American Foreign P olicy B etween the Wars (with thanks to Susan Pojer )

1. American Foreign Policy Between the Wars (with thanks to Susan Pojer)

2. Foreign Policy Tensions Interventionism Disarmament • Isolationism • Nativists • Anti-War movement • Conservative Republicans • Collective security • “Wilsonianism” • Business interests

3. American Isolationism • Isolationists in Congress, like Senator Lodge, refused to allow the US to sign the Versailles Treaty or to join the League of Nations.. • A security treaty with France was also rejected by the Senate. • July, 1921  Congress passed a resolution declaring WW I officially over! Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge, Sr. [R-MA]

4. Washington Disarmament Conference(1921-1922) • The Washington DisarmamentConference,(1921-1922) also called the Washington Naval Conference was a military conference called by U.S. President Warren G. Harding and held in Washington, D.C. • Its goal was to limit the growth of navies and diffuse tensions in the Pacific

5. Five-Power Treaty (1922) • Set a ratio of naval tonnage among the five leading naval nations in an attempt to limit naval armaments. • US Britain Japan France Italy 5 5 3 1.67 1.67 • Loophole  no restrictions on small warships. (destroyers, submarines, etc.)

6. The Dawes Plan • At the end of the First World War, the victorious European powers demanded that Germany compensate them for the devastation wrought by the four-year conflict. • In 1921 the Reparation Commission set the bill at 132 billion gold marks, approximately $31.5 billion. • When Germany defaulted on a payment in January 1923, France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr in an effort to force payment. • Instead, they met a government-backed campaign of passive resistance. Inflation in Germany, which had begun to accelerate in 1922, spiraled into hyperinflation. The value of the German currency collapsed • While the United States had little interest in collecting reparations from Germany, it was determined to secure repayment of the more than $10 billion it had loaned to the Allies over the course of the war. • Charles Dawes, a Wall Street banker, headed the international committee that approved the following plan. • The Ruhr area was to be evacuated by foreign troops • Reparation payments would begin at one billion marks the first year, increasing annually to two and a half billion marks after five years • Germany would be loaned about $200 million, primarily through Wall Street bond issues in the United States

7. Hyper-Inflation in Germany:1923

8. The Young Plan • After the Dawes Plan was put into operation in 1924, it became apparent that Germany would not willinglymeet the annual payments over an indefinite period of time. • The plan was presented by the committee headed (1929–30) by American industrialist Owen D. Young, creator and ex-first chairman of the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) • The Young Plan reduced German reparation payments by about 20 percent and called for an international bank of settlements to handle the reparations transfers. • Between agreement and the adoption of the plan came the Wall Street Crash of 1929, of which the main consequences were twofold. The American banking system had to recall money from Europe, and cancel the credits that made the Young Plan possible’

9. The Dawes and Young Plans

10. Young Plan(1930) • For three generations, you’ll have to slave away! • $26,350,000,000 to be paid over a period of 58½ years. • In 1931, Hoover declared a debt moratorium.

11. Locarno Pact(1925) • Guaranteed the common boundaries of Belgium, France, and Germany as specified in the Treaty of Versailles of 1919. • Germany signed treaties with Poland and Czechoslovakia, agreeing to change the eastern borders of Germany by arbitration only.

12. Clark Memorandum (1928) • Clark pledged that the US would not intervene in Latin American affairs in order to protect US property rights. • This was a complete rebuke of PresidentTheodoreRoosevelt’s “Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine” ,which justified U.S. intervention in Latin America and the Caribbean, claiming that the United States had the responsibility to preserve order and protect life and property in those countries. Secretary of StateJ. Reuben Clark

13. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928) • Written by Frank Kello, U.S. Secretary of State and Aristide Briand, French Foreign Minister. • 15 nations signed an agreement dedicated to outlawing aggression and war as tools of foreign policy. • 62 nations later signed. • Problems no means of actual enforcement and gave Americans a false sense of security.

14. Japanese Attack Manchuria (1931) • League of Nations condemned the action. • Japan leaves the League. • Hoover wanted no part in an American military action in the Far East.

15. Hoover-Stimpson Doctrine(1932) • US would not recognize any territorial acquisitions that were achieved by force. • Japan was infuriated because the US hadconquered new territories a few decades earlier. • Japan bombed Shanghai in 1932  massive casualties.

16. FDR’s “Good Neighbor” Policy • Important to have all nations in the Western Hemisphere united in lieu of foreign aggressions. • FDR  The good neighbor respects himself and the rights of others. • Policy of non-intervention and cooperation.

17. FDR Recognizes the Soviet Union(late 1933) • FDR felt that recognizing Moscow might bolster the US against Japan. • Hope that trade with the USSR would help the US economy during the Depression.

18. Nye Committee Hearings(1934-1936) • The Nye Committee investigated the charge that WW I was needless and the US entered so munitions owners could make big profits [“merchants of death.”] • The Committee concluded that bankers wanted war to protect their loans & arms manufacturers to make money. • Claimed that Wilson had provoked Germany by allowing Amedrican ships to sail in warring nations’ waters. • Resulted in Congress passing several Neutrality Acts. Senator Gerald P. Nye [R-ND]

19. FDR’s “I hate war” Speech (1936)

20. “I Hate War” Speech • “I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen 200 limping, exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment of 1,000 that went forward 48 hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.” FDR

21. Ludlow Amendment (1938) • A proposed amendment to the Constitution that called for a national referendum on any declaration of war by Congress. • Introduced several times by Congressman Ludlow. • Never actually passed. Congressman Louis Ludlow[D-IN]

22. Neutrality Acts: 1935, 1936, 1937 • When the President proclaimed the existence of a foreign war, certain restrictions would automatically go into effect: • Prohibited sales of arms to belligerent nations. • Prohibited loans and credits to belligerent nations. • Forbade Americans to travel on vessels of nations at war [in contrast to WW I]. • Non-military goods must be purchased on a “cash-and-carry” basis  pay when goods are picked up. • Banned involvement in the Spanish Civil War. • This limited the options of the President in a crisis. • America in the 1930s declined to build up its forces!

