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Post World War 1 Dbq Analysis

Decent Essays

World War I left a sour taste in the mouths of Americans; many felt that the United States had joined for the wrong reasons, and this disillusionment led to a return to isolationism. Americans looked to avoid entanglements in European affairs that could potentially pull them into another world war. Combined with the effects of the Great Depression and the economic troubles that spanned the globe, Americans were determined to avoid foreign affairs and remain neutral when conflict began. However, as dictatorships began to rise globally, the United States found it increasingly difficult to remain neutral and isolationist. Though the United States attempted to remain neutral in world affairs following World War I, the threat to democracy and rise …show more content…

This fostered a strong desire to return to isolationism, as demonstrated by President Harding’s “return to normalcy.” One of the first steps was to reject involvement in the League of Nations, a post-World War I body meant to ensure collective peace and security. Many Americans did not want to become involved in European affairs and risk being pulled into another global war, which they feared would be inevitable if the United States joined the League of Nations. In a speech, Presidential Candidate Warren G. Harding stated, “My position at present is that the League strikes a deadly blow at our constitutional integrity and surrenders to a dangerous extent of our independence as a nation,” (Doc A). Nevertheless, the United States did participate in multiple international events at the beginning of the 1920s, including the …show more content…

After Hitler invaded Poland in 1939 and World War II officially began in Europe, President Roosevelt encouraged Americans to be neutral in action, but not necessarily in thought. It was clear that he favored the British, marking the beginning of the end of neutrality. President Roosevelt believed that Great Britain’s survival in the war was key to American safety, causing him to extend a “cash and carry” policy and to sell destroyers to the British. In a press conference in 1940, Roosevelt made his famous analogy in which he compared Great Britain to a house on fire and reasoned that the neighbor must give them a hose to put out the fire (Doc H). In it, he essentially described to the American people that the United States must help the British in order to keep democracy safe at home and abroad. Though the United States still remained officially neutral in the war, it was clear the nation was becoming more involved in international affairs. Many Americans opposed this increase of participation in world affairs, regardless of the threat of dictatorship and fascism. One advertisement in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch even described President Roosevelt as “America’s first dictator” (Doc F). However, President Roosevelt and the American

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