CHAP 25 -isolationism and internationalism

FDR’S BOMBSHELL

• Hoover believed reinforcement of gold standard and resolving war debts issue could allow for economic recovery 

  • US partakes in World Economic Conference

• Roosevelt released message →repudiated  orthodox views of most delegates and rejecting agreement on currency stabilization 

• Forbade American banks to make loans to any nation in default on its debts → ceased circular system 

RECIPROCAL TRADE AGREEMENT ACT

• FDR administration served active interest in American world trade

• Allowed for FDR administration to negotiate treaties lowering tariffs as much as 50 percent in return for reciprocal reductions by other nations

• Increased American exports by nearly 40%

  • Mainly admitted only products not competitive with American industry/agriculture 

  • People not gaining American currency needed to buy American products or pay off debts to American banks

AMERICA AND THE SOVIET UNION

• US and Russia originally hostile/mistrusting

• US sought to make an agreement with Russia for trade, Russians wanted US to contain Japanese power

• Soviets agreed to cut down on propaganda efforts and protect US citizens in Russia. While US would recognize Soviet regime

• Relations began to worsen again → regain of distrust

  • Trade was weak  w/ Russia

  • Soviets did not receive assurances from US to contain Japanese

THE GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY

• Latin America = important targets of new policy and trade reciprocity 

• Thus, became very important to US intervention in LA

• Hoover administration sought to abandon earlier US practices of using military to compel LA governments to repay debts and respect foreign investments

• Still has its influences in LA

INTER-AMERICAN CONFERENCE

• “No state has the right to intervene in the internal or external affairs of another”

• US still had influence through economics

THE RISE OF ISOLATIONISM

• Death of attempts for world peace via treaties and disarmament 

• Arms control conference failed

  • More leaders, such as Hitler and Mussolini dropped from conferences

SOURCES OF ISOLATIONISM

• Wilsonian nationalists became disillusioned with League of Nations and its ability to cease Japanese aggression in Asia

• Other Americans sought that many people involved in business were seeking for war intervention to defend loans abroad (minimally backed up)

• Roosevelt sought to have US play a role in world peace efforts → treaty to make US a member of World Court

• Father Coughlin influencing opposition to the treaty led it to be defeated 

NEUTRALITY ACTS

• Resulted from Italy preparing to invade Ethiopia in an effort to expand colonial holdings in Africa

• 1935 - Sought to establish mandatory arms embargo against both victim and aggressor in any military conflict and empowered the president to warn American citizens  that they might travel on the ships of warring nations only at their own risk

• 1937 (Cash-and-carry policy) → belligerents could purchase only nonmilitary goods from the US and had to pay cash and carry the goods away on their own vessels 

ETHIOPIA

• Militant Neutrality gained support after Mussolini making attack on Ethiopia and conquesting it, eventually leading them to form the Axis alliance with Nazi Germany

• Isolationist support also rose from Spanish Civil War → joined with France and Britain to not partake (while Germany and Italy supported Francisco Franco)

“QUARANTINE SPEECH”

• Japan launched a major assault on China’s northern provinces 

• FDR made speech warning dangers of Japanese aggression to world peace and should be quarantined to prevent war from spreading → public did not like this

• Panay sunk by Japanese aviators 

FAILURE OF MUNICH

• violations to Treaty of Versailles 

• Hitler expanded Germany by uniting Austria and Germany together

•  Hitler wanted Czechoslovakia to ceede part of it to gain a German speaking part, Czech did not want to because it wanted to fight, but would not receive much military support

• Western nations wanted to handle this peacefully

MUNICH CONFERENCE

• Hitler met with France and Great Britain to resolve crisis → Britain anf France agreed to help Germany gain the part Czechoslovakia but Germany could not expand anymore

FAILURE OF “APPEASMENT”

• Hitler violated that policy and made threats towards Poland to submit to Germany demands → staged incident on Polish border to claim that Germany had been attacked → invasion of Poland

• Britain and  France declared war on Germany to come to Poland’s aid → WWII starts