US Foreign Policy: From WWI to WWII. Key Question: To what extent was the US “isolationist”...

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US Foreign Policy:

From WWI to WWII

Key Question:

To what extent was the US“isolationist” between the

two world wars?

World War I: 1914-1918

- US policy of non-intervention in the first 3 years of the Great War

- BUT, financial and material aid to European nations, especially US’ European allies

- Merchant ships sunk + Zimmerman Telegram

Official US entry, April 6, 1917

End of WWI and TofV

- US President Wilson played a central role in developing the principles of post-war peace in the Treaty of Versailles:- moral concerns- economic concerns- political concerns

Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”

Wilson’s “Moral Diplomacy”

The U. S. shouldbe the conscienceof the world.

Spread democracy.

Promote peace.

Condemn colonialism.

“Wilsonianism”“Wilsonianism”

US foreign policies that:

Pursue the spread of democracy

Spread capitalism

Promote internationalism

US economic priorities

• Maintain “Open Door” policy

• In the 14 points:- Absolute freedom of

navigation upon the seas (II)- The removal, so far as

possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance (III)

Political plan for peace

League of Nations:- internationalism- collective security- “to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security.”

US Senate rejection of Treaty of Versailles, 1919

Art. 10 “Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members…. In the case of any such aggression… the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.”

Why?

- League of Nations too interventionist

- Problematic Article 10

- Party politics

Military intervention in Russian Civil War, 1918-1920

- Polar Bear Expedition- 5,000 US troops

- Am. Expeditionary Force Siberia

- 8,000 US troops

Washington Disarmament Conference, 1921-1922

Long-standing Anglo-Japanese alliance (1902) obligated Britain to aid Japan in the event of a Japanese war with the United States.

Goals naval disarmament and the political situation in the Far East.

Washington Naval Treaty, 1922

-US initiative for disarmament

- Result was 5:5:3 ratio for

US: Great Britain: Japan

- Five-Power Treaty

Five-Power Treaty, 1922- A battleship ratio was achieved through this ratio:

US Britain Japan France Italy 5 5 3 1.67 1.67

- Japan got a guarantee that the US and Britain would stop fortifying their Far East territories [including the Philippines].

- Loophole no restrictions on small warships

Hyper-Inflation in Germany, 1923

Dawes Plan, 1924

- US banker Charles Dawes drew up a plan:

1. froze German reparations payments for 2 years

2. reduced level of repayments

3. provided loans to German industry

Dawes Plan, 1924

Kellogg-Briand Pact, 1928

- 15 nations agreed to renounce the use of force for national objectives.

- Eventually, over 62 nations signed.

- Problem = no means of actual enforcement and gave Americans a false sense of security.

Clark Memorandum, 1928

- Clark pledged that the US would not intervene in Latin American affairs in order to protect US property rights.

- This was a complete rebuke of the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine!Secretary of State

J. Reuben Clark

Young Plan, 1929

- By 1929 Germany not keeping up with

Dawes Plan 2nd US initiative

- Terms:

1. more US loans to Germany

2. reduced payments over 50 years

- Negative response from Germany

Young Plan, 1929

- For three generations, you’ll have to slave away!

- $26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58½ years.

- By 1931, Hoover declared a debt moratorium.

European Debts to the US

US-French relations

Tense post-WWI due to: - US pressure to

repay war debts - 5 years between

end of war and Dawes Plan (1924)

- rejection of France’s proposals for military and economic cooperation

Wall Street Crash, Oct. 1929Wall Street Crash, Oct. 1929

Late October 1929

Record 28.8 million shares changed hands at low prices

Domestic economic chaos

Worldwide economic crisis followed

The Great DepressionThe Great Depression

By 1932 25% of US workforce unemployed

US increasingly preoccupied by domestic challenges

Hoovervilles to The New Deal

By 1932 25% of US workforce unemployed

US increasingly preoccupied by domestic challenges

Hoovervilles to The New Deal

Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act

International situation worsening

1930s Internationally1930s Internationally

Japan invaded China - Manchuria, 1931- mainland China, 1937

Fascism on the rise in Europe- Nazi Germany’s expansion, 1936- Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia, 1936

Italy and Germany openly interested in influence in South America

US responsesUS responses

Monroe Doctrine remained US policy

Stimson Doctrine, 1932- Open-Door Policy

Good Neighbor Policy, 1933

FDR’s “Good Neighbor Policy”

FDR’s “Good Neighbor Policy”

1933 policy toward Latin America

Non-intervention & non-interference in domestic affairs

Maintain & increase econ. opportunities

Cultural evidence of:Cultural evidence of:

Disney goes Latin!

Shoring up support for WWII

Premiered in Rio de Janeiro August 1942

During WWIIDuring WWII

US responses, cont’dUS responses, cont’d

Neutrality Acts

Ludlow Amendment

FDR’s national addresses- The Fireside Chat

US responses, cont’dUS responses, cont’d

Neutrality Acts

Ludlow Amendment

FDR’s national addresses- The Fireside Chat

Pan-American Conference, 1938

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