Foreign and imperial policy 1901-1912

Question 1

Relations with Japan overall

Answer 1

The USA felt threatened by the growth of a large Japanese navy and their ambitions in China.

Question 2

China

Answer 2

The USA had no desire to expand territorially into China.

Question 3

Cuba

• The Platt Amendment 1903

Answer 3

Made Cuba’s economy heavily dependent on the USA

1) For example, Cuban sugar and tobacco were tied to the US markets through preferential tariffs, while US good entered Cuba at reductions varying from 25 to 40%.
2) American businesses began to move into Cuba on a large scale.

Question 4

Dominican Republic 1904

Answer 4

Roosevelt was reluctant to invade.

In 1904, the USA took control of the customs revenue of the Dominican Republic, using it to pay off the debt

Question 5

Dominican Republic 1903

Answer 5

In 1903, the Republic defaulted on the repayment of American loans worth $40 million

Question 6

The USA and the Far East

Answer 6

The USA had become interested in China and Japan in the second half of the nineteenth century for economic reasons in order to develop the vast potential of the markets of theses countries

Question 7

China 1899

Answer 7

US Secretary of State introduced the Open Door policy with the first Open Door note asking states to respect each other’s trading rights in China, even in each other’s spheres of interest

Question 8

US’s stance on China

Answer 8

US had no desire to expand territorially into China.

Question 9

The Boxer Rebellion in 1900 in China

• What was it

Answer 9

It was an uprising directed largely against foreigners, broke out in China

Question 10

The Boxer Rebellion in China 1900

• What did the US do

Answer 10

The USA sent a small number of troops to assist other countries in the rescue of foreign embassies in Peking

Question 11

The second Open Door note 1900

Answer 11

It asserted the principle of equal and impartial trade in all parts of China, not just in the existing foreign spheres of interest.

It asserted that in future the US government would protect the lives and property of US citizen living in China.

Question 12

What was the Root-Takahira Agreement singed in 1908 with Japan

Answer 12

The USA and Japan agreed to respect each other’s interests in China and to maintain the current situation in the Pacific

Question 13

Why did Roosevelt was keen to develop better relations with Japan

Answer 13

Japanese imperialism meant it would be better off to develop better relations with Japan

Question 14

Example of Japanese threat to the US

Answer 14

When Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905

Question 15

What did Roosevelt do when Japan defeated Russia in 1904-1905

Answer 15

Roosevelt helped to negotiate the end of the war with the Treaty of Hampshire in which Japan was given a free hand in Korea

Question 16

What did Japan think of US’s intervention in the war resolution with Russia in 1904-1905
• The Treaty of Hampshire

Answer 16

The Japanese blamed Roosevelt for the decision not to force Russia to pay a war indemnity.

Question 17

US foreign policy in the years of 1890 to 1912

Answer 17

American foreign and imperial policy had undergone significant changes, at the beginning it was mainly isolationist with minimal intervention abroad.