1A. WW1-WW2 Flashcards
How did WW1 impact US attitudes towards isolationism?
- Many Americans believed that involvement in WW1 was a mistake - Woodrow Wilson took the USA into war in 1917 despite campaigning to keep out of it.
- Specifically, many disliked the way in which Woodrow Wilson continued to try to involve the USA in European affairs once the war was over.
How did WW1 affect the US economy?
The economy of the USA was boosted by the war, but a post-war depression and spike in unemployment followed:
- In 1919, 950,000 people were unemployed
- By 1921, this had increased to 5 million
How did the post-WW1 depression impact US society?
The post-WW1 depression led to discontent as well as riots, strikes and protests.
What did President Harding (elected 1921) set out to achieve in his ‘return to normalcy’?
In general, US policy would be shifted towards the interests of the USA alone.
This meant:
- Balancing the government’s books
- Reduced taxation on Americans (set high for the war)
- Introduce tariffs to protect US trade and industry
- Provide countrywide radio (to boost US industry and national communication)
He also mentioned that there should be a committee set up to study the ‘race question’ and how best to solve it.
How was isolation understood by American society?
Generally speaking, isolationism was understood to mean:
- Returning of focus to the USA - should be ‘supportive’ of other nations but not ‘entangled’ with them.
- Introducing tariffs to dissuade imports and favour US businesses
- No colonial expansion
- Not joining the League of Nations
- Cutting back on numbers of immigrants
Which immigration acts coincided with US isolationism?
1921 Emergency Quota Act - restricted immigration to 357,000 people a year
1924 Johnson-Reed Immigration Act revised this number ↑ to 150,000.
This act ↑ was confirmed by the 1929 National Origins Formula
How did Congress confirm the USA’s isolationism from Europe in the event of war?
Between 1935-39, Congress passed a series of Neutrality Acts which restricted the help the USA could give to other countries in the event of war
Which elements of US foreign policy contradicted isolationism?
- The USA helped Europe rebuild economically after WW1
- The USA brokered the Washington Conference of 1921-22 which set limits on national navies.
How did Woodrow Wilson increase the role of the President?
How well was this recieved?
- He took the USA to war despite campaigning to keep out of it
- He didn’t consult Congress about promoting the League of Nations
- He was seen to be by drafting bills and introducing them to Congress himself
- He believed that Presidents should be involved in law-making.
- He expected the leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives to speak for him, and for the House to fall in line with his wishes.
These were unpopular = threatening the separation of powers principle
What did lasseiz-faire entail?
Lasseiz-faire policies entailed:
- A smaller national government with less interference in the economy or social issues.
- Less federal spending - government should keep its own spending under control rather than help those who were failing
- Less willingness to control wages, working hours or prices.
How did Harding manage the presidency?
What were his failings?
Harding generally abstained from drafting new laws or increasing the USA’s foreign affairs
Unfortunately, Harding, though not corrupt himself, gave positions to friends that were. Several of these appointees exploited their positions for wealth, reducing confidence in the administration.
How did Calvin Coolidge manage the presidency?
Coolidge (Harding’s vice-president) continued much in the same way as Harding, except that he combined lasseiz-faire policies with a dignity and morality which restored confidence in the administration after the corruption of Harding’s appointees.
Coolidge continued the 1920s boom period, maintaining a small government which exerted less influence on the legislative bodies e.g. Congress.
How did Herbert Hoover manage the Presidency at the beginning of his term?
Herbert Hoover gave the Republican lasseiz-faire policy a spin, encouraging people to take responsibility for themselves.
He formulated these ideas in the pamphlet American Individualism in 1922, which he developed in his 1928 election campaign into the theory of ‘rugged individualism’.
What were the key tenets of ‘rugged individualism’?
- All people (incl. the poor and homeless) were weakened by government support because it sapped their self-reliance.
- Goverment would not interfere to help either the failing nor the successful.
- Business was free to run as fit, even if they exploited the workforce.
- Working hours, pay or working conditions would be left unmanaged, and the bank interest on mortgages and loans would not be fixed.
