Conclusively, America entered the Great War because of a variety of reasons. They were partially influenced by the Germans to enter the war, although they were also influenced by the possibility of economic collapsed. America tried to follow Washington's advice when he said to stay out of war, but America would only be able to stay isolated for so long, and they were influenced enough to break away and enter world-wide relationships were
Jorge Luna February 23, 2013 Period: 1 U.S Foreign Policy Change between 1920-1941 From 1920-1941 the United States foreign policy changed from being a strict isolation and neutrality policy to a more liberal policy because of the circumstances and tensions of the future world war two. This new change in the policy allowed America to help its allies and keep America safe from the totalitarian dictators of its time. In 1918 after the First World War ended, the United States created a foreign policy in which they stated that they weren’t going to help in any way any nation at war. Many of the reasons were because of the economic depression that was going on also, because the people of America didn’t want to go to war again. For a few years America tried to isolate itself from the rest of the world trying to ignore the fight leading up to World War Two.
If any of the triple alliance attacks either Russia or France, the other will send aid. Russia and France made this treaty because the triple alliance was too powerful to take them on individually. The whole thing went downhill when Russia not France began mobilizing their troops. When Russia began mobilizing, the Germans Callics of the Austro-Hungarian empire decided to declare war on both Russia and its ally France. Even after the Germans declared war, France did not wish to engage in war.
This led to a decision for the king: cope with our demands, or we fight for our independence. After the king rejected the demands of the petition, Thomas Paine released an article entitled “Common Sense”. By this time, the people thought they were fighting to make King George III listen to their demands, but Thomas Paine introduced the idea that independence was better fighting for, and that Britain has too much power over us. He stated that Britain could drag Americans into war that they had no intention of being in, which was concluded that America is much better off on its own, and that this way of thinking was common sense. This document changed the minds of thousands of Americans to now want complete independence.
To avoid war in the years 1935 to 1938, Britain and France turned a blind eye to small acts of aggression and expansion, the United States went along with this policy. Even though Roosevelt knew of the threat the Fascist proposed he was still worried about the majority of the isolationist throughout the country. Testing the waters in 1937 he spoke about the democracies teaming up and trying to “quarantine” the problem. The public did not take to well on this idea, and he quickly dropped the subject. Even though that speech failed Roosevelt somehow managed to argue for neutrality but at the same time convince Congress to start building up the arms and increase the military and naval budget by nearly two-thirds in 1938.
Germany responded only with the destruction of the steamer Sussex in March. At this point, Wilson threatened to end all diplomatic relations with Germany, an act that would surely bring the United States into war against Germany. To prevent this–the German Emperor knew he could not defeat the combined strength of the Entente powers and the United States–Germany agreed to respect certain shipping lines. War had been averted, but only for a
The British did not want to have war, but after hearing about the ultimatum that was sent to Belgium, Britain sent an ultimatum to Germany asking them to respect that Belgium was neutral. Germany refused, and on August 4th Britain declared war on Germany. In late August, Japan joined in on the war on the side of the allies. Turkey soon joined the war on the side of the Central Powers. By the end of 1914 the central powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and
Model answers: The Peace Treaties of the First World War What did Lloyd George hope to achieve from the Treaty of Versailles? 4 marks Lloyd George hoped to achieve a lasting peace at the Paris peace conference. He also needed to make Germany pay for starting the war as the British public had voted him in as Prime Minister on the promise that he would do this. He personally did not want Germany to be crippled as he feared that this would lead to resentment and could lead to them starting another war in revenge. He also did not want them crippled because Germany had been Britain’s leading trading partner before the war and he wanted this trade resumed so that Britain’s economy could grow again.
In what has since been referred to as the “four freedoms” speech, Roosevelt describes the ongoing war in Europe and the United States’ inevitable role in it. He calls for an end to the isolationist foreign policy that had been in effect since the end of World War I a generation earlier. He explains that our freedom and our way of life are directly threatened by the spread of fascism, and though he does not intend to immediately send American soldiers into combat, that we must be prepared for anything. He states that our aid and support of European democracies (via the Lend Lease Act) are vitally important if we are to “maintain a free world.” Roosevelt states, as a message to the Axis powers, that “such aid is not an act of war”. However, he then clearly tells the nation that “if the dictators are ready to make war upon us, they will not wait for an act of war on our part.” Sensing the seemingly inevitable involvement in the war, he tells Americans that “we must all prepare to make the sacrifices that the emergency demands”, meaning that we must be militarily prepared for anything, and that the nation must be mentally prepared to make significant sacrifices.
As foreign minister, Trotsky saw the importance of establishing peace, and so took steps towards this in order to fulfil the Bolshevik promise (‘Bread, Peace, Land’). However, his stance on the matter oscillated during the process, as he did not agree to the German’s harsh terms. In the end, it was Lenin who finalised the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, and Trotsky resigned as foreign minister following this. Immediately being made commissar of war, he faced the formidable task of turning the military support for the Bolsheviks into a superior ‘Red Army’, which would protect the Bolshevik government against adversaries, both foreign and home-grown, in the inevitable civil war that was becoming more of a reality as time progressed. He was ruthless and used fear as his ally, or comrade.