disarmament, Washington Conference, Five-Power Treaty, Four-Power Treaty, Nine-Power Treaty, Kellogg-Brian Pact, war debts, reparations, Dawes Plan, Japanese aggression in Manchuria, Stimson Doctrine, Good-Neighbor Policy, Pan-American Conferences, recognition of the Soviet Union, independence of the Philippines, reciprocal trade agreements, fascism, Axis powers, Benito Mussolini, Fascist Party, Adolf Hitler, Nazi Party, isolationism, Gerald Nye, Neutrality Acts, Spanish Civil War, Francisco Franco, America First Committee, Charles Lindbergh, appeasement, Ethiopia, Rhineland, Sudetenland, Munich, quarantine speech, Poland, blitzkrieg, cash and carry, Selective Training and Service Act, destroyers-for-bases deal, third term, Wendell Wilkie, four freedoms, Pearl Harbor
post WWI agreements
treaties of disarmament - attempts to promote peace and reduce defense costs
Washington Conference (1921) - during Harding’s presidency, initiation of talks of naval disarmament and agreements to relieve tension, representatives from Belgium, China, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal
Kellogg-Briand Pact - arranged by U.S. and France - renounced aggressive force to achieve national ends
permitted defensive war
failed to provide for consequences of violators
Washington Conference
attempts to make agreements to relieve tensions
Five-Power Treaty - nations with the 5 largest navies (U.S., Britain, Japan, France, Italy) agreed to maintain a ratio of battleships, Britain and U.S. agreed not to fortify positions in the Pacific (not Japan)
Four-Power Treaty - U.S., France, Britain, and Japan agree to respect each others’ territory in the Pacific
Nine-Power Treaty - nine conference nations (Belgium, China, France, Britain, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Portugal, U.S.) agreed to respect Open Door Policy, guaranteeing territorial integrity of China
business and diplomacy
Latin America
negotiations for U.S. investors in mineral and oil in Mexico
presence of American troops declined, economic impact on Latin America increased
Middle East - winning oil drilling rights for U.S. companies
Fordney-McCumber Tariff
Europeans unable to recover and repay war debts to U.S., imposed tariffs on U.S. imports
weakened world economy, contributed to the Great Depression
war debts and reparations
U.S. went from debtor nation to creditor nations, insisted that Great Britain and France repay war debts
Germany was unable to pay WWI reparations to Allies → bankruptcy, inflation, near anarchy
Dawes Plan - cycle of payments from the U.S. to Germany, Germany to Allies, Britain and France to the U.S., stopped after the stock market crash of 1929
Herbert Hoover’s foreign policy
ended interventionism in Latin America - arranged for removal of U.S. troops from Nicaragua and Haiti
Japanese aggression in Manchuria, defying Open Door policy
demonstrated weakness of League of Nations
Stimson Doctrine - Secretary of State Henry Stimson declared that the U.S. would refuse to recognize the legitimacy of nations established by force
endorsed by League of Nations, ineffective
FDR’s good neighbor policy
efforts to improve relations with Latin America to save resources spent on foreign operations and seek cooperation in defense against Germany and Italy
Pan-American Conferences
nullified Platt Amendment - Cuba’s foreign policy was no longer subject to U.S. approval
Mexican president seized U.S. corporations’ oil properties, FDR encouraged companies to negotiate themselves
Pan-American Conferences
U.S. pledged
to never interfere with internal affairs of Latin America
to submit future disputes for arbitration
hemispheric cooperation if Europeans committed acts of aggression against them
FDR’s depression diplomacy
recognition of the Soviet Union to increase trade and boost economy
Tydings-McDuffe Act - granted independence of the Philippines, U.S. presence gradually removed
reciprocal trade agreements - legislation enacted to reduce U.S. tariffs for nations that reciprocated comparable reduction for U.S. imports
Axis powers
alliance consisting of dictatorships of Japan, Italy, and Germany
Italy - Benito Mussolini leads Italy’s Fascist Party of dissatisfied war veterans, nationalists, people afraid of communism
