US foreign policy 1890-1945

• Shift from isolationism to imperialism - Cuba and Puerto Rico played a crucial role


  Late 1800's
• Spanish American war


  • Big financial investment given to Cuba
  • Created gateway to China
  • Philippine rebellion against Spanish rule against the war prompted US navy involvement
• Open Door Notes


  Proposed that imperialist nations share their trading rights in China with the US preventing a monopoly on trade
• Neutrality acts of the 1930s

  • Aimed to keep the country out of foreign conflicts, treating all parties involved equally as 'belligerents'
  • 1935 Act: imposed a general embargo on trading in arms and war materials with all parties in war
  • 1939: On a cash and carry basis after Britain and France declared war on Germany, this act ends arms embargo
  • September and November 1941: Roosevelt responds to German attacks by authorising navy to engage, leading to the repeal of the Neutrality Acts
• Wilson's policy


  • Aimed to shift US foreign policy away from imperialism, emphasising self determination and protecting democracy globally
  • Maintained neutrality, but did intervene military in Latin American nations; including Cuba, Panama, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic
• US and World War One

  • They adhered to political and economic isolationism
  • Wilson and congress opposed joining, trying to avoid US entanglements with Europe
  • Consent was given for war against Germany on April 6th 1917, due to Zimmerman Telegram and sinking of US merchant ships
• League of Nations


  • Roosevelt proposed a league of peace
  • Germany requested an armistice on October 6th following Wilson's fourteen points
  • In 1920, following the election of Harding and the return to normality policy, the US withdrew from active participation in the league
  • There was opposition due to it being closely tied to the Treaty of Versailles
  • It also stemmed from concerns about being under European power
• Why did America enter World War Two?


  • Japans rapid industrialisation led to tensions rising with the US
  • Pearl Harbour attacked by imperialist Japanese navy on December 7th 1941
  • US declares war on Japan on December 8th 1941, followed by Germany's declaration on the US three days later
  • WW2 cost the US an estimated $341 billion dollars by 1945
  • Women and Black Americans saw more freedom during the war with job opportunities
• US involvement in war with the Pacific

  • Battle of the Midway 1942: The USA won, it halted Japanese naval advance and tipping pacific sea power balance in favour of the US. It prevented Japanese capture of the island
  • VJ and the war with Japan: In summer 1945, US forces reclaim Japanese territories, but faced with prospect of costly invasion of Japan
  • Japan surrendered a week after President Truman ordered atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki