20’s and 30’s Foreign Relations

1. 20’s and 30’s Foreign Relations Unit II- U.S. Foreign Policy History Chapter 22 Sect. 1 + 2 and Chapter 23 Sect. 3

2. Chapter 22 and 23 Reading Quiz 1. Why were U.S. troops in Russia from 1918-1920? 2. Why was Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer attacking the Bolsheviks? 3. Who were Sacco and Vanzetti? 4. What were the Washington Treaties (Five Power, Four Power and Nine Power) trying to do? 5. How did Harding feel about the League of Nations and the Versailles Treaty? 6. How did Harding feel about the $9 billion in war debts owed to the United States? 7. What was the Kellogg-Briand Pact? 8. How did the Japanese end the peace in 1931?

3. Allied Intervention in Russia 1918-1921. 1917- Bolsheviks led by Lenin, took over Russia from the Tsar and pulled the country out of WWI. Made a peace agreement with Germany. To stop the Germans from moving their troops out to the Western Front, the Allies stepped in to Russia The other purpose for the intervention was to help Russia form a stable government- keeping the Communists from taking over. After the Armistice came in 1918, American troops stayed in Russia to fight against communism. Along with English, French and Japanese troops This helped prolong the Civil War in Russia as the Allies joined the White side. This eventually failed and the Allies pulled out (no clear mission, no rules of engagement, no agreement, lack of understanding of Russian history and people, and too many parties to deal with. However, it would help lead to the Cold War and the Soviet distrust of Western powers.

4. The war actually created new problems- starvation, death, revolution in countries, governments and even factories. Labor Strife- in 1919 over 4 million workers went on strike. Union violence- such as in Boston. The government, businesses, courts and public opinion helped to break up the strikes and the unions. Urban Riots- In crease of racial friction after the War. 70 blacks lynched after the war. 1919-25 race riots. Chicago was the worst. Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer blamed the riots and rioters of being Communist agitators. Bomb scares- Epidemic of terrorism. Letter bombs being sent to public officials. Lunch time bomb on Wall street killed 38 and wounded 100’s/ Post WWI Reaction

5. A. Mitchell Palmer pursues the Bolsheviks • To Palmer, the Attorney General, the strikes, bombs and riots were the work of revolutionaries • He believed the country was infested with Bolsheviks and Anarchists. • He began a campaign against them. Deportations to Russia, raids on Communist meetings, jail, illegal arrests. Palmer recruited John Edgar Hoover as his special assistant and together they used the Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918) to launch a campaign against radicals and left-wing organizations. • Citizens followed his example and vented their fears on Jews, blacks, Catholics, and all reformers, and mostly on Foreigners.

6. The Fear of Foreigners • Immigration Restriction League- This organization was founded in 1894 by a group of Boston lawyers, professors, and philanthropists who were alarmed by the large number of immigrants entering America each year. Got Congress to pass a law during WWI – every immigrant must be able to read and write- Literacy. • The restrictionists believed in superior and inferior races- and this law kept the inferior ones out. Prejudice against Eastern and Southern Europeans. By 1917, Congress had expanded the legal definition of those "likely to become a public charge" to include: "all idiots, imbeciles, feebleminded persons, epileptics, insane persons…," "persons of constitutional psychopathic inferiority…, and" "mentally or physically defective..," • 1921- National immigration quotas introduced.

7. Sacco and Vanzetti • Two Italian immigrants, who became unwilling martyrs for the struggle of equal justice for all. • Arrested for a hold up at a shoe factory in which one person was killed. • They had no criminal record but were anarchists. • Tried, found guilty and sentenced to die with real hard evidence. • Were they victims of fear and prejudice?

8. President Harding and Return to Normalcy • President Harding was out of his depth in dealing with most foreign affairs. But he tried to be decisive. He would not join the League of Nations and ignored the Versailles Treaty. Instead the U.S. made a separate peace with Germany- July 2, 1921. • When the world was at war no one could feel at peace.

9. Washington Naval Conference 1921 • Arms race was too expensive for America so a peace conference was a better idea. • Five power treaty- Great Britain, Japan, France, U.S.A and Italy agree to limit their ships to 500,000 tons. Japan 300,000, and France and Italy – 175,000 tons. No more naval bases or forts in the Pacific. • Nine Power Treaty- Protected western interests in Asia by binding all nine countries to the Open Door policy regarding China • Four Power Treaty- US, Great Britain, Japan and France.- respect each others possessions in the Pacific • Washington Conference was the first successful disarmament conference in modern history. But, there was no way to enforce the agreements and Japan began to organize and become a great Asian power.

10. World Finances- 1930 • The Depression of 1930 left a mark on foreign affairs. US banks had made large loans to European Banks. Many of these were on the verge of financial collapse after World War I. • Debt Moratorium- the US and banks would postpone for one year any payments by our former allies. Hoover asked the same for German reparation payments. This did not save the situation. • Nations gave up the gold standard.- the value of their money no longer tied to gold • Hoover would not just cancel the war debts. • All of the nations that owed us money defaulted on the loans except Finland. • Europeans felt their own depression was brought on worse by the war debts and high U.S. tariffs. The U.S. should be more charitable.

12. Kellogg-Briand Pact- 1928 • Great Britain, France, Italy, Germany and Japan and 60 other nations signed a peace pact • They all promised to “renounce war as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.” • The agreed to seek the solution of all disputes or conflicts by peaceful means. • Signed in Paris- August 1928 • Opponents- Pact was just pious hope. America is not secure just because it hates war. • Proponents- Had confidence in the peace pact to now make it safe to reduce the size of the costly American navy

13. New Forces in Europe • Mussolini in Italy- Fascism 1922. Refuses to sign any more agreements. • France refused to limit its naval power • Hitler rising to power in Germany in defiance of the Versailles Treaty. Nazi party Mussolini Hitler

14. Coolidge in Latin America • Both Dollar Diplomacy and Good Neighbor • 1916-1924 U.S. marines in Dominican Republic to protect U.S. sugar and fruit holdings • Nicaragua- 1912- U.S. Marines put a friendly power back in charge. But revolution still continued. Marines there to protect U.S. interests in coffee, bananas, and sugar. U.S. gives up and pulls out in 1933. • Mexico 1917- Mexican constitution declares all oil deposits belong to the Mexican government. Expropriation- national takeover. U.S. oil companies lost their leases. 1925 Mexico takes over all oil fields. Coolidge objects to the confiscation of American property. • 1927- Congress settles the issue peacefully. Ambassador Morrow, and Charles Lindbergh (“Ambassador of Goodwill”)

15. Hoover and Latin America • Good will to Latin America • Roosevelt Corollary was no longer the policy of the U.S. • Monroe doctrine was a declaration of the U.S vs.. Europe not U.S. vs. Latin America. • Hoover would recognize any “de facto” government. Because it in fact controlled the country.

16. Japan - 1931 • Japanese Army seizes Manchuria and make it a puppet state Manchuko. • This shattered the firm agreements of the 9 power treaty and Kellogg-Briand pact. • US protested in a letter. • League of Nations invoked the Kellogg-Briand pact to outlaw Japan. The League was powerless to stop a powerful, determined country. • Japan bombs and attacked the city of Shanghai, China, but neither the League or the United States did anything to risk war. America to concerned about the Depression. • Hoover refused to boycott, or put economic sanctions on Japan for fear this would be the first step to war.