fascism - the idea that people should glorify their nation and race through aggressive shows of force, dominant ideology of 1930s European dictatorships
Germany - Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party which arose due to economic struggles and the Treaty of Versailles
Japan - nationalism and militarism increased, economic conditions worsened led to the invasion of China and Southeast Asia for raw materials
American isolationism
Gerald Nye (1934) - North Dakota senator, led investigating committee concluding that participation in WWI was mainly a result of greed of bankers and arms manufacturers
Neutrality Acts - passed due to an isolationist majority in Congress preventing aid to belligerents in Europe and Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War (1936) - ideological struggle between fascism (General Francisco Franco) and republicanism (Loyalists) - U.S. was sympathetic to the Loyalists but did not provide aid, fascism prevailed, establishing a military dictatorship
America First Committee - formed by isolationists alarmed at FDR’s pro-British policies to keep public opinion against war with speakers such as Charles Lindbergh
Neutrality Acts
Neutrality Act of 1935 - authorized the president to prohibit all arms shipments and U.S. citizen travel on belligerent ships
Neutrality Act of 1936 - forbade extensions of loans and credits to belligerents
Neutrality Act of 1937 - forbade shipment of arms to opposing sides of Spanish Civil War
western democracies unwilling to challenge fascist aggression, appeasement policy
Ethiopia 1935 - Benito Mussolini conquers Ethiopia
Rhineland 1936 - Adolf Hitler defies the Treaty of Versailles by militarizing Rhineland
China 1937 - war between Japan and China, U.S. accepts Japanese apology for the sinking of U.S. gunboat in China
quarantine speech (1937) - Roosevelt proposed quarantining the aggressor, negative public reaction
Sudetenland 1938 - Hitler insists on his right to take over Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia
Munich - symbolic with appeasement - Britain and France (with U.S. support) meet with Hitler and Mussolini, allowing Hitler to take Sudetenland unopposed
outbreak of WWII in Europe
Hitler breaks Munich agreement and sends troops to occupy Czechoslovakia
Britain and France pledge to fight if Poland is attacked, expecting Russia to oppose Germany
invasion of Poland 1939 →Britain and France declare war against Germany (and Axis allies by extension)
blitzkrieg - German lightning war - Germany’s air power and fast-moving tanks, led to the surrender of France, Denmark, Norway
Roosevelt changes policies
cash and carry - less restrictive Neutrality Act, belligerent could buy U.S. arms if it used its own ships and paid in cash, technically neutral but favored Britain because of its navy control
Selective Training and Service Act - registration of all American men 21-35, draft of soldiers but the U.S. was not yet officially at war, public opinion shifted away from strict neutrality and in favor of preparedness
destroyers-for-bases deal - Britain received 50 U.S. destroyers, the U.S. received the right to build military bases on British islands in the Caribbean
election of 1940
Democrats - FDR reelected for third term
strong economic recovery enhanced by defense purchases, fear of war → voters wanted an experienced leader
arsenal of democracy
four freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, freedom from fear - justification of the proposal to lend money to Britain to purchase war materials
Lend-Lease Act (1941) - ended cash and carry requirement, permitting Britain to obtain U.S. arms on credit, opposition from America First Committee
Atlantic Charter (1941) - document created by Winston Churchill and FDR during a secret meeting - affirmed that general principles for peace after war would include self-determination for all people, no territorial expansion, and free trade
Roosevelt ordered the navy to attack all German ships on-sight
disputes with Japan
economic action - U.S. prohibited export of steel and scrap iron, froze all Japanese credits in the U.S., cut off Japanese access to vital materials like oil
negotiations for U.S. oil unsuccessful
Pearl Harbor - Japan bombed every ship in sight, killed and wounded civilians, damaged warships, and destroyed airplanes
U.S. declares war