Transcript World War II and its Aftermath

Expansion . . . . Empire?
 Imperialism: Policy by which strong nations extend their
economic, political or military control over weaker territories
 Americans had always been in favor of Continental Expansion
Manifest Destiny: expand from Atlantic to Pacific
 But, Americans had generally rejected “foreign entanglements”
 Europe, meanwhile, had carved up the world . . .
From Isolation to Expansion
 Americans gradually warmed
to the idea of “empire”
 Three factors:
1) Desire for Military Strength
2) Desire for new Markets
3) Belief in Cultural Superiority
 Spanish – American War
becomes a trigger
Becoming a Naval Power
 Alfred Thayer Mahan, US Navy admiral, writes influential book
The Influence of Sea Power on History
 USA needs strong Navy to maintain position in world
 By 1900 USA had world's third largest Navy
The United States
& Hawaii
 Hawaii had been an independent kingdom since 1795
 Americans had settled there and grew sugarcane & pineapple
 Unites States built naval base at Pearl Harbor
 Plantation owners wanted Hawaii annexed so they would
not have to pay tariffs & duties on sugar sent to USA
The “Republic” of Hawaii
 In 1893, Sanford Dole, with help from US Marines, overthrew
the government of Queen Lili'uokulani and declared that
Hawaii was an independent republic seeking Statehood.
 President Cleveland refuses recognition, demands Queen
be returned to throne
 McKinley more receptive, Hawaii becomes US Territory 1898
Revolt in Cuba
 1895 Jose Marti leads revolt against Spanish rule in Cuba
 American opinion split. Some favor rebel cause: “Cuba Libre!”
Others favor Spain, protect American investments.
 1896 Spain sends General Valeriano Weyler to Cuba
he herds population into “concentration camps” so that they
cannot aid the rebel cause. Starvation and disease
Yellow Journalism
 William Randolph Hearst, New York Journal
 Joseph Pulitzer, New York World
 Competing for newspaper sales, create sensational headlines
 Hearst tells illustrator: “You provide the pictures,
I'll provide the war”
The United States & Spain
 The De Lome Letter: McKinley had used diplomacy with Spain
and gotten limited self government for Cuba
 Letter from Spanish Ambassador to government is stolen
by Cuban rebel and given to United States
 Calls McKinley weak and seeking approval from Europe
 US citizens angry, diplomacy cools off
Remember the Maine!
 McKinley sent the USS Maine to Havana to evacuate civilians
 February 15, 1898, the Maine explodes in Havana harbor
 War fever explodes across the country
The Spanish American War
 Admiral Dewey and Navy smash Spain in Philippines
 US troops quickly defeat Spanish in Cuba & Puerto Rico
 Treaty of Paris, August 1898. Spain frees Cuba & gives Guam
& Puerto Rico to US. Spain sells Philippines to USA for $20M
USA & Territorial Gains
 Puerto Rico becomes a US Territory; During War with Spain
the US had guaranteed the independence of Cuba
 1900, US forced Cuba to amend their new constitution
 Platt Amendment:
-Cuba could not make treaties with foreign powers that would
limit its independence or let foreigners use Cuban territory
-US reserved right to intervene in Cuba
-Cuba could not go into debt
-The US could buy or lease Cuban land for naval bases
USA & Philippines
 Filipinos thought they were gaining independence
 When they learned the islands were to become US Territory
they revolted under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo
 3 years of war, 20,000 Filipinos & 4,000 Americans dead
$400 million dollars spent.
America & China
 Philippines a gateway to markets in Asia
 China = “Sick Man of Asia”, but a vast potential market
 Sec. State John Hay issues “Open Door Notes”: called on
all nations to respect an open door in China
Three Foundations of American Foreign Policy
 US Economy Depends on Exports
 US can intervene to keep markets open
 Closing of an area threatens US Survival
Roosevelt wins Nobel Peace Prize
 1904: Japan and Russia competing for control of Korea
 Japan: surprise attack on Russian fleet at Port Arthur
 Japan stuns world by defeating Russia on land & sea
 Roosevelt gets both sides to meet in Portsmouth NH
 Russia & Japan sign treaty, TR gets Nobel Peace Prize
The Panama Canal
 US, Britain, France had explored idea of canal from 1800s
 Different routes proposed: Nicaragua, Panama, Darien
 French actually begin building in Panama in 1880s
led by Ferdinand de Lesseps, builder of Suez Canal
The Panama Canal
 Engineering problems, disease, corruption cause the
French to give up and sell claims to the USA.
 USA helped Panamanians rebel against Colombia
 Canal built between 1904 & 1914
 Roosevelt, Taft & Wilson all worked to see it completed
The Roosevelt Corollary
 Since 1823, American Policy in the Western Hemisphere
was governed by the Monroe Doctrine
 Latin American nations start borrowing huge sums from
European nations. TR afraid of Intervention
 The Roosevelt Corollary: The United States will use
force to protect its interests in Latin America
Dollar Diplomacy
 After 1904, the US will intervene in Latin America
including sending Marines to Nicaragua in 1911
 Taft had American business guarantee Latin American
countries payments to European creditors
 Goal was to keep European nations from gaining
control over Latin American countries
Wilson’s Missionary Diplomacy
 Wilson rejected Dollar Diplomacy
 Wilson believed USA was morally obligated to deny
recognition to countries that were oppressive,
undemocratic or that were opposed to the USA
Wilson’s Intervention in Mexico
 Mexico had been ruled for 30 years by Porfirio Diaz
Diaz was a military dictator, but friendly to the USA.
 1911, peasants and workers under Francisco Madero
overthrow Diaz, Madero rules for two years
 Madero murdered by Colonel Victoriano Huerta
 Wilson refuses to recognize government of murderers
Wilson’s Intervention in Mexico
 1914, incident involving US Sailors on leave in Tampico
 Wilson sends Marines to occupy Veracruz
 US & Mexico come close to war
 Eventually Huerta government collapses & is replaced
by Nationalist leader Venustiano Carranza
Rebellion in Mexico
 Pancho Villa & Emiliano Zapata rebel against Carranza
 They seek US aid but Wilson recognizes Carranza govt.
 Villa raids into New Mexico & kills 17 Americans
 Wilson orders General Pershing & 15,000 troops into
Mexico to hunt down Villa.
 Clashes between US & Mexican armies.
 Conflict settled as US enters World War I
Results of American Imperialism
 The US Expanded Markets for Exports and ensured
the growth of the American Economy
 The US built a modern Navy to protect its interests
 The US Exercised “police power” to ensure that it would
remain dominant in Latin Americ