Transcript Slide 1

AMERICAN
ISOLATIONISM &
FOREIGN POLICY
IN THE 1920S &
1930S
FOREIGN POLICY IN THE 1920S & 1930S
 After
WWI, the U.S. assumed a
selective isolationist foreign policy
Americans wanted to maintain the
economic boom of the 1920s &
desperate for an answer to the
depression in the 1930s
But, the U.S. did play an active role
in attempts at international
disarmament & economic stability
In 1924,
Hoover
negotiated
a
reduction
in
The
U.S.
Foreign
Debt
Commission
FOREIGN
POLICY:
ECONOMIC
POLICY
German
debt,
an
extended
time
period
to
canceled a large portion of these debts, but
repay
debts,
&
U.S.
loans
to
help
Germany
 In
the
1920s,
the
most
divisive
insisted that some of the money be repaid
make payments to France & England
international issue was war debts:
The
Dawes Plan
helpedowed
stabilize
the German
European
nations
the U.S.
$10
economy,
allowed to
Germany
repay the
billion; Attempts
reclaimtothese
Allies,
France & England
repay
debtsand
ledhelped
to anti-American
sentiment
their
debts
to
the
United
States
in Europe
When Germany could not repay $33
billion in reparations, the U.S.
negotiated the Dawes Plan
The
USA,
England,
Japan,
Italy,
& France
FOREIGN
POLICY:
INTERNATIONAL
PEACE
But,
The
neither
Nine-Power
the
NineTreaty
or
Four-Power
reaffirmed
Acts
England,
USA,
Japan,
France
signed
the
Foursigned
the
Five-Power
Treatythese
& agreed
to limit
had
provisions
the
Chinese
to
enforce
Open-Door
Policy
agreements
Power Treaty
agreeing
to collective
security
construction
of
battleships
&
aircraft
carriers
 The USA never joined the League of
Nations, but did play a role in
attempts to avoid future wars:
At the Washington Disarmament
Conference in 1921, world leaders
agreed to disarmament, free trade,
& collective security
In 1928, almost every nation,
including the USA, signed the
Kellogg-Briand Pact, renouncing
war as a tool of foreign policy
FOREIGN POLICY: INTERNATIONAL PEACE
 These
agreements did not last:
 Japan
needed raw materials to continue
its industrial expansion
 Japan began to create an Asian empire
by attacking Manchuria in 1931 & China
in 1937
 In both occasions, the League of
Nations reprimanded Japan but chose no
punitive measures
TOTALITARIAN REGIMES:
HIDEKI TOJO & EMPEROR HIROHITO
TOTALITARIAN REGIMES: BENITO MUSSOLINI
TOTALITARIAN REGIMES: HITLER
THE MUNICH PACT
“Peace in our time”
ROME-BERLIN-TOKYO AXIS
FOREIGN POLICY: INTERNATIONAL PEACE
 In
the 1930s, FDR & Congress were
preoccupied with the Great Depression
to adequately plan for new world
conflicts involving totalitarian dictators
 The rising threat of war in Europe & Asia
strengthened Americans’ desire to avoid
involvement in another world war
The NEUTRALITY
Neutrality
ActACTS
ofAct
1935
THE
The Neutrality
ofbanned
1936 banned
arms sales to
nations
at war
& warned
loans
to any
warring
nation
 The “merchants
charges
were led
citizens
not to sail of
ondeath”
belligerent
ships
by North Dakota Senator Gerald Nye from
1934 to 1936:
 Reaction
to the Nye Committee report led to
popular support to avoid making the same
mistakes that led America to enter WW1
 Congress passed 3 neutrality acts to avoid future
wars
The Neutrality Act of 1937 made the
1935 & 1936 acts permanent & required
all trade to be on a cash & carry basis
THE ROAD TOWARDS
AMERICAN
INTERVENTION
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR
But…FDR was able to get $1 billion
Congress
expandwar,
the FDR
U.S. navy
 As from
Europe
headedtotoward
openly expressed his favor for
intervention & took steps to ready the
U.S. for war
 In
1937, FDR unsuccessfully tried to
convince world leaders to “quarantine the
aggressors”
 Everything changed in 1939 with the NaziSoviet Pact & the German invasion of
Poland
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR
“The destroyer-for-bases deal is the most
important
action inin1939,
the reinforcement
of
 When
WW2 began
Congress
our national
has
taken
imposed
a cashdefense
& carrythat
policy
to been
aid the
Allies: since the Louisiana Purchase”
—FDR
 The U.S. would trade with the Allies but would
not
offer responded
loans
FDR
with all-outActs
aid to
Based
upon
the
Neutrality
 The U.S. would not deliver American products to
the Alliesofbut
did not call for war
1935-1937
Europe

