La guerre de Corée et son impact sur les États-Unis : Un regard analytique 50 ans plus tard

Juillet 2003 a marqué le 50e anniversaire de la fin de la guerre de Corée (1950-1953), un conflit qui est désigné notamment comme « le point tournant de la guerre froide ». Faisant plus de trois millions de victimes (dont 33 000 Américains), cet épisode a eu des conséquences on ne peut plus importantes pour les États-Unis qui, faut-il le préciser, ont contribué environ pour la moitié de la force onusienne dépêchée sur le terrain. Faire le point sur l’impact socioculturel, économique et politique de ladite guerre sur la nation américaine, tel est l’objectif fondamental de cet article qui repose sur des sources diversifiées. Si le conflit coréen entraîne dans son sillage des retombées non négligeables sur la vie socioculturelle et économique, il ressort toutefois que c’est dans le domaine politique que ses effets s’avèrent certes les plus percutants et durables.July 2003 has marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the Korean War (1950-1953) ; a conflict depicted, among other things, as « the turning point of the Cold War ». Taking the lives of more than three million people (including 33,000 Americans), this episode carried momentous consequences for the United States which, it must be noted, provided approximately half of ground troops sent by the United Nations. The basic objective of this article, which is based on various sources, is to examine the social, cultural, economical and political effects of this war on the American nation. Although the Korean conflict generated in its wake non negligible repercussions on the social, cultural and economical life, it appears, however, that it was in the political arena that its impact was the most significant and far-reaching

Congressman Usher Burdick Of North Dakota And The Ungodly Menace Anti-United Nations Rhetoric, 1950-1958

In the rare studies dealing with American post-World War II isolationism, the state of North Dakota always holds a special place, as it has acquired the reputation of having been the nation\u27s most isolationist state during [the] postwar decade. 1 To a large extent, this reputation can be ascribed to the attitude of some of its prominent members on Capitol Hill, such as Senators William Langer, who voted against the United Nations Charter in 1945, and his colleague Milton Young, an opponent of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949.2 Representative Usher Burdick, who sat between 1949 and 1959, also contributed to the isolationist label given to this midwestern state. This Republican politician, not enthusiastic about US participation in the Korean War, eagerly lambasted foreign aid during the Truman-Eisenhower years.3 Above all, the North Dakota congressman attracted attention during the postwar period for his vehement criticism of the United Nations Organization and for his advocacy of an American withdrawal from this international body created in 1945. This article, which is largely based on an examination of the politician\u27s rich manuscript collection at the University of North Dakota (Grand Forks), seeks to examine and comprehend Burdick\u27s position toward the United Nations (UN) during the Truman-Eisenhower era. Such a study seems justified on several grounds. First, Burdick\u27s stance in the field of foreign policy during the early Cold War years, notably his opposition to the United Nations, was sufficiently unusual in itself to be intriguing for any attentive observer of the period. In fact, the Republican congressman was incontestably one of the earliest public critics of the international organization in the United States. Second, such a study is relevant given the contemporary US perspective, which is marked by an often turbulent relationship 4 between the American nation and the international body as well as a growing anti-UN sentiment in Congress and among the public.5 This theme is all the more warranted inasmuch as some key elements of Burdick\u27s rhetoric still hold a prominent place in the recent anti-UN discourse of conservative commentators and politicians such as Jesse Helms of North Carolina,6 the Republican chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In the same vein, Burdick\u27s denigratory comments (as we will see) about the UN-affiliated United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization still find echoes at the dawn of the twenty-first century, for instance: [UNESCO] was a corrupt, anti-American organization, said California representative Tom Lantos in the spring of 2001.7 Incidentally, some current websites railing against the United Nations cite Usher Burdick as having warned, a half century ago, of some dangers associated with an American membership in the international body.8 In order to attain our goal of understanding Usher Burdick\u27s attitude and also to enlarge our comprehension of the context in which his views evolved, I draw on a wide range of primary sources: in addition to Burdick\u27s papers and congressional documents, newspapers, and magazines, I have consulted the manuscript collections of Burdick\u27s contemporaries and colleagues on Capitol Hill. But before reviewing Burdick\u27s stance concerning the United Nations, some biographical information and a brief look at his domestic record is necessary in order to better understand the foreign policy viewpoint of this man depicted by a Massachusetts colleague as one of North Dakota\u27s most distinguished sons.

Margaret Truman, ed. — Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman

Lemelin Bernard. Margaret Truman, ed. — Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman. In: Revue Française d'Etudes Américaines, N°59, février 1994. La présence américaine en France XIXe-XXe siècles. p. 100

James N. Giglio. — The Presidency of John F. Kennedy

Lemelin Bernard. James N. Giglio. — The Presidency of John F. Kennedy. In: Revue Française d'Etudes Américaines, N°60, mai 1994. La culture de masse aux Etats-Unis. p. 214

Margaret Truman, ed. — Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman

Lemelin Bernard. Margaret Truman, ed. — Where the Buck Stops: The Personal and Private Writings of Harry S. Truman. In: Revue Française d'Etudes Américaines, N°59, février 1994. La présence américaine en France XIXe-XXe siècles. p. 100