Evolution of U.S. Policies Through the World Wars

Americans had, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, remained loyal to the political testament of their first president, George Washington. In his 1796 Farewell Address to the nation, Washington said that “the great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible” (Avalon Law). This was the political conceptualization of the physical and geopolitical isolation that characterized the young republic. Surrounded by unthreatening neighbors in the North and the South (Canada and Mexico) and vast oceans in the East and the West (the Atlantic and the Pacific) the American continent was isolated and self-sufficient, endowed as it was with rich natural resources that allowed a rapid economic and industrial growth.

Marking the period 1865-1912, the take-off of the US industrial complex transformed not only the nation’s society but also set the foundations of its foreign policy: the objectives of this generation of Americans was conquering overseas markets and acquiring a series of naval bases and island protectorates that could guard the routes to those markets and, if necessary, could provide the military forces to win conflicts that would /did erupt over those markets (Lafeber, 2013, Preface). This quest for markets, and source for raw materials was later termed as the quest for an “informal empire” (Mc Cormick, 1990, title) with an exclusively economic preoccupation and -unlike European colonialism- no direct geopolitical aim whatsoever. In short, American expansionism was commercial to begin with and therefore not in contradiction with George Washington’s political isolationism.

Between 1897 and 1901, President William Mc Kinley ushered in the American Century, the era in which the United States replaced Great Britain as the world’s greatest power. The turning point came with Cuban rebellion against Spanish domination in the Caribbean.

The contradictions which define Roosevelt's presidency foreshadowed the fact that the modern United States is built on contradictions – between liberalism and conservatism, isolation and intervention..racism and democracy, convention and reform, pessimism and optimism.

When on June 28, 1914, a Serbian nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assasinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Hapsburg throne, and his wife, visiting Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, no one imagined that it would trigger a chain of events drawing Europe into a world war and the United States into a new era in its foreign relations. 

On August 4, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), then much more interested in domestic than foreign affairs and largely endorsed by his people, declared that the United States would remain “impartial in thought as well as in action”.

That, however, meant political neutrality, while the United States eagerly continued its commercial activities with Europe despite the war, as an ultimate illustration of isolationism à la George Washington. These activities included carrying goods from the US to Europe as well as from one European country to another, and engaging in financial transactions with belligerent governments.

The mobilization that followed was spectacular in speed and scope, as it infused supplies, loans, reinforcements and troops to needy Allies. The United States did not sign a formal treaty alliance with them but remained an “associated power” and sent an Expeditionary Force to Europe under the command of General John J. Pershing. Disposing only 318,000 troops in 1917, the country’s armed forces peaked at 4.8 million by the end of the war following a rapid enlisting and drafting campaign. 2 million of them would be deployed in France holding 21 percent of the front and playing a key role in stopping Germany’s spring 1918 offensive. In the meantime, a 2,000-vessel US Navy was protecting Allied convoys and hunting German submarines. America’s contribution has ultimately led to German surrender and a final, crushing victory for the Allies.

As the war neared its end, President Wilson spelled out his vision of peace in a speech delivered on 8 January 1918 before Congress. Known as the “Fourteen Points” speech, it not only enumerated the conditions for bringing an end to hostilities, but it also included references to open diplomacy as opposed to secret treaties and alliances, as well as arms control and a new organization of nations to ensure the peace in the future, thus introducing the concept of collective security.

In drafting the territorial propositions included in the Fourteen Points, President Wilson used the recommendations of a group called The Inquiry. It was established in the autumn of 1917 by Colonel Edward M. House at the request of President and was a group of experts assembled to collect and collate data relating to geographical, ethnological, economic, historical, and political problems of Europe in preparation for the anticipated post-war peace conference.

Besides the President, the American delegation included his special adviser Colonel House, Secretary of State Robert Lansing, General Tasker H. Bliss, 21 members of The Inquiry, and Henry White, a career diplomat who was the only Republican in the group as neither a
member of the Republican-controlled Senate nor any prominent Republican was included.

This was amply criticized in the United States as well as the fact that President Wilson himself was engaging his reputation directly by attending the conference, thus taking the risk of being implicated in the eventual failures of a peace treaty – a criticism not totally unfounded.

The reasons lying behind the President’s decision included his desire of contributing personally to the new international order he had already sketched in the Fourteen Points and his fear that the victorious camp would care more for vindication over Germany than establishing a just peace, thus relegating the expectations of peace by people all over the world to a secondary concern.

As far as disarmament was concerned, it was applied only to Germany as a prerequisite for general disarmament. Germany proceeded to a comprehensive destruction of its army, air force, and navy weapons abiding by the specified numbers of troops and weapons it was allowed to keep.

Berlin would later accuse other powers of not having proceeded to disarmament despite the Treaty’s dispositions, leaving Germany as the sole defenseless country among them.

