Isolationism In The 1930s

1930’s Isolationism and the Reality of Global Connections

In the post-World War I era, Americans were unhappy with the events leading up to the country’s involvement in the war. Through neutrality legislation and a geographic insulation, the public was convinced that they could protect the United States from involving itself in foreign conflicts. By reviewing several political battles at home, using traditional and modern explanations, one can understand how the public felt and how sentiments changed at the end of the decade.

Many ideas and opinions led to the move toward isolationism in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Americans felt that Europeans tricked the United States into World War I. Some felt the old world had old ideas and were corrupt.

Businessmen were concerned about the cost of the League of Nations. Americans wanted to adhere to the Monroe Doctrine. German- Americans did not like the Treaty of Versailles because the treatment of Germany with respect to war reparations and limited military capabilities.

Most Americans believed the country needed to focus on domestic problems, including joblessness, bank failing, farm foreclosures and the economy. The country had more than enough problems at home to keep the government busy with the distraction of foreign conflicts. Many felt that alliances inevitably caused war. Partly because of these isolationists’ notions, the United States rejected the League of Nations. By prohibiting war preparation and not signing alliances, the nation could, in fact, facilitated peace. For whatever reason, Americans wanted to remain separate from European affairs.

During his presidency in the 1930’s, Roosevelt was not concerned with foreign affairs. The President was concentrating on efforts to enhance the U. S.

economy and the recovery from the Great Depression. At the 1933 London Economic Conference, Roosevelt met with world leaders to plan ways to fight the global depression. After having second thoughts about the goals of the conference, an ambivalent Roosevelt added to the tension of the global economic crisis by proclaiming “every man for himself”. The adoption of this attitude around the globe set up an atmosphere that bred and aided power-seeking dictators like Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini (Kennedy, Cohen, & Piehl, p. 561). After Senator Gerald Neyes’ senatorial committee surmised that American merchants and bankers involved the country in World War I to make profits. The American public was suspicious of arms merchants and greedy bankers. Since countries fight wars generally for economic reasons, it was important for the United States not to sign economic agreements with other countries. American isolationism continued to increase. Congress responded to this public attitude by passing Neutrality Acts in 1935 and 1937 in which the Congress supported trade with all countries but stayed out of conflicts. The legislation restricted Americans from sailing on ships going into combat areas. Merchant ships could not carry arms. Regardless of aggression blame, the United States would not allow loans to warring countries; or weapon sells to any countries engaged in conflict. The Neutrality Acts, in reality, strengthened aggressions worldwide. Hitler knew that the United States would not help him, but they would not hurt him either. The Americans kept out of Hitler’s way while consolidated his plan of aggression.
During this same period, many problems emerged around the world. Joseph Stalin and Communism were on the rise in Russia. In 1937, Japan invaded China. Hitler and Mussolini increased fascism in Europe. Already washed in Isolationism, these events alarmed the Americans, but the United States still sought to mind their own affairs. President Roosevelt refused to call the Japanese invasion of China an act of war (Kennedy, Cohen, & Piehl, p. 564). Therefore, the United States could supply the Chinese with some war supplies. Concurrently, American industries could also supply the Japanese with millions of dollars worth of supplies and boost the American economy.
Roosevelt did not want international conflict. The Americans were not ready for another fight. They were still trying to feed their families and find some stability in their lives. If faced with a choice of profits or peace, the nation will answer; “We choose peace” Roosevelt declared (Holbo, p. 19).
In 1937, Congress banned arms sales to countries fighting civil wars. Claude Bower, ambassador to Spain, told Congress that such a ban benefited Hitler and other aggressors. Secretary of State Cordell Hull argued that Great Britain and France opposed the United States’ intervention. President Roosevelt agreed with Hull, so the ban stayed in place. This mandatory embargo told Hitler that if war broke out, England and France could not receive supplies from the United States. Roosevelt later admitted that this gave aid to the aggressors and hurt victimized countries in Europe. It was hard to determine at this point which side of the conflict the United States favored. The United States government made decisions that helped the Axis powers more that the Allied powers. At home, Americans saw these decisions as important steps to keep them out of the war.
Soon the President called for increased expenditures for defense and armament (Holbo, 1967, p. 23). America needed a great two-ocean navy to protect the country’s coastline and oppose any naval threats. The war machine was ramping up. Senator Robert Taft argued that no one nation could defend democracy and argued that the nation should quarantine rogue nations. The Senator insisted the Congress limit the power of the president to wage war. Taft stated that if the President decided to repeal of the Neutrality Acts, this new policy would lead to war. He feared that the additional powers the President wanted, such as nationalization of several industries, would lead to the creation of a dictatorship. Senator Taft wanted to see the Neutrality Acts strengthened.
Ideally, President Roosevelt envisioned a friendly, civilized world order. However, within a year, Roosevelt had changed his views on isolationism and neutrality. The Second World War started on September 1, 1939 as Germany invaded Poland. In early September 1939, Roosevelt appealed to the Congress to revise the Neutrality Acts. The President asked that merchant ship carry supplies to allies. Roosevelt wanted to arm merchant ships and give them United State naval protection. Isolationists, such as Senator William Borah, President Hebert Hoover, and Colonel Charles Lindbergh gave speeches and attended rallies opposing the revisions. Private citizens wrote letters to their congressmen asking for the continuance of neutrality. Isolationist did not want any part of the European war and made their position known in Washington.
President Roosevelt addressed Congress on January 1941 and introduced the National Policy (Holbo, p. 55) as:
• Committed to National Defense. If attacked, America will fight.
• Committed to people who were fighting aggression. (He wanted to keep the war away from the Western Hemisphere.)
• Committed to the idea that one cannot buy peace at the expense of another’s freedom.
A stated policy must have eased Americans’ minds. However, behind the scenes, England’s Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, was pressuring the president to join the war effort before it was too late.
Congress approved the Lend-Lease bill in March 1941. It is one of the most important laws ever passed by Congress (Kennedy, Cohen, & Piehl, p. 568). By leasing war supplies, like warships and tanks, the United States could aid the Allies. At this time, the Allies controlled the Atlantic shipping lanes; making it impossible for Germany and its allies to reach the American ports. In this way, Roosevelt hoped to “Send guns not sons” to the European theater (Kennedy, Cohen, & Piehl, 2012, p. 568). Mothers could keep their sons at home, and the nation could continue to help European friends fight for freedom.
As the war raged on, the American public came to realize their strong ties to England and other allies.