In addition, FDR traded 50 old destroyers
with England for 8 naval bases in Western
Europe
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR
“The
future
of
western
Isolationists
Interventionists
civilization is being decided
Groups like
 Were appalledupon
by thebattlefield
of the
Europe”
Committee
to Defend
this departure from
—CDAAA
chair, William
America
by Aiding
neutrality & FDR’s
Allen
White
the Allies called for
involvement of the
unlimited aid to
U.S. in foreign war
England
 Their “fortress of
 They argued that the
America” idea
events in Europe did
argued that
St.
Louis Dispatch
impact the security
Germany
was notheadline:
a
“Dictator
of U.S.
threat
to the Roosevelt
U.S.
Commits Act of War”
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR

By 1940, “interventionists” had the majority
of American public sentiment on their side:
 in
1940, Congress appropriated $10 billion for
preparedness
 FDR called for America’s first ever peacetime
draft
 In the election of 1940, FDR was
overwhelmingly elected for an unprecedented
3rd term
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR
By 1940, England remained the only active
opposition to Hitler but was running out of
money
 FDR called for a Lend-Lease Act:

 U.S.
can sell or lend war supplies to Allied
nations
 Congress
put $7 billion to allow England full
access to U.S. arms
U.S. Cash and Carry Program
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR

England desperately needed help escorting
U.S.-made supplies through the u-boat
infested Atlantic
 FDR
allowed for U.S. patrols in the western half
of the Atlantic
 German attacks on U.S. ships in 1941 led to an
undeclared naval war between USA & Germany
U.S. Cash and Carry Program
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR

In 1941, FDR & Churchill met to secretly draft
the Atlantic Charter:
 The
U.S. & Britain discussed a military strategy if
the USA were to enter the war
 They discussed post-war goals of free trade &
disarmament

In 1941, Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet Pact
& invaded Russia
FROM NEUTRALITY TO UNDECLARED WAR
 FDR
brought U.S. to the brink of war &
opened himself to criticism:
 In
Sept 1941, polls showed 80% of Americans
supported remaining neutral in WW2
 FDR had to wait for the Axis to make a decisive
move…which Japan delivered on Dec 7, 1941
PEARL HARBOR
SHOWDOWN IN THE PACIFIC
The U.S. now faced a
possibleof2-ocean
war…
 Japan took full advantage
the European
war to expand in Asia:
…but Germany was still
 Attacked
coastalseen
Chinaas the primary danger
 Seized French & Dutch colonies in East Indies &
Indochina
 Signed the Tripartite Pact with Germany & Italy in
1940

FDR retaliated against Japan with fuel, iron,
& oil sanctions
SHOWDOWN IN THE PACIFIC

In 1941, the U.S. & Japan were unable to
This was really a stall tactic intended
diplomatically
resolve
their
differences,
so
the
to hide Japanese military preparations
USA:
for an the
attack on Pearl Harbor
U.S. wanted
Japan wanted an end
 Froze all removed
Japanese assets
USA
Japanese
toinsanctions
& a free
from China
 Banned
all oil sales to Japanhand to China

Hideki Tojo sent an envoy to negotiate for a
resolution…but secretly ordered an attack on
the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor
On Dec 7, 1941, the U.S. naval fleet in the
Pacific was crippled by the attack; 8 battleships
were sunk & 2,400 Americans were killed
SHOWDOWN IN THE PACIFIC

After Pearl Harbor:
 Congress
declared war against Japan on Dec 8,
1941
 Italy & Germany declared war on the U.S. on Dec
11, 1941

American public opinion was now fully behind
the war effort to defeat the fascist threat in
Europe & to seek revenge against Japan
MOBILIZING AN
“ARSENAL OF
DEMOCRACY”
THE HOME FRONT

