard to build an aircraft carrier, the United States already has 11 aircraft carriers , forming an aircraft carrier battle group , becoming the only aircraft carrier in the world with a class of more than 80,000 tons. Aircraft carrier country.
Generally speaking, the basic standard configuration of a aircraft carrier battle group , in addition to the aircraft carrier, also requires guided missile cruisers , guided missile destroyers , frigates and attack submarines and supply ships .
Currently, the US Navy's aircraft carrier battle groups include but are not limited to the "Carl Vinson", "Essex" , "Roosevelt" , "Reagan" , etc.
The picture shows the US aircraft carrier battle group
There are even several aircraft carrier battle groups, how can the number of other types of ships be so small?
It also has Ohio-class strategic nuclear submarines , and the United States is already developing its fifth-generation nuclear submarines.
Air force force
The American F-35 is the only known carrier-based fifth-generation fighter aircraft in service in the world. It has excellent stealth performance and even defeated the F-22. It also has the world's only stealth bomber B-2, which is the world's most expensive aircraft.
Its air force has more than 5,000 fighter planes, its naval aviation has more than 4,300 aircraft, and its marine corps has more than 1,200 aircraft.
Regardless of the actual combat capabilities of these fighters, just in terms of quantity, they are second to none in the ranking of world air power.
The picture shows the U.S. F-35 fighter plane
The picture shows the U.S. B-2 bomber
It can be said that the Kosovo War created a precedent for winning the war without using ground forces. Therefore, countries began to vigorously develop their air forces and navies.
Finally, America has world-class technological manufacturing levels.
In the mid-19th century, a large number of European refugees brought labor to the United States, and the Civil War basically eliminated slavery in the country, laying the foundation for comprehensive industrialization. The integration of energy, communications, and transportation promoted the rise of American industry.
After the second industrial revolution , the United States completed industrialization, and only took about 100 years. The turning point came after World War II.
The introduction of Roosevelt's New Deal , the establishment of intellectual property protection laws and the influx of a large number of highly educated talents from Europe have led to the rapid development of industrialization in the United States, and it still maintains a monopoly position until now.
American early industrialization achievements cartoon
It is precisely because of its first-class scientific and technological level that it can develop many of the world's most advanced and long-term leading weapons and equipment.
Of course, there is another very important point, which is also easily ignored by the outside world. The US military is the only modern army with long-term actual combat experience. can truly achieve joint operations among the sea, land and air forces.
Although Russia also deployed its three armed forces in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it mainly relied on ground troops for advancement.
The picture shows Russian soldiers
As the saying goes, The economic base determines the superstructure . The United States military strength is so strong, part of which is the credit of the US dollar. The dollar's status in the world has established the United States as the world's number one power and can support the research and development of weapons and equipment and war expenditures.
During World War I , the United States provided a large amount of trade to European countries. As a result, a large amount of European capital and gold flowed into the United States. During this period, the U.S. dollar began to gradually replace the British pound as the major international currency.
After the end of World War II, the United States established the " Bretton Woods System ", which linked the U.S. dollar to gold and other currencies to the U.S. dollar, establishing a complete international monetary system.After
, the system collapsed, and the U.S. dollar was quickly tied to the commodity oil. This officially established the world hegemonic status of the U.S. dollar, and has affected the development process of the world financial system for a long time.
The picture shows the cartoon diagram of the dollar and oil linkage
As a result, the United States can easily deal with the debt problem, and can also adjust the exchange rate impact of the money supply by printing US dollars anytime and anywhere.
Summary
To sum up, The military strength of the United States is called a "myth" for a certain reason. After all, it will still be at the leading level for some time to come. It is also one of the important pillars for the United States to secure its position as world hegemon. one.
Even if China's military power has developed greatly in recent years, there is still a lot of room for improvement and a long way to go if it really wants to surpass the United States.
