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American Isolationism & Foreign Policy in the 1920s & 1930sForeign Policy in the 1920s & 1930sAfter WWI, US foreign policy was selectively isolationistUS wanted to maintain economic boom of 20s / desperate for an answer to the Depression in 30s

US was active in attempts at international disarmament & economic stabilityAdd content from Out of Many, pg 826Not really isolationist foreign policy (active but selective)

Foreign Policy: Economic PolicyIn 20s most divisive intl issue was war debts:Euro nations owed US $10BAttempts to reclaim debts led to anti-US sentiment in EuropeWhen Germany could not repay $33 billion in reparations, the US negotiated the Dawes PlanUS Foreign Debt Commsn canceled large % of the debts, but insisted some be repaid1924: Hoover negotiated reduction in German debt, extended time period to repay, & US loans to help Germany make payments to France & EnglandDawes Plan helped stabilize G economy, allowed G to repay Allies, and helped F & GB to repay debts to the USEuropean Debts to the U.S.

Hyper-inflation in Germany by 1923

Foreign Policy: Economic PolicyGreat Depression made Euro postwar recovery tough in the 30s:

Hawley-Smoot Tariff (1930) limited Euro exports to US

US unable to loan $, leaving G unable to repay reparations & F/GB unable to repay war debtsForeign Policy: International PeaceUS never joined League of Nations, but did participate in attempts to avoid future wars:

Washington Disarmament Conf (1921): world leaders agreed to disarmament, free trade, & collective security

1928: almost every nation, including US, signed the Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing war as a tool of foreign policyThe USA, England, Japan, Italy, & France signed the Five-Power Treaty & agreed to limit construction of battleships & aircraft carriersThe Nine-Power Treaty reaffirmed the Chinese Open-Door PolicyEngland, USA, Japan, France signed the Four-Power Treaty agreeing to collective securityBut, neither the Nine- or Four-Power Acts had provisions to enforce these agreementsForeign Policy: International PeaceThese agreements didnt last:Japan needed raw materials to continue its industrial expansion Japan began to create an Asian empire by attacking Manchuria (1931) / rest of China (1937)In both occasions, the League of Nations reprimanded Japan but chose no punitive measures Totalitarian Regimes: Hideki Tojo & Emperor Hirohito

Japan Invades Manchuria

1937: Japanese pilots bombed USS Panay, a US gunboat stationed in China, killing 3 Americans. US accepted Japan's apology / promise against future attacksUnlike USS Maine or Lusitania, few Americans called for war against JapanIn December 1937, Japanese aircraft bombed the Panay, a U.S. gunboat stationed on the Yangtze River near Nanking, killing three Americans. While the attack angered the public, few calls for war rang out, a similar response to those following the sinking of the Maine or the Lusitania. The United States quickly accepted Japan's apology, indemnities for the injured and relatives of the dead, promises against future attacks, and punishment of the pilots responsible for the bloodshed. Totalitarian Regimes: Benito Mussolini

Totalitarian Regimes: Hitler

The Munich Pact

Peace in our timeRome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis

Foreign Policy: International Peace30s: FDR / Congress too preoccupied w/Great Depression to plan for world conflicts involving totalitarian dictators

Rising threat of war in Euro & Asia strengthened Ams desire to avoid involvement in another world warForeign Policy: Citizen Attitudes1920s & 30s: most Ams wanted to avoid another meaningless war

Munitions makers & bankers labeled merchants of death & blamed for US involvement in WWI

Pacifism swept across college campuses; students staged walk-outs & anti-war ralliesHistorian Walter Millis Americas Road to War blamed Wilson & GB propaganda for duping US into WWI

Veterans of FUTURE WarsThe Lost Generation

All Quiet on the Western Front portrayed WWI as brutalLost Generation is a phrase that was coined by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald in his first published novel This Side of Paradise[citation needed]. Often it is used to refer to a group of American literary notables who lived in Paris and other parts of Europe, some after military service in the First World War. People identified with the "Lost Generation" include authors and poets Ernest Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Waldo Peirce, and John Dos Passos. There were many literary artists involved in the groups known as the Lost Generation. The three best known are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos. Others usually included among the list are: Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane, Ford Maddox Ford and Zelda Fitzgerald. Ernest Hemingway was the Lost Generation's leader in the adaptation of the naturalistic technique in the novel. Hemingway volunteered to fight with the Italians in World War I and his Midwestern American ignorance was shattered during the resounding defeat of the Italians by the Central Powers at Caporetto. Newspapers of the time reported Hemingway, with dozens of pieces of shrapnel in his legs, had heroically carried another man out. That episode even made the newsreels in America. These war time experiences laid the groundwork of his novel, A Farewell to Arms (1929). Another of his books, The Sun Also Rises (1926) was a naturalistic and shocking expression of post-war disillusionment. John Dos Passos had also seen the brutality of the war and questioned the meaning of contemporary life. His novel Manhatten Transfer reveals the extent of his pessimism as he indicated the hopeless futility of life in an American city. F. Scott Fitzgerald is remembered as the portrayer of the spirit of the Jazz age. Though not strictly speaking an expatriate, he roamed Europe and visited North Africa, but returned to the US occasionally. Fitzgerald had at least two addresses in Paris between 1928 and 1930. He fulfilled the role of chronicler of the prohibition era. The Neutrality ActsMerchants of death charges led by ND Sen Gerald Nye from 1934-36:Reaction to Nye Committee report led to popular support to avoid making same mistakes that led US to enter WW1

