U.S. Foreign Policy 1920s – 1930s Events Leading Up to World War II

A. A.U.S. returned to policy of isolationism after WWI B. U.S. refused to join international organizations such as the League of Nations and World Court I. 1920s: Harding, Coolidge, Hoover U.S. Foreign Affairs

C. U.S. promoted world peace by working toward disarmament 1. Review of the 1921 Washington Conference: a. Four-Power Treaty: Britain, France, Japan, and U.S. pledged to respect each other’s rights in the Pacific b. Five-Power Treaty: 4 + Italy limited naval strengths, different measures for each country

c. Nine-Power Treaty: 5+ Belgium, China, the Netherlands, and Portugal, required signers to uphold the Open Door Policy with China D Kellogg-Briand Pact 1. Initiated by French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, suggested by Sec. of State Frank Kellogg that all countries join, signed by 62 countries 2. Outlawed war except in self-defense; lacked provisions for enforcement

3. Kellogg-Briand Pact Signed on January 17, 1929; Pres. Coolidge in the White House

E Allies owed the U.S. over $10 Billion – only way for the Allies to pay was to collect money from Germany 1. Germany owed over $32 Billion –they could not pay Dawes Plan –provided loans and allowed Germany more time to complete reparations

II. 1930s: Franklin D. Roosevelt U.S. Foreign Policy

A London Economic Conference Nations gathered to attack the global depression by stabilizing national currencies 2. FDR refused to commit the U.S. until there was some recovery - this sent the world into a deeper economic crisis, (forcing extreme ideas of nationalism across Europe)

B “Good Neighbor Policy” 1. Applied specifically to Latin America 2. U.S. removed troops from Haiti and Nicaragua that had been there since the 1920s 3. Rejected military action against Mexico and Cuba, using Dollar Diplomacy to negotiate settlements

. Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza with President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington in Eleanor Roosevelt and Salvadora Somoza stand behind them.

C. Recognition of the Soviet Union 1. Since 1917, the U.S. refused to recognize the Soviet Union 2. Because of the Depression, the U.S. did not see the Soviet Union as a threat – but as a market for food and supplies 3. Main reason to recognize the USSR – FDR believed a strong Soviet Union could hold back an expansionist Japan.

D. Roosevelt’s non-involvement in Europe and withdrawal from Asia (U.S. provided for the Philippines to have independence by 1946), and the Good Neighbor policy suggested the U.S. was giving up its ambition to be a world power.

European Leaders of WWII Adolf Hitler - ? Benito Mussolini - ? Joseph Stalin - ? Who led Britain during WWII ? (3 men)