“ War… What Is It Good For?: Foreign Policy after WWI

1. “War… What Is It Good For?: Foreign Policy after WWI Chapter 16, Section 3 December 3, 2007

2. WWI Propaganda World War I creates anti-German feelings in the US After war-leads to dislike of many other immigrant groups

3. Post-WWI nativism • Recall: nativism=hostility towards immigrants • Following WWI, America returns to nativism • Americans want to things to go back to “normal”-kick out everybody that is “different” • Example of nativism: Chinese Exclusion Act

4. RED SCARE • Anti-immigrant and anti-communist fears • Communism=total equality of wealth (no class society-like capitalism has) • Americans desire to expel “other” cultures and ideas from the country

5. Effects of Red Scare • National Origins Act: placed quotas on immigrants coming from southern and eastern Europe, limiting immigration from those regions (this is where a lot of communist governments were established) • Sacco and Vanzetti trial: Two Italian immigrants were convicted and sentenced to death for a store robbery. • Evidence against them was very weak • The men were unjustly persecuted because they were Italian

6. Related to Red Scare… • Reemergence of Ku Klux Klan • KKK regains support and grows in South • Related to Red Scare desires to reject all groups different from the “norm” • It is important to note that Northern state governments were being taken over by KKK.

7. U.S and the World after WWI • After WWI, various nations owed the U.S. over 10 billion dollars for supplies during the war. This makes the U.S. a more powerful nation. • Many people, including Harding, wanted to go back to ISOLATIONISM, but the U.S. was too powerful now to do that.

8. DAWES PLAN • The U.S. needed Europe to be healthy economically to get their money back. • Germany, however, could not pay back all of the $$ that they owed to other European countries, so the other European nations couldn’t pay the U.S. back. • 1924 – Charles Dawes comes up with a plan for American banks to loan $$ to the Germans, and Europe agreed to smaller reparations payments.

9. Washington Conference • Great Britain, France, Italy, China, Japan, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal meet in D.C. to try to stop everyone from building big navies. • Charles Evans Hughes – wanted the countries to stop building new ships for a while and destroy some of the ones they had. His ideas lead to: • Five-Power Naval Limitation Treaty – countries agree to Hughes’ idea • Four-Power Treaty – Recognizes each country’s islands in the Pacific • Nine-Power Treaty – Guarantees China’s independence Everyone hopes this will keep war from happening again.

10. Kellogg-Briand Pact • 1928 -- U.S. and French officials propose a treaty to OUTLAW WAR. It says that all nations will settle disputes with PEACEFUL means. 62 nations eventually agree to ratify it. • Although it is a great idea, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. How do you enforce that treaty?

11. In sum… • 1920s was a time when many Americans wanted a “return to normalcy.” They wanted to expel all those that were “different” and be culturally isolated. • Huge resurgence in nativism leads to Red Scare-effort to expel many immigrants and communist believers • KKK resurges-persecution of African Americans