Hemispheric reactions to the events in Europe and Asia: inter-American diplomacy; cooperation and neutrality; Franklin D Roosevelt’s Good Neighbour policy—its application and effects

• FDR’s Good Neighbor Policy: applications and effects

  • An attempt to distance the US from the interventionist policies of the early 20th Century

  • A policy put in place to ensure mutual, friendly relations between the U.S. and Latin American nations

  • This was one strategy to unify the Western Hemisphere to make the U.S. stronger in world affairs: trade, conflict, etc…

  • This was also done to alleviate the regional effects of the Great Depression

  • Envisioned is a reciprocal relationship between the U.S. and Latin American nations - good relations will lead to mutually beneficial trade - everybody wins (in theory…)!

  • U.S. withdraws military from all over the hemisphere (Nicaragua, etc…)

  • The Platt Amendment is nullified - Cuba is actually independent for the first time, well, ever.

  • Impacts: terminated the Marines’ occupation of Nicaragua (1933) and Haiti (1934)

  • Effects: US policy is supported by much of Latin America in the build up to WWII

  • Policy lasts until 1945 when Cold War strategy makes it impossible to follow

  • Co-Op during the war

    • Major coordination of trade and diplomacy with most of Latin America

    • Economy, military, approaches to the Canal

• McCollum Memo - October 1940

  • Basically said that they want to go to war but the American Public will not support that

  • Therefore we must goad Japan into doing the first act of war (things like freezing assets)

  • Pearl Harbor happens (did we know…)

• US “Neutrality Acts” of 1935(restrictive), 1936(more restrictive), 1937(even more restrictive),”Cash and Carry in 1939, “Lend-Lease” in 1941

• Nye Committee (1934) - scathing indictment of US involvement in WWI

  • Munitions companies are ‘bribing’ other countries in order to sell weapons and maintain huge profits

  • These companies are scaring countries into purchasing vast weapons systems and then going to neighboring countries and doing the same

  • The committee accuses munitions companies of using their vast profits to unethically influence governments - especially the U.S. government

• American First Committee (Lindbergh spokesperson) - to pressure FDR to not take sides (Nazi sympathizers…)

  • Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee

    • 1939: Countries of the Americas should stay out of European conflicts - and if one does, the U.S. should stay out

    • Advocates neutrality but not through pacifism - we must be prepare for war and support the defense of our allies (Advocated selling defensive weapons to our allies)

    • Criticizes Wilson for WWI - claiming Europe and the U.S. are not tied politically, but are tied racially: we shouldn’t fight any Europeans b/c it weakens the white race

    • Denounced loans to any warring nations, which had recently changed

• Montevideo Agreement 1933 - FDR: “No state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another”

  • Defines what a State is, declares that only states that sign the agreement are recognized, defines what states rights are

  • The U.S. adds “reservations” that essentially say that intervention might still happen b/c we haven’t agreed on definitions for everything

• Havana Act of 1940: Any attack against an American Republic, is considered an attack against all 21 American Republics

• Declaration of Panama 1939: Conference where all 21 American Republics agreed on a Pan-American Security zone that reached out about 1000 nautical miles offshore. Zone was regulated by US ships

• Joint cooperation with US and Canada to form the Permanent Joint Board on Defence that is responsible for the security of their continent

• Buenos Aires Agreement 1936 - what to do in the event of a ‘non-hemispheric aggressor’ - co-op treaty

  • Organizes potential response to a “non-hemispheric aggressor”

  • U.S. does not attach reservations as they did at Montevideo

  • Simply says that IF this happens, signatory nations agree to coordinate a response

• Mexico 1938: nationalized its oil industry - kicks US companies out, seize property - GNP applies - Mexico agrees to pay $20 mil in compensation (good neighbor policy kept us out of war in this situation, a good example of success)

  • Mexico nationalized their oil industry, meaning the government took control of production - no private company can make a profit off oil

  • 100s of U.S. citizens are kicked out, and companies like Shell Oil, who are heavily invested, appeal to the USFG

  • U.S. oil companies want $200M in compensation

  • Mexico refuses U.S. demands, citing non-intervention principle

  • FDR negotiates a settlement - Mexico will eventually pay $30M in 1943 in compensation to U.S. oil companies