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”