Reasons For US Neutrality In The 1920s And 1930s

Prior to World War I, the United States generally chose to follow Washington’s farewell address and stay out of “foreign entanglements”. The United States foreign policy from 1918 to 1953 shifted from isolationism or independent internationalism to a more involved internationalism and containment of communism due to various international events, economic conditions, and US public opinion.

In the book, America’s Great War: World War I and the American Experience, Robert H. Zieger discusses the events between 1914 through 1920 forever defined the United States in the Twentieth Century. When conflict broke out in Europe in 1914, the President, Woodrow Wilson, along with the American people wished to remain neutral. In the beginning of the Twentieth Century United States politics was still based on the “isolationism” ideals of the previous century. The United States did not wish to be involved in European politics or world matters. The U.S. goal was to expand trade and commerce throughout the world and protect the borders of North America.

The United States is justified in their entrance into World War II, due to the nature of the country and the world amidst this time. In regards to the country, the attack on Pearl Harbor necessitated said entrance as failure to do such would indicate an isolationist policy which lacerated the boundaries of a country which is designed to protect the people. Despite the elucidations of Charles Lindbergh, the country was placed in a compromising position following the aforementioned attack. The reason being, that the utmost duty of the government is to protect and take into account the best interests of the people. Thus, the country was forced to respond by virtue of the potential future ramifications that a lack of response posed. Moreover, contrary

Neutrality Acts (1935, 1937, 1939) – The desire for the United States to remain at peace carried into the 1930s, as political turmoil increased in Europe and Asia. Congress passed Neutrality Acts in 1935, 1937, and 1939. These acts were designed to keep the United States out of any turmoil bubbling on foreign soil. The American people wanted to avoid becoming entangled in another world war.

During the onset of this fighting, the United States was determined to remain neutral for a variety of reasons. With the Great Depression not improving, there was a

Why did the U.S. avoid involvement in WWII until December 1941? Why was the Pearl Harbor attack such a shock to the U.S.?

The 1930s were a difficult time for most Americans. Faced with colossal economic hardships—unprecedented in American history—many Americans turned inward to focus on the worsening situation at home. The United States became increasingly insensitive to the obliteration of fellow democracies at the hands of brutal fascist leaders like Hitler and Mussolini. The U.S. was determined to stay out of war at all costs—even if its allies were in trouble; Americans believed that they were immune from Europe’s problems as long as they refused to get involved. However, as the “free” countries fell, one by one, to the Nazi war machine, Americans began to realize the folly of their foolish optimism and clamored for increasing involvement in foreign

1. When World War I broke out, the United States declared its policy of neutrality. To what extent did the United States follow a policy of neutrality between 1914 and 1917?

As Franklin Roosevelt began to have more internationalist views, Americans, under no circumstances, wanted to be drawn into another foreign war. The result was a relative stand still in American foreign policy. Congress pacified isolationists by passing the Neutrality Act of 1935, which was designed to isolate America from the growing Nazi monster. First, it created an embargo on the sale of arms to all belligerent nations and second it stated that American citizens that traveled on belligerent ships were doing so at their own risk. The Act was basically an attempt to prevent the World War I nightmare from happening again. Roosevelt was required to sign the bill though he would have rather it had different provisions regarding the embargo of arms to belligerent nations. He was in favor of creating selective embargoes

Discuss the events that drew the United States into World War I. To what extent did ethnicity play a role in America’s neutrality from1914-1917? How significant was America’s contribution to the war effort? Elaborate Explain your answer.

With such events occurring quickly in such a small time period, the second World War came as a massive shock. Yet again, Americans called for isolationism and neutrality as they believed America should focus on ending the Great Depression, not worrying about and dealing with the international issues of other nations and peoples. By analyzing Document 5, it is clear that many Americans still believe in isolationism during the Great Depression. Bennett Champ Clark states in his Defense of the First Neutrality Act that “the desire to keep the United States from becoming involved in any war between foreign nations seems practically unanimous among the rank and file of American citizens.” Americans influenced the US foreign policy yet again as the First Neutrality Act was passed in 1935. By analyzing Document 6, it is clear that President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the choices he made were still influenced by isolationist sentiment as he states in his Quarantine Speech that “it is my determination to adopt every practicable measure to avoid involvement in war.” However, it is clear in President Roosevelt's speech that he knew that entering the war was inevitable as he states that the “peace of the world and the welfare and security of every nation, including our own is today being threatened by that very thing (war).” Although the United States tried its best to not enter the second World War for many years, it could not avoided by the end of 1941. On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. The federal government’s response to this attack can be analyzed in Document 7, President Roosevelt’s Pearl Harbor Address to the Congress of the United States. In response to the attack, Roosevelt calls for Congress to “declare . . . a state of war has existed between the United States and the

When World War 1 began in 1914, the United States was neutral and wanted to remain that way because their chief objective was to continue doing business with Great Britain, France and Russia (Keene, Cornell & O’Donnell, 2013). By remaining neutral, America would benefit from all sides. We know that this would cause hatred among other nations. However, what really caused the United States to part-take in the war was the “sinking of the Lusitania ship by a German submarine.” This was a British Passenger ship that was transitioning from New York to the British Islands and had crossed into the war-zone. This was not a mistake as what was described in that driver who took the wrong turn, ending the lives of Archduke Francis and his wife that started the initial war 1 (Keene, Cornell & O’Donnell, 2013, p. 595). Was that ship smuggling ammunition and other contraband on board the passenger ship? If this is true, we can see how the heart of man is very brutal; the love of money is the root to all evil. America had to find a way in protecting their loan to Britain. Overall, one can say, if Archduke had given Serbia its independence from Australia to a Slavic state, would there be a World War 1 (DeVry University, 2016)

During the 1920s, the United States was forced into war by the Germans. Germany, attacking and violating with the use of submarines, gave President Woodrow Wilson, who was president during World War I, no other option but to go into war. “We enter this war only where we are clearly forced into it because there are no other means of defending our rights.” (Wilson, 1917). He was a neutral person. Even though he wanted

Yet another factor that led to this decision of Neutrality by President Roosevelt was the American Economy. The health of the American economy could not be jeopardized, whatever was happening elsewhere. It was Roosevelt’s view that the United States would fare well (economically speaking) whether Europe went to war or not. Gold was flowing in from Europe’s capitals, orders were mounting daily for equipment and supplies of all kinds, and America was building a battleship for Stalin. For most of the 1930’s the United States traded as openly with Germany and Japan, as it did with any other country. Japan relied on fuel oil and scrap iron until 1941. Germany was one of the United States’ most important markets during the 1930’s. American investments in Germany increased by forty percent

With another world war forming in the European and Asian countries, the US is determined to stay out of it and fix their own issues on the homefront. The Great Depression is still a very large issue that has taken America down a level. Thus the isolationist idea has grown greatly. American public wanted to stay out of the war this time, and in doing so elected isolationist government members, which included Gerald Nye and Robert LaFollette. Nye later formed his own committee which focused on the cases of entering WWI and how it could affect America with this future war. With these findings and urging the American public, multiple Neutrality Acts were passed, allowing both sides to get what they wanted, all while staying out of the war.