Transcript enforcement of the treaties - learning

Enforcement of the
Provisions of the Treaties
and US isolationism
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German resentment
Anglo-American guarantee to France did not
materialise as the Senate opposed it.
League of nations was not a success as US did
not join it.
USSR followed a policy of isolation
Italy was unhappy as it did not gain as many
territories as it had expected.
Japan was not interested.
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She wanted to avoid military and diplomatic
conflicts in the interwar period as she was
facing resistance movements in her colonies.
WWI resulted in a considerable reduction in
her armed forces and she cut upon her
military spending in the inter-war years giving
more attention to building its economy thus
did not want to get into any conflict.
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The British public and politicians were
determined to avoid any future war after a
great deal of suffering of WWI
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France’s stance on enforcing the Peace
Treaties
US’s Open Door Policy towards China
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US did not join the League of Nations
US did not honour the military assistance to
France
Opposition in the Senate to US being a
member of the League of Nations as it would
be acting as a policeman and the League
would rely heavily on US for the enforcement
of the treaties
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The Republican party was nursing many real and imagined grudges
against Wilson and his administration. They viewed him as a liar who had
lied to get us into the war
Post war a wave of discontent had begun to rise in America also as the
peace process at Versailles looked less and less likely to maintain future
peace.It just looked to many Americans as the same old carving up of the
spoils. Major ethnic groups in the US, especially the German-Americans
with affection for their old Central Power homeland and the IrishAmericans with their hatred for England, were also upset with Wilson's
inability to hold the winners to the idealism of his fourteen points.
The Republican party cleverly rode this wave of discontent and hit Wilson
where it would hurt...his idealistic hope for a League of Nations. Using a
variety of procedural attacks they defeated the Treaty in the Senate.
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Many Senators were concerned that joining the
League of Nations would compromise the
sovereignty of the United States. For example,
Article X of the League Covenant obligated
member nations to defend the territorial
integrity of league members. So, if one league
member attacked another, in some dispute that
had nothing to do with the Untied States or its
interests, could the League Council order the
United States to participate in the conflict, even
if Congress did not approve?
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To protect the United States from getting
involved in useless wars like that, many Senators
(led by Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts)
proposed "reservations," or amendments, to the
treaty, that would make clear that the United
States was not obligated to get involved in any
war unless the war was approved by the
Congress of the United States. Other
reservations were proposed that would preserve
the sovereignty of the United States. Under the
Constitution, the treaty had to be approved by a
two-thirds vote
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In 1921, after Wilson left office, and when
Warren Harding was President, the United
States and Germany signed a separate treaty,
formally ending the state of war. Under that
treaty, the United States obtained all the
rights and benefits it would have had under
the Treaty of Versailles, but none of the
obligations (such as having to join or be
subject to the League of Nations).
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During the 1920s, American foreign affairs
took a back seat. In addition, America tended
to insulate itself in terms of trade. Tariffs were
imposed on foreign goods to shield U.S.
manufacturers.
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America turned its back on Europe by restricting
the number of immigrants permitted into the
country. Until World War I, millions of people,
mostly from Europe, had come to America to
seek their fortune and perhaps flee poverty and
persecution. Britons and Irishmen, Germans and
Jews constituted the biggest groups. In 1921 the
relatively liberal policy ended and quotas were
introduced. By 1929 only 150,000 immigrants
per year were allowed in
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Presentation on London Naval
Conference(1930, 1935-36) and
the Geneva Disarmament Conference (193234)