- The USA should restrict immigration - unlimited immigration worsened rising unemployment and did not bring wealth to the UK
Which events formed the foundation for the First Red Scare (1919-20)?
- The Tsar in Russia was overthrown in 1917 by the Bolsheviks, leading to civil war.
- The Communist Party of the USA (CPUSA) and the Communist Labour Party of America (CLP) were founded.
- Increased strikes followed over better wages, hours and working conditions, as workers had not been allowed to strike during WW1.
- Increased anarchist and communist activity, through pamphlets and occasional bombing.
How significant was the post-war strike action in the USA?
In 1919, there were more than 3,600 strikes, with 1/4 workers (4 million people on strike
21 January 1919 - 35,000 shipyard workers went on strike in Seattle. By 6th February, this escalated to a general strike of 60,000.
How many radical bombings were there in 1919?
- 28 April 1919 - US post office discovers 36 bombs addressed to various state officials
- 2 June 1919 - Bombs explode in 8 cities - public official targeted incl. new Attorney General Mitchell Palmer
- 9 September 1919 - Bombs explode in various cities
What were the effects of ‘red hunting’ during the First Red Scare?
- Some businesses sacked employees they suspected of left-wing views
- People began to suspect their neighbours, and worried over being suspected themselves
- People were no longer free to express left-wing views
- Some parts of the country saw considerable violence from groups such as the Klu Klux Klan, which targed all groups they suspected of being ‘Un-American’.
What were the long-term impacts of the First Red Scare, 1919-1920?
After 1920, the government, media and general population began to react to communism in a more balanced way:
- Of the thousands of people arrested as ‘suspicious’, only 556 were deported once their cases were considered.
- Attorney General Palmer’s prediction of a ‘Red revolution’ on 1st May 1920 failed to occur
However, anti-communist sentiment never completely vanished.
What was the Bonus Army?
In 1924, the US government gave those who had fought in WW1 a bonus for their service calculated according to their years of service:
- Veterans owed just $50 were paid immediately
- The rest of the money went into a fund to be paid in 1945
As the Depression bit, many veterans asked for their money early - many were unemployed and / or homeless.
In June 1932, they marched on Washington to make their demands in person, camping in various sites across the city in numbers estimating from 150,000 to 200,000 people.
How did Hoover’s handling of the Bonus Army decrease faith in his presidency?
Police had initially tried to break up the camps, with little success and some violence on both sides.
On 28th July, troops were sent in with tear gas, bayonets, cavalry and even tanks and machine guns (though these were not used) to disperse the camps.
A report wsa published later suggesting that many in the camps were communist agitators and criminals, in an attempt to make the handling seem less blameworthy. Despite this, Hoover’s handling of the Bonus Marchers caused him to lose a significant amount of popularity.
Which factors suggest that Hoover did little to control the Depression?
- He believed in ‘voluntarism’ and the role of private charities in handling relief for the Depression, and believed that economic relief was a local responsibility
- He allowed Congress to pass the Hawley-Smoot Tariff in 1930 which rose tariffs by 30%
- He did not meet the demands of the Bonus Marchers, instead dispersing the protest with violence.
What did Hoover set up to manage the Great Depression upon its outbreak in 1929-30?
- 1929 - Agricultural Marketing Act: set up a Federal Farm Board that could buy up key crops to stablilise prices
- 1930 - Committee for Unemployment Relief: to coordinate, and advise on state efforts for the unemployed
- 1930 - President’s Emergency Committee for Employment: to find work for the unemployed and persuade big business to create more jobs
What dod Hoover implement to manage the Great Depression between 1931-2?
- 1931 - National Credit Corporation (NCC) funded by healthy banks and businesses to help failing ones; started with a budget of $500 million but had only lent $10 million by end of year.
- January 1932 - Reconstruction Finance Corporation (RFC) set up with $300 million to lend to states for relief projects
- July 1932 - RFC lending extended to farmers and public works
- July 1932 - Federal Home Loan Bank Act has a federal fund to help those in trouble with mortgages.