Congress passed 3 neutrality acts to avoid future warsNeutrality Act (1935) banned arms sales to nations at war & warned citizens not to sail on belligerent shipsNeutrality Act (1936) banned loans to any warring nationNeutrality Act (1937) made 1935 & 1936 acts permanentThe Road Towards American InterventionFrom Neutrality to Undeclared WarAs Euro headed to war, FDR openly expressed favor for intervention & took steps to ready US for war1937: FDR unsuccessfully tried to convince world leaders to quarantine the aggressors Everything changed in 1939 w/the Nazi-Soviet Pact & the German invasion of PolandBut FDR was able to get $1B from Congress to expand the navy

From Neutrality to Undeclared WarWhen WW2 began (1939):Congress imposed a cash & carry policy to aid the Allies:US would trade w/Allies but not offer loans US would not deliver products to EuropeFDR traded 50 old destroyers to UK for 8 naval bases on Brit territory in Caribbean/S AmericaThe destroyer-for-bases deal is the most important action in the reinforcement of our national defense that has been taken since the Louisiana Purchase FDR FDR responded with all-out aid to the Allies but did not call for warStill attempting to avoid more merchants of death in the banking industryStill trying to avoid losing US lives at sea by German U-boatsEased rigid restrictions of Neutrality Acts of 1935-37 to allow the US to aid UK & FranceFrom Neutrality to Undeclared WarIsolationistsAngered by FDRs involvement of the US in foreign war

Fortress America idea argued Germany was not a threat to USInterventionistsCommittee to Defend America by Aiding the Allies called for unlimited aid to UK

Argued that events in Europe did impact security of USSt. Louis Dispatch headline: Dictator Roosevelt Commits Act of WarThe future of western civilization is being decided upon the battlefield of Europe CDAAA chair, William Allen WhiteFrom Neutrality to Undeclared WarBy 1940, interventionists had majority of public sentiment:1940: Congress appropriated $10 billion for preparedness1st ever peacetime draft

Election of 1940 FDR overwhelmingly elected for unprecedented 3rd term

From Neutrality to Undeclared War1940: UK remained only active opposition to Hitler but was running out of moneyFDR called for Lend-Lease Act:US could sell or lend war supplies to Allied nationsCongress gave UK $7B in credit to allow full access to US armsU.S. Cash and Carry ProgramXLend-Lease Supply Routes

From Neutrality to Undeclared WarUK needed help escorting US-made supplies thru U-boat infested Atlantic

FDR allowed US patrols in western half of the Atlantic1941: German attacks on US ships in led to undeclared naval war between US & Germany U.S. Cash and Carry ProgramXXFrom Neutrality to Undeclared War1941: FDR & Churchill met to secretly draft Atlantic Charter:US & UK discussed military strategy if US were to enter the warDiscussed post-war goals of free trade & disarmament1941: Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact & invaded Russia

From Neutrality to Undeclared WarFDR brought US to the brink of war & opened himself to criticism: Sep 1941: polls showed 80% of US supported neutrality

FDR had to wait for the Axis to make a decisive movewhich Japan delivered on Dec 7, 1941Pearl HarborShowdown in the PacificJapan took advantage of Euro war to expand in Asia:Attacked coastal ChinaSeized French & Dutch colonies in East Indies & Indochina Signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany & Italy in 1940FDR retaliated against Japan with fuel, iron, & oil sanctions

The Greater East Asia-Prosperity CompanyRich in Tin, Oil, RubberShowdown in the Pacific1941: US & Japan unable to resolve their differences diplomatically, so US:Froze all Japanese assets in US Banned all oil sales to JapanHideki Tojo sent envoy to negotiate for resolutionSecretly ordered attack on US naval base at Pearl HarborU.S. wanted Japanese removed from ChinaJapan wanted end to sanctions & control of ChinaReally a stall tactic intended to hide Japanese military preparations for an attack on Pearl Harbor

Dec 7, 1941: US naval fleet in Pacific crippled by the attack; 8 battleships sunk & 2400 killed

On Dec 7, 1941, the U.S. naval fleet in the Pacific was crippled by the surprise attack; 8 battleships were sunk & 2,400 Americans were killed

Showdown in the PacificAfter Pearl Harbor:Congress declared war against Japan Dec 8, 1941Italy & Germany declared war on the U.S. Dec 11, 1941

Public opinion now fully behind war effort to defeat fascism in Europe & seek revenge against Japanbut Germany still seen as primary dangerThe U.S. now faced a possible 2-ocean war