Chapter 25 Group Outline

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Democracy and World War II, 1929 1945

I. Herbert Hoovers Foreign Policy

A. Hoover felt that the US should not enter into firm commitments to
preserve the security of other nations - isolationism
B. Hoover viewed peace conferences and treaties as moral efforts and
opposed using economic sanctions against aggressors because it could
lead to military involvement
C. Japanese Aggression in Manchuria
i. Defying both the open door policy and the covenant of the
League of Nations, Japanese troops marched into Manchuria in
Sept. 1931, renamed the territory Manchukuo, and established a
puppet government
ii. League of Nations did nothing except to pass a resolution
condemning Japan for its actions in Manchuria
iii. Japanese delegation walked out of the League
iv. League showed inability to maintain peace
v. Stimson Doctrine Secretary of State Henry Stimson declared in
1932 that the US would honor its treaty obligations under the
Nine-Power Treaty (1922) by refusing to recognize the legitimacy
of any regime like Manchukuo that had been established by
force
D. Latin America
i. As president, he ended the interventionist policies of Taft and
Wilson by:
a. Arranging for the US troops to leave Nicaragua by 1933
b. Negotiating a treaty with Haiti to remove all US troops by
1934
II. Franklin Roosevelts Policies, 1933 1938
A. Good Neighbor Policy
i. First inaugural address (1933) promised policy of the good
neighbor toward Western Hemisphere nations
a. Interventionism in support of dollar diplomacy no longer
made economic sense
b. Rise of militarist regimes in Germany and Italy
ii. Pan-American conferences
a. Seventh pan-American conference in Montevideo, Uruguay in
1933; pledged never again to intervene in internal affairs of
Latin American country
b. Another in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1936; pledged to
submit future disputes to arbitration and also warned that if a
European power such as Germany attempted to commit
acts of aggression against us, it would find a Hemisphere
 wholly prepared to consult together for our mutual safety and
our mutual good.
iii. Cuba
a. Resented Platt Amendment
b. 1934 Congress nullified Platt Amendment, retaining only US
rights to keep naval base at Guantanamo Bay
iv. Mexico
a. 1938 president Lazaro Cardenas seized oil properties owned
by US corporations
b. Roosevelt rejected demands to intervene and encouraged
American companies to negotiate a settlement
B. Economic Diplomacy
i. London Economic Conference (1933)
a. Hoovers last months agreed to allow US participation in
League of Nations
b. Roosevelt feared this would hurt his own plans for recovery
and withdrew his support
ii. Recognition of the Soviet Union
a. Granted recognition in 1933
b. Reason: to increase US trade therefore boost the economy
iii. Philippines
a. Tydings-McDuffie Act in 1934 provided independence of the
Philippines by 1946 and gradual removal of US military
presence from islands
iv. Reciprocal Trade Agreements
a. Roosevelt favored low tariffs as a means of increasing
international trade
b. 1934plan which gave the president power to reduce US
tariffs up to 50% for nations that reciprocated with
comparable reductions for US imports
C. Events Abroad: Fascism and Aggressive Militarism
i. Eventually in 1940 Japan, Italy, and Germany signed a treaty of
alliance which formed the Axis powers
ii. Italy
a. Benito Mussolini led Italys fascist party - attracted
dissatisfied war veterans, nationalists, and those afraid of
rising communism. Dressed in black shirts
b. Il Duce (the leader)
c. Fascism became dominant ideology in European dictatorships
in 1930s
iii. Germany
a. Nazi party was German equivalent of Italys fascist party
b. Arose in 1920s in reaction to deplorable economic conditions
after war and national resentments over Treaty of Versailles
c. Adolf Hitler used bullying tactics against Jews as well as
fascist ideology against Jews as well as fascist ideology to
 increase popularity with disgruntled, unemployed German
workers
d. brown shirts
e. Gained control of German legislature early 1933
iv. Japan
a. Nationalists and militarists increased power in 1920s and
1930s
b. Persuaded emperor the best way to ensure access to basic
raw materials (oil, tin, iron) was to invade China and
Southeast Asia and thereby give Japan over what their
leaders proclaimed to be the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity
Sphere
D. American Isolationist
i. American isolationists wanted to make sure that the US would
never again be drawn into a foreign war
ii. Isolationist sentiment was strongest in the Midwest among
republicans
iii. Revisionist story of World War I
a. The Nye Committee concluded in 1934 that the main reason
for US participation in the world war was to serve the greed
of bankers and arms manufacturers
b. Influenced isolationist legislation
iv. Neutrality acts
a. Isolationists in both parties held a majority in congress
through 1938
b. Congress adopted a series of neutrality acts, which Roosevelt
signed with some reluctance:
1. Neutrality Act of 1935: authorized the president to
prohibit all arms shipments and to forbid US citizens to
travel on the ships of belligerent nations
2. Neutrality Act of 1936: forbade extension of loans and
credits to belligerents
3. Neutrality Act of 1937: forbade shipment of arms to the
opposing sides in the civil war in Spain