The first few years after Word War I showed very little change in the United States foreign policy. At first, the US stuck to isolationism and disarmament all while staying out of the League of Nations, but as time passed, the US wanted to expand its policies overseas. The effect of these three factors eventually led to World War II.
The United States remained an isolated nation for many years after the First World War. The main reason for this was that the US wanted to focus more on domestic affairs, such as the worsening economy. Isolationism was always in the minds of politicians, as seen in Document E. The American people did not want to go to war, and neither did the Republicans and Democrats. There were multiple foreign factors that contributed to the United States' retreat into isolationism as well. One important event was the "Red Scare" of 1917," which made Americans think that Radicals were everywhere. Even though this happened in 1917, the effects of it were still felt for years to come, and it made Americans favor isolationist policies. These isolationist policies lasted through both the Coolidge and Harding administrations, as well as some of FDR's administration. .
Secondly, a thorough process of disarmament changed foreign policy. The US reduced the size of its navy significantly, and actually sold some of the ships. This process was started when the Merchant Marine Act was passed in 1920. The US did not want to participate in any more wars, and it could not be only them that reduced the size of their navy, so they came up with the 5 Power Naval Treaty between themselves, Britain, France, Japan, and Italy. This treaty set the number of battleships each country could have based on ratios. The ratio was 5:5:3:1.75:1.75 and it meant that for every five battleships that America built, Britain could build five, France could build three, and Japan and Italy could build 1.75. .
According to Document B, Charles Evans Hughes proposed a "limitation of armament" which eventually led to the five Power Naval Treaty.
American Foreign Policy: Where are We Today and How Did We Get Here? The typical American citizen knows very little about American foreign policy. ... Many Americans want to know how we arrived at our present foreign policy. ... The first, "American Foreign Policy: Where are we today?" ... The second question posed, "American Foreign Policy: How did we get here?" ...
-Walter Cronkite The origins of the Cold War have been debated since 1945 when, at the end of World War II, the allied countries of Great Britain, The United States, and The Soviet Union had to decide how to map out the fate of Europe. ... The US Government used the scare of Soviet plans for world domination to put the American people on high alert. ... In the middle of the 1960's, inspired by the writings of many notable researchers and historians on the subject of American Foreign Policy, such as William Appleman Williams and his book The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, many looked to re...
Foreign Policy With the world balancing on the edge of destruction, foreign relationships are extremely important to the United States of America. ... It was during the beginning of World War II that the United States began to get more involved. ... After World War II, the United States began its journey as world leader. ... Then came one of the biggest interventions in Americas history of foreign policy. ... Americans now began a series of skepticism regarding foreign relations that ended up in war. ...
World War II changed the distribution of world power to a point where all of the power was concentrated in the United States and the Soviet Union. ... American policies were focused on fostering a world environment in which the American system could survive and flourish. ... Rather that maintaining a policy of neutrality the United States became the leading nation in the fight to contain communism by giving foreign and economic aid to countries that were fighting to maintain their freedom. ... Truman clearly stated that American involvement in foreign affairs was essential to the welfare of th...
The American superpower was the dominant leading force of democracy between 1945-1962 and seemed absolutely unconquerable in its superior government. ... To control this, America set out to establish the procedure for dealing with communism, a minimalist policy to destroy or control it in the long run; called containment. ... Following the economic whiplash World War II had on all European countries, leaving many with an a completely taxed economy and slow progress for return; An American man by the name of George Marshall penned the Marshall Plan in 1947, otherwise known as ERP (European Rec...
America's Involvement in World War II When war broke out, there was no way the world could possibly know what was going to happen. ... America's involvement in World War II not only contributed in the fall of the crazy Adolph Hitler and his allies. ... (Overy 259) The desire to avoid "foreign entanglements" of all kinds had been an American foreign policy for more than a century. ... America was now involved in World War II. ... When America entered World War II at the precise time and moment too once and for all take down Adolph Hitler. ...
Many people, therefore, question how foreign policy that garners such a relationship came to be. ... Leading up to World War I, a series of regional events raised the public opinion that the British/Australian alliance was not appropriate or mutually beneficial. ... Prime Minister Robert Gordon Menzies" address to Australia, in which he announced our involvement in World War II, starkly contrasted the eagerness of Fisher. ... After World War II, and with the diplomatic power it did not have before, Australia asserted itself as one of the leading middle powers in the world. ... This stre...
But this American imperialism, such as Iraq war is a bad foreign policy for Americans and the world peace because it disrupts the U.S. economy and it deteriorates the world relations. ... The very recent example of American imperialism and a strong example of spending in war is Iraq war. ... The second reason why American imperialism is bad is that it is dividing the whole World. ... The stimulus effect dominated and led to expansion after the onset of World War II and the Korean war because the additional spending was very large relative ...