However, several factions in the United States (ex. German-Americans and Scandinavian-Americans opposed interventions) were still pushing for isolationism. Many Americans wanted to support England and France. The Americans ideas on Isolationism were evolving. Early on in the 1930’s, Americans were upset with intel concerning Fascist and Nazi aggression and criminal act. However, even in early 1939, a national poll still showed forty percent of American thought the nation should not sell arms to any belligerent country. Thirty percent thought the United States should sell arms to democratic countries only (Holbo, p. 26). “Leave us alone” was still the tone of the

America.
In August 1941, Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill drafted a joint declaration referred to as the Atlantic Charter, which had eight points that they agreed to support. Four main points included:
• No territorial expansion
• To promote international trade
• Freedom of the seas
• International standards for welfare economy and workforce or labor
They also made a commitment to restoring self-government in occupied countries after the war. Roosevelt hoped that the Charter would ease America’s distaste for involvement in the war. Churchill did not achieve the British goal of getting America involved in the conflict (U.S. Historian, Office of, Milestones 1937-1945, The Atlantic Conference and Charter, 1941). This Charter confirmed the solidarity between the United States and Great Britain and it put forth a post-war vision for peace, self-determination, and free trade around the world. It introduced a new view of the war that Americans could accept.
As German U-boat continued to use merchant ships in the Atlantic for target practice, the President asked Congress to amend the Neutrality Act. Roosevelt asked to arm merchant ships carry goods to allied ports and give them United States naval protection. The president requested that the country gear up for war by increasing output in shipyards and training military forces. Much debate had taken place during the 1930’s about isolationism, but now Americans realized that fascism was a serious threat to the nation. The oceans were not large enough to isolate the country from evil and determined men.
It took the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941 to shake the American people into reality. Now, it was apparent that the United States was part of the global family. This reality changed the American’s thought from “Stay away from war!” to “To defeat evil; we are all in this together!” Finally, the debate ended. The old ideas of isolationism did not make sense anymore. A new era of interventionism launched the United States into conflicts worldwide. More modern analysis denies the United States rejected the Treaty of Versailles because of isolationism as evidenced by the fact that the majority of Americans were for the League of Nations. Some historians feel that President Woodrow Wilson’s own inability to compromise and accept changes to his ideas led to the defeat of the League (Claire, p. 1). The fact that America did not want to relive World War I was reason enough for isolationism and some skepticism about the League. Joining the League would only increase the country’s involvement in foreign problems, and the United States had their own troubles. Whatever the reason for the rejection, now, historians can debate whether the League of Nations and earlier intervention by the United States would have prevented the Second World War.