Foreign Policy

Although the Roosevelt Administration focused its attention and efforts toward fighting the Depression, it increasingly had to play a larger role in foreign affairs as well.  The end of World War I left Europe badly divided.  Many in Germany felt The Treaty of Versailles was unfair given the fighting ended with an armistice and not a formal surrender.  The treaty called for Germany to pay reparations to France, but the economies of both countries suffered tremendously during and afterward.  Germany struggled to make its reparation payments to France and other countries because its economy experienced tremendous inflation.  The United States attempted to ameliorate the situation primarily because American leaders understood that a healthy Europe meant a willing trading partner and made it less likely that the United States would be pulled into another European conflict.  When Germany defaulted on its payments in 1923, the United States helped put forward the Dawes Plan the following year, which tied Germany’s payments to its ability to pay.  By 1929, the provisions of the Dawes Plan were still too much for the German economy, leading to yet another intervention by the United States—the Young Plan—which further lowered German reparations.

Nazi Party

The resultant economic problems in Germany created a divisive political atmosphere.  An aggressive new political party, the National German Workers’ Party (or Nazi for short) took control of Germany in that country’s elections in 1933.  That same year, Germany’s new president appointed Adolph Hitler as chancellor.  Against the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany rearmed and again posed a military threat to the rest of Europe.  Shortly thereafter, Nazi Germany began forcefully pursuing additional territory under the guise of uniting all German-speaking people. 

In the 1930s events escalated toward war with the aggressive actions of Germany and the 1935 Italian invasion of Abyssinia (modern day Ethiopia), which up until this point had successfully avoided European colonization efforts.  Without a voice in the League of Nations, the United States remained somewhat isolated while events moved Europe toward another war.

Rape of Nanking

In 1937, another event occurred that played a major role in the beginning of World War II and the United States’ subsequent involvement.  Japan invaded the Chinese mainland in 1937 as part of the continuing Sino-Japanese conflict that began six years earlier.  The invasion led to the infamous Rape of Nanking, with the Japanese army committing numerous atrocities, such as rape and murder.  Despite these actions, the United States continued to trade with Japan.  It was not until the next decade that the United States attempted to thwart Japanese aggression in southeastern Asia.  One reason for this was the isolationist sentiment in the United States.  Additionally, the Roosevelt Administration remained in a constant struggle to deal with the Depression, diverting attention away from foreign affairs.

Good Neighbor Policy

To prevent another European attempt to align countries in the western hemisphere against the United States, the Roosevelt Administration instituted the Good Neighbor Policy.  During World War I, Germany attempted to parlay Mexico’s disenchantment with American policies to its advantage by offering the North American country incentives to attack the U. S., a plan laid out in the infamous Zimmerman Telegraph that spurred American intervention in WWI.  With the Good Neighbor Policy, the United States hoped to ease any lingering tensions by stating that it would no longer intervene in the affairs of other countries in the hemisphere.  The Roosevelt Administration also wished to help the still-struggling American economy by increasing trade with its neighbors.

Neutrality Acts

In an attempt to limit the effects of the growing conflicts in Asia and Europe on America, the United States passed a series of Neutrality Acts beginning in 1935.  These acts generally made little distinction between which party was the aggressor in a conflict.  While this reinforced the idea of American impartiality, it also severely limited the United States’ ability to address the needs of its allies, especially those of Britain.

Preparations for War

Even as the American government passed neutrality acts to reinforce its stance of isolation, President Roosevelt and Congress initiated efforts to expand the manpower of the enlisted army.  At the beginning of the Roosevelt presidency, the American army ranked seventeenth in the world in terms of active duty personnel.  In 1938, the president and Congress undertook similar measures to increase the size of the American navy.

By 1938, Roosevelt fully understood that war was probably unavoidable.  He began asking Congress for significantly greater sums for military expenditures.  At a White House conference that year he declared the need for an air force consisting of 10,000 planes with the production capacity to produce 20,000 more annually.  The New Deal programs under Roosevelt increased industrial capacity substantially, allowing the United States to prepare quickly for the coming war.  With these expenditures, the United States signaled to the world that although it desired neutrality, it would be ready for war.  Roosevelt justified the increased spending on air power as a deterrent to war, winning the support of both liberals and conservatives in Congress.

German Aggression

Despite Europe’s policy of appeasement toward the Nazi Regime, Germany continued aggressively acting against its neighbors.  Britain, and the rest of Europe, followed a policy of appeasement by acquiescing to Hitler’s demands for the annexation of the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia in October of 1938.  Hitler reneged on his portion of the agreement by annexing the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

In September 1939, Hitler invaded Poland in what many historians regard as the formal beginning of World War II.  To avoid capture, the Polish government sought refuge in London.  The invasion of Poland led Britain and France to formally declare war on Germany.   Roosevelt responded with another declaration of neutrality where he stated his intent to keep the United States out of the war, echoing public sentiment.  While Americans remained outraged at the actions of the German aggressors in Europe, they clung to their isolationist stance on formal intervention.  Americans did support the notion of helping their allies Britain and France with aid, but a revision of the Neutrality Act allowed aid only on a cash basis, meaning the United States could not sell goods for the war effort on terms.  This severely limited the United States’ ability to help its allies prior to its entry into the war in 1942.  As the 1930s came to an end, the United States stood on the brink of a second war in Europe.  Review the interactive timeline for a Build up to WWII.