Interwar Foreign Policy

Interwar Foreign Policy: AP U.S. History Study Guide

All aboard the time machine, future historians! Today, we're taking a whirlwind tour through the wild and wacky world of American foreign policy between World War I and World War II. Picture it: America trying to be a wallflower at the global party but somehow always ending up in the spotlight. 🌎✨

Let's kick things off with President Warren G. Harding's famous call for a "return to normalcy" after World War I. Picture America like that one friend who insists they're just going to stay home and chill but always gets dragged back into the social scene. Harding wanted the U.S. to step back from European entanglements, aiming for a more isolationist approach. This didn’t mean America turned into a hermit; it still played an active role in global trade, maintained colonies, and worked on international peace treaties. 🏠➡️🗺️

After WWI, the U.S. dipped its toes into international diplomacy, trying to keep peace like an overambitious hall monitor. The Washington Conference of 1921 is a prime example. The U.S. said, "Let's play Battleship but with real ships," setting limits on naval power among major players like the U.S., the U.K., Japan, France, and Italy. Spoiler alert: the real agenda was to check Japan’s growing naval ambitions in the Pacific. 🚢⚓

Next up, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which basically had countries pinky-swear not to go to war. Cute idea, but it had no teeth—imagine enforcing a no-fighting rule in a school with no hall monitors. Yeah, good luck with that. 📜✋

Then there was the Dawes Plan, where U.S. banks lent money to Germany, who paid reparations to the U.K. and France, who in turn paid back U.S. banks for wartime loans. This cycle worked like an overly complicated Rube Goldberg machine until the Great Depression threw a wrench into the gears. 🏦💵🔄

Speaking of the Great Depression, this economic catastrophe turned the world into a gloomy soap opera where countries like Germany, Italy, the USSR, and Japan elected leaders who dealt with their issues by saying, "Let’s just take over more places." Enter Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and Tojo—four world leaders who were the embodiment of "My way or the highway (to war)." 🔄💸

While the U.S. was busy grappling with its economic problems, it chose to stick with isolationism. Even as dictators turned up the volume on their militaristic expansion playlists, America kept its headphones on, ignoring the signs until Pearl Harbor dropped the bass. 🎧🚫🌍

FDR tried to make amends with Latin America using the Good Neighbor Policy, promising not to barge into their affairs like an uninvited DJ at a house party. At the 7th Pan-American Conference in 1933, the U.S. pledged to keep its hands to itself and even hinted that any European power trying to crash the party would face a united front. 🇺🇾🤝

Roosevelt had a sneaking suspicion that the U.S. might need to dust off its combat boots, so he nudged the country towards preparation, all the while navigating public opposition like a political tightrope walker. The Neutrality Acts of the 1930s were America's "Do Not Disturb" sign, making it tough to trade with nations already entangled in war. 🇺🇸🚫🛒

When the situation escalated in Europe, the U.S. tried to play it cool with programs like Cash and Carry, where the British could purchase supplies as long as they paid upfront and did their own shipping. It's like lending your friend notes but making them come to your house to pick them up. 🇺🇸💸🚢

Things got fully serious with the Lend-Lease Act, which was the equivalent of giving your friend both the notes and your backpack to help them out. The act allowed Britain—and later China and the USSR—to borrow arms and other war supplies from the U.S. to keep fighting the Axis powers. 🌍📦

Meanwhile, some Americans, including aviator Charles Lindbergh and the America First Committee, were staunchly against getting tangled in another conflict. They waved the isolationist flag high, pushing for America to stay out of Europe's mess. ✈️🇺🇸

This cautious dance lasted until December 7, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. FDR called it a "day of infamy," and America finally cannonballed into the conflict, declaring war on Japan, Italy, and Germany. 💣🌊

Before fully diving into the war, the U.S. also had to deal with its internal issues, like the rise of the American Bund, a pro-Nazi group led by Fritz Julius Kuhn. Their activities serve as a grim reminder that even in the land of the free, extremist ideologies can take root. 🏴

• 7th Pan-American Conference: A 1933 meeting in Uruguay where the U.S. pledged non-intervention in Latin American affairs.
• America First organization: An influential group that opposed U.S. involvement in WWII.
• American Bund: A pro-Nazi organization active in the U.S. during the mid-1930s.
• American Isolation: The stance of distancing the U.S. from global conflicts, especially between the World Wars.
• Cash and Carry program: Allowed Allies to buy goods from the U.S. with immediate payment and self-transportation.
• Charles Lindbergh: Aviator and outspoken isolationist.
• Dawes Plan: A 1924 plan to ease German reparations post-WWI through loans from U.S. banks.
• Fritz Julius Kuhn: Leader of the pro-Nazi American Bund.
• Good Neighbor Policy: FDR’s pledge for non-intervention in Latin America.
• Great Depression: A severe economic depression starting in 1929 that affected the global economy.
• Hitler: German dictator whose actions led to WWII.
• Interwar Period: The period between WWI and WWII marked by significant global changes.
• Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor: The 1941 attack that led the U.S. to enter WWII.
• Kellogg-Briand Pact: A 1928 international agreement renouncing war.
• Lend-Lease Act: Allowed the U.S. to lend or lease war supplies to Allies in 1941.
• Mussolini: Fascist dictator of Italy during WWII.
• Nazism: Extreme nationalist and racist ideology promoted by Hitler.
• Neutrality Acts: Laws to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars in the 1930s.
• Selective Service Act of 1940: Instituted the first peacetime draft in U.S. history.
• Stalin: Leader of the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until 1953.
• Tojo: Japanese Prime Minister during WWII, known for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
• Totalitarianism: A political system where the state has total control over all aspects of life.
• Warren G. Harding: U.S. President after WWI advocating for a "return to normalcy."
• Washington Conference of 1921: A meeting aimed at naval disarmament and tension relief in East Asia.

Phew! That’s a lot to cover, and we’re just scratching the surface. The interwar period was like the calm before the storm, with America balancing on a high wire of isolationism while the world teetered toward another massive conflict. By taking one cautious step after another, the U.S. eventually found itself in full battle mode following Pearl Harbor. 🎢

So there you go, history aficionados! Arm yourself with this knowledge, and may you conquer your AP U.S. History exam with the zeal of a nation gearing up to enter the fray! 📚⚔️