History power point presentation
America’s Relationship Status is Complicated: Lessons Learned from Isolationism in World War I and World War II
Sample Student
Example text
1
Outline
My Topic
U.S. Isolationism: World War I
From Isolationism to Intervention: World War I
U.S. Isolationism: World War II
From Isolationism to Intervention: World War II
Making Connections
Sources
Example text
2
My Topic
What can we learn from United States isolationist foreign policy during the first and second World Wars to help inform our approach to international relationships today?
Colors of The Famous 369th Infantry in Parade in New York City https://catalog.archives.gov/id/533494.
My research question is, “What can we learn from United States isolationist foreign policy during the first and second World Wars to help inform our approach to international relationships today?”
3
Isolationism and World War I
World War I began in 1914
The U.S. remained neutral until 1917
Wilson re-elected on Isolationism
1916 Campaign slogan “He Has Kept Us Out of War”
Examples of Campaign Buttons | www.worldwar1.com
Although World War I began in 1914, The United States stayed neutral until 1917. Isolationism was a long-standing tradition dating back to the Revolutionary war, when America gained its independence from Great Britain. America was leery of becoming entangled with foreign nations ever since its inception. Wilson ran his 1916 reelection campaign on the fact that he kept America out of World War I. His reelection solidified the belief that the majority of voters wanted to continue to stay out of international conflicts. It was difficult for some to see how a foreign war could impact America.
4
Intervention in World War I
The sinking of the Lusitania
American citizens perished at Germany’s hands
Impacted America
Wilson’s League of Nations
Isolationist figures in U.S. opposed the League
Lusitania Headline: Hulton Archive/Getty Images
According to MacMillen, Wilson eventually came to see Germany as a menace to society and the world, and he came to advocating to make the world “safe for democracy” despite being elected as an isolationist (1). The sinking of the Lusitania would become one of the events that began to shift America toward intervention. Newspapers reported the sinking with emphasis on American lives lost (2). The U.S. would eventually intervene in World War 1 in 1917. As the war concluded, the battle in America between isolationists and interventionists heated up. Though Wilson tried to advocate for the League of Nations, powerful isolationist figures like Charles Lindbergh ultimately prevented Congress from sanctioning the League. The war sent the U.S. even further toward isolationism, with Congress passing Neutrality acts and placing limits on immigration to further solidify the country’s isolated position in foreign affairs. Norwich University offers the possibility that it was “perhaps isolationist Warren Harding’s election to the office of President that offered the greatest repudiation of the League of Nations and Wilson’s interventionism” (3).
5
Isolationism and World War II
Americans were leery of intervention in a second World War.
Long-term impacts of World War I on Americans.
Anti-immigrant/anti-European sentiments
1921 Emergency Quota Act, etc
Americans wanted to focus on problems at home.
Official Presidential Portait https://www.archives.gov/research/recover/fdr
Charles Lindberg Slogan http://charleslindbergh.com/images2/a3.jpg
With the Neutrality Acts and general isolationist sentiments in American society, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was faced with many challenges as he attempted to maintain effective leadership during global crisis. Americans had many years between the world wars to ruminate on the pros and cons of global conflict. World War II broke out and many Americans held staunchly against intervention. America had a lot of her own troubles to deal with and many people were still harboring bitter feelings about World War I. In the Four Freedoms address, FDR warned his people that contrary to popular belief that America was safe across the vast sea, it was important to take lessons from World War I to understand how the second world war was a threat to democracy – and a threat to America’s safety and future (4).
6
Interventionism World War II
Four Freedoms speech – January 6, 1941
FDR tried swaying Americans away from isolationism
Warned about possible threats to homeland
Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941
Americans mobilized, supporting intervention
Wilson signing Declaration of War against Japan Dec. 1941 https://www.archives.gov/files/research/military/ww2/photos/images/ww2-01.jpg
In FDR’s Four Freedoms speech in 1941, he warned about the dangers of the isolationist path and appealed to Americans' love for democracy. He asked Americans to heed his prior warnings that just because the war seemed far away, it didn’t mean it wasn’t having an impact on America or that there was no threat to the home country (4). Eleven months after he delivered his warnings, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Suddenly, the war had hit close to home and became an undeniable reality fast, and Americans mobilized to support intervention . Though isolationist sentiments didn’t fully disappear, many Americans came together to do their part to support the war effort. Some went to war and some stayed home and took on new roles to help the country and the war effort, forever changing the landscape of America.
7
Making Connections
Leadership challenges
Weigh pros vs cons
Consider all consequences (both neutrality and intervention)
Neutral but prepared
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
President Wilson and President Roosevelt faced situations that made isolationist foreign policy challenging to uphold. American foreign policy during both world wars illustrates how difficult it was to balance the desires and fears of the American people with the presidential duty to keep America safe and prosperous. Today, President Trump often uses the slogan “America First.” The United States still faces foreign policy challenges around the world; however, similarly to World War I and World War II, many Americans may feel detached from those entanglements because they are not happening on American soil. Then and now, America’s leaders have been drawn into foreign entanglements despite isolationist and “America first” desires. We should take valuable lessons from past conflicts. We should weigh the pros and cons and always calculate threats to America carefully and with full consideration of ramifications of both intervention and isolationism. When encountering conflict outside of America’s borders, we should be neutral but prepared to react should America’s safety be threatened. We can take these lessons and apply them to our own lives when dealing with leadership decisions.
8
Sources
Margaret MacMillen. March 16, 2018. Why the U.S. Has Spent 200 Years Flip-Flopping Between Isolationism and Engagement: What does the United States want to be to the world? https://www.history.com/news/american-isolationism
The San Francisco Chronicle. May 8, 1915. Hundreds Perish When Lusitania is Torpedoed. https://s.hdnux.com/photos/45/60/06/9896344/7/940x0.jpg
Norwich University Online. November 6, 2017. Isolationism and U.S. Foreign Policy After World War I. https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/isolationism-and-us-foreign-policy-after-world-war-i
Franklin D. Roosevelt. January 6, 1941. 1941 State of the Union Address “The Four Freedoms.” https://voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu/fdr-the-four-freedoms-speech-text/