AIM: How did U.S. foreign policy change between 1920 and 1941?
Between 1920 and 1941, American foreign policy went through major
transformations. Your task at hand is to analyze events between 1920 and 1941,
particularly pertaining to U.S. foreign policy. You are specifically looking for turning
points in American foreign policy. When does U.S. foreign policy transition out of
being isolationist? What is the final change in U.S. foreign policy between 1920 and
1941? When does this occur? What provokes this change?
1. How does Henry Cabot Lodge represent the foreign policy of the early 1920s?
2. Washington Disarmament Conference.
a. The Five-Power Treaty (1922)
b. Some historians credit the Five Power Treaty with allowing for the
rise of the Japanese navy. How might a limitation on certain country’s
navies have enabled the growth of Imperial Japan?
c. Why were the U.S. and Britain allowed more ships than other
countries in the agreement?
European Financial Problems: Slides five and six use visuals to explain the
financial situation in Europe. The Dawes Plan and the Young Plan were
designed to address the financial crisis of Germany, as well as countries
indebted to America.
Slide 7: Read the Link provided in an effort to answer the following two
questions.
3. The Dawes Plan (1924)
a. How does the Dawes Plan explain the reason why the U.S. intervened
in European affairs? What was the form of this intervention
4. Young Plan
a. What motivated the U.S. to implement the Young Plan?
5. Locarno Pact (1925)
a. In what way was the Locarno Pact an effort to treat Germany as an
equal in Europe?
b. In what way were they disillusioned? (In other words, what were the
terms of the Locarno Pact and how did Germany violate it in the
1930s?)
6. Clark Memorandum (1928)
a. What would Teddy Roosevelt say about the Clark Memorandum?
b. What was Clark’s reasoning behind this Memorandum?
7. Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
a. Too idealistic? Or a practical diplomatic attempt? What do you make
of the KBP?
8. Hoover-Stimpson Doctrine (1932)
a. How might the Hoover-Stimpson Doctrine weaken American
diplomatic relations with Japan?
9. “Good Neighbor” Policy
a. Why do you think good relations with Latin American was important
for the United States in the 1930s?
10. FDR Recognizes the Soviet Union
a. The Soviet Union was a totalitarian state that was the U.S. was
ideologically in opposition with. Why recognize this state?
11. Nye Committee Hearings
a. The Nye Committee calls into question Wilson’s actions preceding U.S.
intervention in WWI. Why would the U.S. invite a war? Who would
benefit?
b. Neutrality Acts (1935, 1936, 1937)
i. Cash and Carry: Does the Cash and Carry concept demonstrate
U.S. neutrality? Or does it show favoritism and loyalty to
certain countries?
12. Panay Incident (1937):
a. What is the significance of the Panay Incident and how was it a
prelude to Pearl Harbor?
13. 1939 Neutrality Act
a. To what was the 1939 Neutrality Act in response?
14. Lend Lease Act