17-1+USH

Abby Regan 5/10/12 USHCP Mr. Masterson

Key Terms: Isolationism: Withdrawal from world affairs. Disarmament: Reducing the size of a country's military. Washington Conference: An international Conference in Washington DC that focused on disarmament and Pacific security. Kellogg-Briand Pact: Pact singed by the United States and 14 other countries that outlawed war except for self defense.

Key People: Emily Greene Balch: An active member of the Women's International League for Peace, received Noble Peace Prize. Charles Evan Hughes: US Secretary of State who organized the Washington Conference. Adolf Hitler: A German WWI veteran who was convinced that the government was responsible for the loss of WWI, and tried to overthrow the government.

Summary:

Legacies of World War I
 * Many Americans believed that the government had exceeded it's authority after WWI, and almost no one believed that the war had made the world "safe for democracy".
 * Americans worried about being pulled into another foreign conflict that initially had nothing to do with them.
 * Isolationists wanted to avoid "entangling alliances" which might lead to another war, and had the US withdraw from international organizations set up after WWI.
 * The World Court, which had been created to solve international problems and disputes, was opposed by most Americans, so the US didn't join.

Promoting Peace
 * The US used diplomacy to encourage world peace, and many urged te US govt. to bring world leaders together to negotiate disarmament.

The Washington Conference
 * In November 1921 the US held the Washington Conference.
 * Charles Evan Hughes, who was born in April 1862, taught and practiced law for several years before committing to a career in public service.
 * Hughes was a justice in the US Supreme Court from 1910-1916, when he resigned from his position to run for president.
 * Hughes began focusing on world peace after being defeated in the presidential election, and had thought that after WWI the US would be active in world affairs.
 * In 1930 Hughes was appointed Chief Justice of the US, which he was until 1941.
 * Hughes tried to make his euphoric world come to life when he suggested that 66 large warships be destroyed and that there should be a ten year "naval holiday" in which no battleships would be made.
 * Hughes proposed the Five-Power Naval Treaty, in which the US, Britain, and Japan would destroy or retire some of their battleships, and that Italy and France would have navies about half the size of Japan's.
 * The Washington Conference made other important treaties, such as the Four Power Treaty (US, Britain, Japan, & France would respect each others Pacific territories), and The Nine Power treaty, which included other nations that had signed the five power treaty.
 * The treaties helped ease tensions in Asia, as Japan withdrew from China's Shandong Peninsula and Siberia.

Unsuccessful Efforts
 * On April 6, 1927, the french foreign minister Aristide Briand and US secretary of State Frank Kellogg suggested that all countries sign the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
 * However, the pact had little effect on Japan's decision to invade a territory in China, and while many Americans wanted an economic boycott of Japan, US leaders refused, and nothing was done to hold Japan accountable.

War Debts and Reparations
 * Since many countries owed debt, particularly to the US, this lessened the efforts to keep peace.
 * The nations that owed money to the US said that their debts should be cancelled.
 * The US cancelled some of their debts, but not al of them, and the only way that the countries could pay the US back was to demand money from Germany, who resented this.
 * Ernest Hemingway traveled from France to Germany and described the huge difference in prices between the two countries.
 * Adolf Hitler tried to find people to blame for Germany's turmoil, and he blamed the govt. which got him in jail.
 * In 1924, a plan suggested by Charles Dawes gave loans to Germany and gave it more time to make it's payments, but it only made the crisis worse.