EOC Test Preparation: International Expansion and Conflict

Reasons for Expansion • Economics

– Imperialism • Set up colonies abroad

– Capitalism • More markets and resources

abroad would make the US wealthy

• Defense – National defense

• Alfred T. Mahan and The Influence of Sea Power Upon History – The US military developed a

navy that was one of the most powerful in the world

Reasons for Expansion

• Nationalism

– National pride

– Manifest Destiny

– Social Darwinism

• Racism and The White Man’s Burden – Rudyard Kipling

Reasons for Expansion

• Isolationism

– Not in the best interest of the US to gain control on foreign territories

– Still see this debate today

Expansion

• Seward’s Folly

– Sec. of State William Seward bought Alaska from Russia in 1867

– People thought it was foolish

– Seward recognized this as a move to push Russia farther away from the US coast

– Seward was concerned about British control of Canada

– Seward was also sure that Alaska had valuable natural resources

Expansion

• Hawaii (1898)

– Pearl Harbor

• Important naval base

– Sugar plantations

– Other natural resources

Foreign Policy

• All eyes on China

– Open Door Policy

• Left China open for US trade and commerce

– Boxer Rebellion

• Chinese nationalists against foreign interference

• Killed 300 foreigners and Christians

Foreign Policy • Japan

– Theodore Roosevelt concerned with Japanese attacks in the Pacific

– Sends American navy out to flaunt power in an attempt to keep Japan from attacking American territories

– Later Roosevelt will win a Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Russo-Japanese War

The Panama Canal • Roosevelt believes a canal

across Panama would be crucial to US military and economic interests – Philippians, Hawaii, Guam

• Colombia controlled Panama and would not sell/lease the land

• 1903-Panamanians revolted and Roosevelt sent navy to help

Roosevelt Corollary • Big Stick Diplomacy

– Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

• Corollary built on the Monroe Doctrine – Europe wouldn’t

colonize in the Western hemisphere

– Roosevelt furthered this by saying the US would intervene if a nation was struggling to pay off debt

Other Diplomacy Strategies

• William Taft – Dollar Diplomacy

– Focused on US investment, not military strength

• Woodrow Wilson – Moral/Missionary

Diplomacy

– Foreign policy based on the role of the US to promote democracy and progress

Long Term Causes of WWI

• “MAIN”

– Militarism

– Alliances

– Imperialism

– Nationalism

Short Term Cause of WWI

• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

– Archduke of Austria-Hungary

– Visiting Bosnia

– Radicals (“Black Hand”) of Bosnia believed the land belonged to Serbia, not Austria-Hungary

US Neutrality in WWI

• Wilson declared that the US would remain neutral

• Isolationism

US Enters WWI

• Central Powers – Germany and its allies

• Triple Entente – Great Britain and its allies

• US was supplying both sides, but mostly the Triple Entente

• The Lusitania – U-boats sunk the ship in 1915

– Americans support war, very anti-German

US Enters WWI

• The Zimmerman Telegram

– Intercepted by England

– Stated that Germany and Mexico should form an alliance

– Criticized Wilson; weak leader

– America officially enters war in April 1917

US Involvement in the War

• Trench Warfare

– Diseases

– Morale

• Selective Service Act

• New weapons made war horrific

Turning Points in WWI

• Russia leaves the war

– Low morale

– 2 million dead

– Famine at home

– March 1917: Russian Revolution

• New republic created but…

• Bolsheviks and Vladimir Lenin took over country and established communist rule

Turning Points in WWI • US Troops and Paris

– B/c Russia was no longer a threat to Germany, they focused on France • Made it within 50 miles of

Paris

– Marines were able to fight off the Germans and saved Paris

– Allies used a new weapon, the tank, to push through German lines.

• Germans signed an armistice in late 1918

Events Following the War

• Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” – Reduction in weapons

– Right to govern oneself for ethnic groups

– League of Nations • US did not join

– “Peace w/o victory” • This was ignored…did it

lead to WWII?

Events Following the War

• Treaty of Versailles

– June 1919

– Germany took full responsibility for war

• Reparations

Actions within the US

• War Industries Board – Wilson established this

– Kept peace within the nation’s economy and businesses during the war

• Committee on Public Information – Encouraged public support for US war effort

• Espionage and Sedition Acts – Fines and jail time for those that were seen as hurting

the US war effort • Constitutional??

1920 Election

• Warren G. Harding and a “return to normalcy”