“Why and in what ways did the United States change its foreign policy from 1918-1953?” Since World War I, the united states had always had a problem with forcing its foreign policy. Throughout the past 100 years, the foreign policy has changed depending on public opinion and what was going on in other parts of the world. One of the largest changes in the foreign policy occurred from the end of World War I (1918) up until the ending of the Korean War (1953). Essentially the U.S foreign policy evolved from isolationist “prevention of war” to interventionism “protective containment of communism”.
At first the Latin American nations saw this as favorable, because they saw that the U.S. could not do anything alone if moving along without the backing of Britain. The military and political power allowed the Monroe Doctrine to be brought about. This doctrine had combined with much of the ideas of Manifest Destiny. Theodore Roosevelt’s Corollary was a great extension of this doctrine, it upturned the original meaning and justified independent intervention of the U.S. in Latin America.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the United States was becoming an increasingly powerful nation and world power. The country was competing with other nations also expanding. Their motives for expanding were to gain land and resources. While there was a slight departure from past expansionism, the United States mostly continued as it had been in the previous years. In order to accomplish expansionism, the United States needed to acquire foreign territories to increase their global presence.
Between the year 1920 and 1941, the United States had many issues with the stock market crash to the involvement in World War ll. To resolve the issues, president Franklin D. Roosevelt made many programs called the New Deal, to resolve America economic problems and had dropped an atomic bomb to end World War ll. To the extent to which United States foreign policy changed between 1920 and 1941, foreign policy changed the United States tremendously. Reasons for the dramatic change was because of Japan not agreeing to the Kellogg-Briand pact, defending the Monroe Doctrine and military preparedness.
In 1845, when John L. O’Sullivan used the term “manifest destiny” to describe America’s given right to expand west, he did not know what impact it would have on the United States. Manifest destiny influenced the expansion and settlement of America, as well as the culture and economy. As the United States expanded west in the 1800s, wars and treaties impacted the growth of the nation. War and treaties, specifically the Mexican-American War and the Oregon Treaty of 1846, impacted the westward expansion of the United States. At the end of the Mexican-American War, which occurred from 1846 to 1848, the U.S. and Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
The American-Philippine War and Its Decline in Foreign Policy America is a strong political and economic influence that uses its power to strengthen and provide for other nations. Imperial America consisted of the thirst for new markets, the desire for military strength, and the belief in cultural superiority. The United States has had its history of annexation over territories and land, because of imperialism. At the start, the United States purchased Alaska in 1867, and in 1893, annexed Hawaii. The Spanish-American war resulted in the Treaty of Paris of 1898.
A vast majority of the history of the United States was marked by an age of expansionism. This era was particularly pronounced throughout the 19th century; such events may include the acquisition of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and the annexation of Hawaii and purchase of Alaska, all of which are the hallmarks of U.S expansionism. The main motives were of a multitude and varied, but there is one particularly strong motivation in this conquest. The acquisition of economic opportunities was a common belief among many of the people of the U.S. and among its leaders. This idea fueled and garnered this idea of expansionism and directed the course of history in its conquest.
In 1920, the United States was celebrating the “Roaring Twenties”. It was a time of great prosperity, but not for all of Europe. We were celebrating relief from World War I and the money we received from it. We were getting back to normalcy. We were almost solely an isolated country, but our foreign policy was going to change within the next ten years.
The U.S. foreign policy was much different between 1898 and 1918 from that of the pre-Civil War era. To begin, I the pre-Civil War era, the U.S. believed that we should have little connection with foreign countries because the more we are involved the higher the chances of getting involved in war. However, between 1898 and 1918, the government focused on developing American role around the world. They believed in continuing expansion of our nation by extending our power into other areas and claiming them, such as Hawaii and Alaska. Also, during this new time period, we encouraged the strengthening of our Navy and Army, like the book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History laid out for us.
The United States had many efforts in establishing itself as a legitimate nation to the other great nations at the time. In this time the US government experimented with what the proper amount of involvement in different should be while still maintaining a relationship with others. Things that helped to shape our foreign policy during the 1800s was the embargo act, the war of 1812, and the Monroe Doctrine. These events allowed America to begin interacting with other nations.
Expansionism in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century had joint many similarities and differences to the prior American standards. American citizens believed it was time to expand land territories in order to keep The United States at the top. American citizens had so much pride and spirit it was thought that the United States was the strongest and finest nation on the globe. Many Americans wanted a strict foreign policy, while others desired to remain neutral and not get involved in any crisis. Former
From the moment settlers came to America and took over inhabited land, they used imperialism to achieve what they wanted. However this would be far from the last time America used imperialistic qualities to attain their goals. This event merely sparked the United States’ path of expansion and world domination in the 19th and 20th century. American imperialism became a significant part of the nation, and led the United States to expand its territory, destroy traditional cultures, and grow its economic and political power worldwide. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, several factors played a role in the continuous and overpowering imperialism by the United States.
In the early 1900’s, the United States became a more active leader on the global stage. This began the uprise of foreign affairs which led to foreign policies. Some of the factors that led to the shift of foreign policies are, The Roosevelt Corollary and the The White Man’s Burden, Which are both political and social factors. Some actions that happened due to foreign policy was the Spanish - American War and invasion of Cuba and the In the Roosevelt corollary, Roosevelt explains the US’s position on expansion. It was believed that the US wanted to seize land from other countries but, “it is not true that the United States feels any land hunger(Roosevelt)”
There were many important causes and effects of the Spanish American War. In the 1880’s the U.S. wanted to achieve manifest destiny and so they expanded out west and took control over the Native Americans. There were four different motives that the United States could’ve used to imperialize: political and military interest and economic interest were mostly with trading. Humanitarian and religious interest, to help those that you have allied with or to spread religion and the rich help those who were “under privileged.” Lastly, social darwinism, the idea that you are superior than someone else.
At the start of the 19th century, America was already expanding its territory. In 1803, the United States of America had bought the Louisiana Territory, it was bought from France which had made the country two times larger. In 1819 Spain had given up their territory of Florida to the United States. President Monroe issued the “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823, its main purpose was to warn the European countries to not enter the Western Hemisphere. In order for America to achieve its goal of becoming an imperialist nation they had conquered other countries economically, culturally, and with a strong military in the late 1800’s.
