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American Foreign Policy Leading to World War II

 

            The first few years after Word War I showed very little change in the United States foreign policy. At first, the US stuck to isolationism and disarmament all while staying out of the League of Nations, but as time passed, the US wanted to expand its policies overseas. The effect of these three factors eventually led to World War II.
             The United States remained an isolated nation for many years after the First World War. The main reason for this was that the US wanted to focus more on domestic affairs, such as the worsening economy. Isolationism was always in the minds of politicians, as seen in Document E. The American people did not want to go to war, and neither did the Republicans and Democrats. There were multiple foreign factors that contributed to the United States' retreat into isolationism as well. One important event was the "Red Scare" of 1917," which made Americans think that Radicals were everywhere. Even though this happened in 1917, the effects of it were still felt for years to come, and it made Americans favor isolationist policies. These isolationist policies lasted through both the Coolidge and Harding administrations, as well as some of FDR's administration. .
             Secondly, a thorough process of disarmament changed foreign policy. The US reduced the size of its navy significantly, and actually sold some of the ships. This process was started when the Merchant Marine Act was passed in 1920. The US did not want to participate in any more wars, and it could not be only them that reduced the size of their navy, so they came up with the 5 Power Naval Treaty between themselves, Britain, France, Japan, and Italy. This treaty set the number of battleships each country could have based on ratios. The ratio was 5:5:3:1.75:1.75 and it meant that for every five battleships that America built, Britain could build five, France could build three, and Japan and Italy could build 1.75. .
             According to Document B, Charles Evans Hughes proposed a "limitation of armament" which eventually led to the five Power Naval Treaty.


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