23. US Neutrality

24. Panay Incident (1937) • December 12, 1937. • Japan bombed USS Panay gunboat & threeStandard Oil tankers onthe Yangtze River. • The river was an international waterway. • Japan was testing US resolve! • Japan apologized, paid US an indemnity, and promised no further attacks. • Most Americans were satisfied with the apology. • Results  Japanese interpreted US tone as a license for further aggression against US interests.

25. Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) The American “Lincoln Brigade”

26. Spanish Civil War • Conflict beginning in 1936 with attempted military coup by fascist general Francisco Franco against a popular front government. • Loosely organized group of anti-fascist militias fought Franco. • Western powers chose not to get involved, portrayed war as Communists v. Fascists. • Among the anti-fascist militias were the International Brigades, or groups of Foreign volunteers fighting for Spain.

27. Americans in the Spanish Civil War • Around 3000 Americans of anti-fascist sentiment chose to fight for Spain. • Many were Communists. • Many Communists at the time were urban, Eastern-European ethnics, especially Jews. • Others of leftist, radical, or simply anti-fascist persuasions, but not necessarily Communists, joined the Brigades. • Ernest Hemingway, the most famous “lost generation” writer, fought in the Lincoln Brigade. • About 90 African American intellectuals and artists of leftist sympathies were recruited for the Lincoln Brigade. • Langston Hughes: Famous Harlem Renaissance poet and writer, served with the Lincolns.

28. Formation of International Brigades • The Soviet Comintern sent communique to Communist parties around the world, urging for people to volunteer for Spain. • American Communist Party organizers began recruiting potential soldiers from their rank and file membership. • War was seen as a fulfillment of the Marxist Prophecy that the workers of the world would unite against oppression

29. The Lincoln Brigade • Initially, three Brigades of Americans went to fight in the 15th International Brigade • The George Washington Battalion • The Abraham Lincoln Battalion • The John Brown Anti-Aircraft Battalion • The Brigades were later combined into the Washington-Lincoln Brigade, referred to usually as simply the Lincoln Brigade or the 15th International Brigade.

30. 15th International Brigade • Though some arrived in late 1936 to aid in the defense of Madrid (which ultimately fell), most of the Brigade’s intense fighting occurred at the Jarama river. • Fighting lasted constantly for one month, from February to March, 1937. Of 500 Lincolns involved, 127 were killed and 200 were wounded. • Trench warfare • Even though the Fascists ultimately won Jarama, the Lincolns saw their long defense of the river as a valiant effort.

31. Spain was a Love Affair, by Vaughn Love, Black member of Lincoln Brigade • When Hitler, Franco and Mussolini came • With ravaging hordes to conquer Spain • They pinned there hopes on greed and fear • While their great armadas filled the air • The Spaniards resisted this horrendous tide • of terror and greed and genocide • While all the “democratic” states • Blockaded Spain to seal it’s fate • The volunteers joined a mighty stand • From all the far and distant lands • To guard the valiant heart of Spain • And the liberty and freedom of all mankind • The Black Volunteers were where they belonged • Where the battle against racism and fascism was going on • To share the burden of freedom’s cause • And build the bridge of solidarity and love

32. Lincolns after the War • The Lincoln Brigade was withdrawn from battle in 1938 • Popular Front ultimately lost, Franco won, the work of Lincolns could be said to have been in vain. • The continued rise of fascism, escalating into World War II, further underscored the failure to stop Franco. • During the1950s Cold War Red Scare, all 15th Brigade Veterans were seen as potential threats to American security. • Even non-Communist members were considered as part of the potentially subversive group of “premature anti-fascists”.

33. Fascist Aggression • 1935: Hitler denounced the Versailles Treaty & the League of Nations [re-arming!]Mussolini attacks Ethiopia. • 1936: German troops sent into the Rhineland. Fascist forces sent to fight with Franco in Spain. • 1938: Austrian Anschluss. Rome-Berlin Tokyo Pact [AXIS] Munich Agreement  APPEASEMENT! • 1939: German troops march into the rest of Czechoslovakia. Hitler-Stalin Non-Aggression Pact. • September 1, 1939: German troops march into Poland  blitzkrieg  WW II begins!!!

34. 1939 Neutrality Act • In response to Germany’s invasion of Poland. • FDR persuades Congress in special session to allow the US to aid European democracies in a limited way: • The US could sell weapons to the European democracies on a “cash-and-carry” basis. • FDR was authorized to proclaim danger zones which US ships and citizens could not enter. • Results of the 1939 Neutrality Act: • Aggressors could not send ships to buy US munitions. • The US economy improved as European demands for war goods helped bring the country out of the 1937-38 recession. • America becomes the “Arsenal of Democracy.”

35. “America First” Committee Charles Lindbergh

36. “Lend-Lease” Act (1941) Great Britain.........................$31 billionSoviet Union...........................$11 billionFrance......................................$ 3 billionChina.......................................$1.5 billionOther European.................$500 millionSouth America...................$400 millionThe amount totaled: $48,601,365,000

37. Pearl Harbor

38. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto

39. Pearl Harbor from the Cockpit of a Japanese Plane

40. Pearl Harbor – Dec. 7, 1941 A date which will live in infamy!

41. FDR Signs the War Declaration