The US Between Wars
The Roaring Twenties
Wilson’s 14 Points
The first five points established general ideals
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Open treaties, openly arrived at (No secret treaties)
Freedom of the seas
Reduction/elimination of trade barriers
Arms reduction
Impartial adjustment of all colonial claims
Wilson’s 14 Points
The following eight points dealt with immediate
political and territorial problems
6. Evacuation of German troops from Russia
7. Evacuation of German troops from Belgium and
rebuilding of that country
8. Evacuation of German troops from France (& return
of Alsace-Lorraine)
9. Readjustment of Italian boundary along recognizable
lines of nationality
Wilson’s 14 Points
The following eight points dealt with immediate
political and territorial problems.
10. Limited self-government for peoples of AustriaHungary
11. Evacuation of German troops from Romania, Serbia
& Montenegro.Independence guaranteed for Balkan
countries
12. Independence for Turkey
13. Independence for Poland
Wilson’s 14 Points
The fourteenth point called for a
“New World Order”
14. A general association of nations must be formed
“There must be, not a balance of
power, but a community of power;
not organized rivalries, but an
organized, common peace”
The Paris Peace Conference 0f 1919
Possible formats:
 Victors meet, agree on terms to be negotiated with
Germany
 Victors meet, agree on terms to be imposed on
Germany
Possible purposes:
 Create a new structure for world affairs
 Exact revenge on Germany
The Paris Peace Conference 0f 1919
The American Position:
 Wanted to “discipline” Germany
 Saw a stable and prosperous Germany as essential
to European stability
 Wanted Germany to remain:
 Economically viable
 Politically influential
The Paris Peace Conference 0f 1919
The French Position:
 Potential German weakness was not the problem
 Historically, German aggression was the problem
 Wanted to render Germany incapable of military
“adventures”
 War had been fought on French territory
 Wanted revenge for humiliation suffered in FrancoPrussian War
Versailles Treaty
Placed severe sanctions on Germany:
War guilt
Germany had to accept sole responsibility for war
Reparations
Germany had to pay the entire cost of the war
$33 Billion
Payment schedule w/ interest, ran until 1987
Essentially disarmed Germany
Harsh terms embittered the German population
Versailles Treaty
Senate split into four camps:
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Wilsonians
Mild Reservationists
Severe Reservationists
Irreconcilables
League of Nations
Article X
“The members of the League undertake to respect
and preserve as against external aggression the
territorial integrity and existing political
independence of all Members of the League. In case
of any such aggression or in case of any threat or
danger of such aggression, the Council shall advise
upon the means by which this obligation shall be
fulfilled.”
The League of Nations
US Senate Concerns
 Could the Council commit the U.S. to military action?
 If Article 10 meant what it said, it violated the U.S.
Constitution
 Committed U.S. to something no president would
implement
 Did Article 10 restrict U.S. sovereignty?
 Seemed to align U.S. with colonial European powers
Wilson’s Coalition Dissolves
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Disillusionment over WWI
Organized labor unhappy over strikes of 1919-20
Farmers dissatisfied w/ wartime price controls
Intellectuals disillusioned by prohibition & antievolution movements
 Many of the major goals had been reached
The Election of 1920
Warren G. Harding
 Republican
 “Return to normalcy”
James Cox
 Democrat
 Supported Wilson’s International agenda
 Supported U.S membership in League of
Nations
Harding as President
 Lacked self-confidence, wanted too badly to be liked
 Did pass important reforms
 Created Bureau of Budget and General Accounting
Office
 Promoted diversity and civil rights
 Fiscal policy laid foundation for later economic boom
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Reduced government expenditures
Reduced taxes (most benefits to wealthy)
Raised tariffs (impact on debt repayment)
Relaxed regulation of business
The Election of 1928
Herbert Hoover
 Republican
 Quaker
 middle-America
 engineers, businessman
 self-made millionaire,
humanitarian, brilliant
administrator
Alfred Smith
 Democrat
 Son of Irish immigrants
 Catholic
 Anti-prohibition
The Stock Market Crash of 1929
Prices began to waver on September 4
Prices crumbled on October 23
October 29 –largest single day drop ever
Market lost 37% of its value in October
Market bottomed out in 1933 after losing over 85% of
its value