1920s: Foreign Policy

Americans in the 1920s were fearful of being pulled into another war: Disillusionment with WWI Europe’s post-war problems Communism in the Soviet Union Instead of retreating to isolationism, American politicians actively pursued policies that would advance American interests while still maintaining world peace Foreign Policy

Republican presidents of the 1920s tried to promote peace and scale back defense spending by arranging treaties of disarmament Washington Conference (1921)- Sec. of State hoped to stabilize the size of the US Navy relative to other nations and resolve conflicts in the Pacific Representatives at the Washington Conference came up with three treaties intended to relieve post-war tension Disarmament & Peace

Washington Conference Treaty Terms Five Power Treaty Nations with five largest navies agreed to maintain specific ratios of their largest warships; Britain and the U.S. agreed not to fortify their possessions in the Pacific Four Power Treaty U.S., France, Great Britain, and Japan agreed to respect one another’s territory in the Pacific Nine Power Treaty All nine nations at the conference agreed to respect Open Door policies in China Washington Conference Treaty Terms

1928 treaty signed by Sec. of State Frank Kellogg and French foreign minister Aristide Briand Kellogg-Briand Pact renounced the use of aggressive force to achieve national ends This international agreement ultimately proved ineffective Allowed for “defensive” wars Failed to provide for taking action against violators of the agreement Kellogg-Briand Pact

Republican presidents believed pro-business policies brought prosperity at home and also strengthened U.S. interests abroad The Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 increased tariffs on foreign imports by 25% Protected U.S. businesses only in the short-run Because of the tariff, European nations were slow to recover from the war, had difficulty repaying war debts to the U.S. Responded by placing high tariffs on U.S. imports These obstacles to international trade weakened the world economy and were one reason for the Great Depression Business & Diplomacy

War Debts & Reparations U.S. emerged from WWI as a creditor nation Lent nearly $10 billion to the Allies Presidents Harding and Coolidge insisted France and Great Britain pay back every cent Allied nations objected: Claimed they suffered worse losses than the U.S. Money borrowed was actually spend in the U.S. High U.S. tariffs made it more difficult to pay back war debts How were Britain and France to collect the money owed to them by Germany? Germany was bankrupt, had soaring inflation, and was close to anarchy War Debts & Reparations

Charles Dawes, an American banker and later Coolidge’s vice president, negotiated a compromise accepted by all sides The Dawes Plan established a cycle of payments from the U.S. to Germany and then from Germany to the Allies, and finally from the Allies back to the U.S. U.S. would lend huge sums to Germany to rebuild its economy and pay back reparations to France and Great Britain France and Great Britain would use the reparation money to pay back their debts to the U.S. This cycle of payments helped ease financial problems and was working well until the U.S. stock market crashed in 1929 U.S. was unable to loan any more money to Germany The Dawes Plan

Legacy of U.S. Foreign Policy in the 1920s Finland was ultimately the only nation to repay its war debts in full to the U.S. Unpaid debts of other nations left bad feelings on all sides Many Europeans resented what they saw as American greed Americans saw this as a reason to retreat back to isolationism in the 1930s while dealing with the Great Depression… Legacy of U.S. Foreign Policy in the 1920s

? Why were Americans fearful in the 1920s of being pulled back into another war? Briefly describe the three treaties agreed upon at the Washington Conference of 1921. What effect did the Fordney-McCumber Tariff have on post-war relations with European nations? Why did Allied nations reject to paying back “every cent” of the $10 billion lent to them by the U.S.? What was the Dawes Plan? Give details.