Chapter 26 – Road to War Section 1 – The Search for Peace

Legacies of World War I  8 million people died, 112,000 Americans  Few Americans believed the War had made the world “safe for democracy”  Feared being drug into another foreign conflict  USA followed partial policy of isolationism during 1920’s and 1930’s  Isolationism shunned USA from organizations set up after WWI.  Ex: League of Nations, World Court

The Washington Conference  International conference in Washington D.C.  Charles Evans Hughes – US Secretary of State  Suggested major powers destroy 66 large warships  Called for a 10-year “naval holiday” where no large warships or cruisers were built  Great Britain, USA, and Japan retire warships to limit their individual naval strength  USA and Britain would be equal  Japan 60% of Britain and USA navies  Italy and France would be limited to half of Japan’s navy  Became known as the Five-Power Naval Treaty

Treaties  Five-Power Naval Treaty  Four-Power Treaty – Britain, France, Japan, and USA pledge to respect each others territory in the Pacific  Nine-Power Treaty – Britain France, Japan, Italy, USA, Belgium, China, Netherlands, and Portugal  These treaties eased tensions in Asia

Unsuccessful Efforts  April 6 th, 1927 – 10 th Anniversary of USA entry into WWI  France and USA enter an agreement to outlaw war  US – Frank Kellogg, France – Aristide Briand  Eventually 62 countries sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact  Outlaws war as an instrument of national policy  Allows countries to go to war in self-defense  September 1931 – Japan invades Manchuria  Led to War between Japan and China

War Debts and Reparations  Start of WWI US banks lent money to Britain and France  By 1920 Allies owed more than $10 Billion to the US  David Lloyd George = British Prime Minister  Argued that their war debts should be canceled  US officials rejected appeals but did cancel part of the debts  Only way Allies could pay was to collect reparations from defeated Germany  1921 German reparations at $32 Billion  Germany borrowed money from Britain and printed paper money resulting in inflation

German Inflation

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