Despite its shortcomings, the Treaty had its virtues as it was a first tentative to eliminate colonialism, met various nationalist aspirations in Eastern and Central Europe and created a mechanism of collective security through the League Covenant (Clements, 1999,
210-211). The two-hundred page Treaty was presented to Germany on 7 May 1919 and signed by the latter on 28 June. Thus, the bloodiest war ever ended, leaving behind 8 million soldiers and 20 million civilians dead after having destroyed three empires (German, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman, since the Russian was destroyed by
internal revolution).

The components of Wilsonianism include the ideas according to which:

a. world peace can only be built upon a community of democratic nations as they would respect the rule of law, be accountable on foreign policy and as such, be less likely to wage war among themselves;

b. by contributing to fruitful exchanges conducive to stability and prosperity within the international community, free-trade and socio-economic relations should be able to block the rise of despotism and oligarchy, thus enhancing civilization and modernization;

c. similarly, cooperation through peace-oriented and other international organizations do contribute to the same objectives regarding the international community;

d. a stable and peaceful world order should be built upon a cooperation of forces best described by the concept of collective security first introduced by Wilson as a system based on disarmament, selfdetermination and free navigation;

e. it is possible to put into practice democracy, free trade, the rule of law and collective security as long as the world advances towards a more progressive and modern direction and not when/if autocracy, militarism and despotism prevail;

f. given the values prevailing at its foundation and its geopolitical stance, the United States has a special responsibility in establishing and maintaining such a world order since, according to Wilson, it is not a hegemon but rather a God-designated moral guide.

In Asia, the Washington Conference of 1921-22 established a framework for cooperation and stability. Besides the naval disarmament treaty, the United States took the initiative in bringing about various other agreements designed to stabilize AsianPacific affairs.

Among them was the fourpower pact among the US, Britain, France, and Japan replaced the Anglo-Japanese alliance and provided for mutual consultation with regard to regional security issues.

The 1920s were marked by an intense economic expansion overseas as American private capital helped stabilize the German economy given that the latter had trouble paying reparations which, in turn, prevented European allies from paying America back their debts well exceeding $10 billion. The government stayed in the background and let the private bankers and business leaders who, through specific loan plans (Dawes Plan and Young Plan), raised loans amounting to several billions to restore German/European economy. The pivotal role played by the dollar and the American financial resources have been referred to as “the diplomacy of the dollar” and was doubled by foreign direct and indirect investment in South America, Asia and the Middle East. 

The Great Depression of 1929, the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasted until 1939. It began after the stock market crash of
October 1929, which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors. By 1933, when the Great Depression reached its lowest point, some 15 million Americans were unemployed and nearly half the country’s banks had failed.

On October 24, 1929, as nervous investors began selling overpriced shares, the stock market crash that some had feared happened at last. A record 12.9 million shares were
traded that day, known as “Black Thursday”. Five days later, on October 29 or “Black Tuesday,” 16 million shares were traded after another wave of panic swept through Wall Street. Millions of shares ended up worthless, and those investors who had bought stocks “on margin” (with borrowed money) were wiped out completely from the market
(history.com).

America’s industrial production, gold reserve as well as international trade and investments dropped sharply, leading to massive unemployment,business and bank  bankruptcies and, as the postwar global economy was excessively dependent on the United States, the crisis reached other countries in a chain reaction. The result would be rising trends of managed currencies, protectionism and autarky, putting an end to free  trade while in politics, nationalism replaced internationalism. 

America’s industrial production, gold reserve as well as international trade and investments dropped sharply, leading to massive unemployment, business and bank bankruptcies and, as the postwar global economy was excessively dependent on the United States, the crisis reached other countries in a chain reaction. The result would be rising trends of managed currencies, protectionism and autarky, putting an end to free trade while in politics, nationalism replaced internationalism.

At the time of President Roosevelt's inauguration, national income had halved, the banking system had collapsed and unemployed people were standing in breadlines, with the most desperate ones committing suicide. While the President tried to raise spirits by his eloquence and buoyant personality, he immediately undertook action. In what was called the First Hundred Days, no less than fourteen presidential messages were issued, fourteen historic laws promulgated, and a hundred days later, the New Deal was launched.

Opposed to the traditional American political philosophy of laissez-faire, the New Deal generally embraced the concept of a governmentregulated economy aimingat achieving a balance between conflicting economic interests.

This was an experimental policy based on governmentdirected programs for creating jobs, reviving industrial activity, and guaranteeing minimum social security for the American people through various new federal agencies and social measures, while strengthening the labor unions. 

According to Henry Kissinger, America’s speedy engagement into the center of the international arena that was threatened by Germany’s drive for world domination, was the achievement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR). No president, he says, has made a more decisive difference in the country’s history. “And he saw to it that, this time, America’s involvement would mark a first step toward permanent international engagement. During the war, his leadership held the alliance together and shaped the multilateral institutions which continue to serve the international community to this day”. 

From the perspective of the United States, the involvement in World War II meant:

a. the display, for the first time, of its military might across the Atlantic, the Pacific, North
Africa and the Middle East simultaneously, thus propelling it into becoming a 20th century global power;

b. the combination of conflict and diplomacy, since all throughout the war, it collaborated with the allies to construct the post-war world order that would come to be known as the American Century.