Peace Seekers and War Makers

Searching for Peace and Order in the 1920’s League of Nations remained weak and ineffectual due to U.S. not joining Still, the U.S. attempted to influence the League from a distance

Peace Groups National Council for Prevention of War Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Pointed to carnage of WWI and the benefits of disarmament

Washington Naval Conference The United States, Japan, Britain, and France agreed to limit naval armaments Only applied to battleships and aircraft carriers Did not include cruisers, destroyers, or submarines Still, a step towards disarmament

Kellogg-Briand Act 62 nations signed the act in which they “condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of national policy”

Cordell Hull “we cannot have a peaceful world, until we rebuild the international economic structure” Americanization of world markets United States took the lead

Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy Strengthen ties with Latin America End interventionism (Pan-American Conference) Nullified Platt Amendment Cardenas controversy in Mexico

Economic Diplomacy Recognition of the Soviet Union Granted Philippines independence Lowered Tariffs

Fascism and Aggressive Militarism The worldwide depression allowed for powerful dictators and militarists to rise to power in – Germany – Italy – Japan

Italy Benito Mussolini rose to power in 1922 Invaded Ethiopia in 1935 Fascism: idea people should glorify nation and race through aggressive show of force

Germany Adolf Hitler used depression and appeals to unemployed to gain control of legislature in 1933 Also used extreme nationalism and anti- Semitic hatreds

Japan Militarist exploits to gain natural resources Oil, tin, and iron

American Isolationism Neutrality Acts of 1935 – No arms shipments, Americans could not travel on ships of belligerent nations Neutrality Acts of 1936 – No loans or credit to belligerents Neutrality Acts of 1937 – Could not get involved in the Spanish Civil War

Appeasement Ethiopia: League of Nations only condemned Italy Rhineland: League did nothing while Hitler simply remilitarized the Rhineland China: War between Japan and China Sudetenland: Munich Conference allowed Hitler to his last territorial claim in Czechoslovakia

Nazi Germany Goes to War Sign a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union Ribbentrop-Molotov Agreements Sets stage for the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939.

Preparedness The U.S. did prepare by increasing military and defense budgets Justified by protecting from possible invasion of the Western Hemisphere

Cash and Carry Congress repealed embargo and approved a cash and carry flow of goods across the Atlantic

Lend Lease Act (1940) Went into effect to help Great Britain Part of Special Relationship United States became an “Arsenal for Democracy”

Atlantic Charter Meeting between Roosevelt and Winston Churchill in August 1941 Set war aims of collective security, self- determination, economic cooperation, and freedom of the seas.

Issues with Japan U.S. stopped selling fuel and scrap metal to Japan Withheld valuable oil supplies from Japan Japan responds with an attack on Pearl Harbor December 7 th, 1941.

Clash of Systems USA, Great Britain, France Liberal capitalist world order Freedom of trade Freedom of investment Italy, Germany, Japan, USSR Dictators favored totalitarian or fascist systems of governmental and economic issues