WW2 impacted all aspects of American life:
 FDR
hoped the U.S. would be the great “arsenal
of democracy”
 The boost of wartime industry ended the Great
Depression
 The war altered the lives of women, AfricanAmericans, Japanese-Americans, & MexicanAmericans
The
TheOffice
poweroftoWar
create ThetoOffice
censorofthe
press
MOBILIZATION
War
Information
new
gov’t agenciesMobilization coordinated
to limit civil liberties &
directed press,
the
draft,
consumer
prices,
seize
personal
property
■
To
win
wars
in
Asia
&
Europe
&
meet
civilian
print, radio, & film
&
the
labor
force
propaganda
demands,
the U.S. gov’t grew to its largest
size ever:
The Office of Strategic Services gathered
– The War Powers Act gave the president
enemy
intelligence & conducted espionage
–
unprecedented power
New bureaucracies were formed to direct the
The U.S.
spent $250
economy,
creategov’t
propaganda,
sell warmillion
bonds, &
daysubversion
from 1941 to 1945
preventper
enemy
This is 2x as much as all previous
gov’t spending combined
MOBILIZATION: THE DEMAND FOR WAR
EQUIPMENT & SOLDIERS
Buy, Buy, Buy, Buy a Bond:
It Will Lead to VICTORY!
War bonds
helped raise
$187 billion
to support
the war
effort
WAR RATIONS
VICTORY GARDENS: GROW YOUR OWN
PROPAGANDA: FIGHTING THE ENEMY ON THE
BATTLEFIELD & ON THE HOME FRONT
FEAR PROPAGANDA
THE WARTIME ECONOMY
■
The most decisive factor for Allied victory was
America’s ability to outproduce both
Germany & Japan
–
–
Heavy industry was converted to war & was
directed by the War Production Board (WPB)
15 million U.S. soldiers fought but 60 million
workers & farmers supplied them with supplies
U.S. made 2x more goods than
Germany & 5x more than Japan
Ford
made one
B-24
bomber every hour
FORD’S
WILLOW
RUN
FACTORY
WW2 CHANGED
AMERICAN SOCIETY
WOMEN

The war presented new economic
opportunities for women:
 Dramatic
rise in employment (14 million to 19
million by 1945)
 Most new female workers were married, many
middle-aged
 Entered “exclusively male” fields
 Temporarily redefined “woman’s sphere” from
“just at home”
“Rosie, the Riveter”
S..t..r..e..t..c..h That Food!
Women
AcceptedWomen’s
for Volunteer
Army Air
Join the
Women’s
Emergency
Service Corps
(WAVES)
Pilots
Army Corps
(WACs)
AFRICAN-AMERICANS
■
■
■
Banned discrimination in
defense
industries
& gov’tbut
1 million blacks
served
in U.S. military
few saw combat
Discrimination in the workforce led A. Philip
Randolph to pressure FDR to create a Fair
Employment Practices Committee
Continued black migration into the North &
West made race relations a national issue
Segregated units…again
Tuskegee
Airmen
DOUBLE V: VICTORY AT HOME & ABROAD
A. Philip Randolph threatened a
“March on Washington” to
protest war time discrimination
Other groups, like the Congress of Racial
Equality (CORE), staged sit-ins in restaurants
in major cities to protest discrimination
MEXICAN-AMERICANS
■
Mexican-Americans:
–
–
–
Served in quasi-segregated military units, often
in the most hazardous branches
Mexican-American workers found jobs in SW
agriculture & west coast industry
Faced discrimination, especially during the Zoot
Suit Riots
“ZOOT SUIT” RIOT IN LOS ANGELES
JAPANESE-AMERICANS
Due to Pearl Harbor, many in the U.S. feared
Japanese-Americans
were were
helping
Japanese who
notprepare
American
for a Japanese invasion
the West
citizens in
living
in the U.S.
 Civil liberties were restricted:

 Issei
had their assets frozen
 Used racial stereotypes (“Japs”)
 In 1942, FDR ordered 112,000 JapaneseAmericans moved to internment camps
Families were given one week to
close their businesses & homes
JAPANESE
AMERICA
N
INTERNM
ENT
CAMPS
WIN-THE-WAR POLITICS

In 1944, FDR used the war to strengthen his
leadership:
 “Mr.
New Deal” had shifted to “Mr. Win the War”
 Opponent Thomas Dewey made communism &
FDR’s health the focus of the election
 FDR switched VPs from liberal Henry Wallace to
moderate Harry Truman to gain appeal