NEUTRALITY ACTS OF THE 1930s

Neutrality Acts of the 1930s

Neutrality Acts of the 1930s

Introduction

The importance of Neutrality Acts signed in the USA had a lot of value during the 1930s. There were four neutrality acts in the 1930s which were passed in order to keep United States of America out of World War II. The passing of the Neutrality Acts made a clear reflection of the isolationist mood of the country and the general conclusions of the Nye Committee was that the self-interest of bankers and arms merchants made United States to enter the World War I. The legislation related to the neutrality aspect became a constant basis of political tension between Congress and President Franklin Roosevelt, who opposed many of its features and, on occasion, actively worked to circumvent them. There were many critics who argued that the neutrality legislation will not assist in accomplishing the goal of keeping USA from the Second World War. It was backward-looking that fixated the forces and situations that led to the involvement of USA in the Second World War. This is the reason why the implementation of the Neutrality Acts became a major challenge for the US Government at that time. Therefore, all the issues and aspects related to the Neutrality Acts will be discussed in detail.

Description of the Neutrality Acts of the 1930s

The Congressional debate on the Neutrality Act began in 1935 against the backdrop of the Chaco War between Bolivia and Paraguay and the widely anticipated Italian offensive against Ethiopia. Roosevelt endorsed the concept of an arms embargo but favored legislation that would grant him the freedom to prohibit weapons sales only to the aggressor. Congress refused and passed the first Neutrality Act, which barred weapons sales to all participants. Opponents of Roosevelt's plan asserted that the act of selling weapons to the "victim" of aggression would involve the United States in the conflict and would be a violation of the principle of neutrality. The act also warned Americans that they traveled on belligerent vessels at their own risk. This warning was a reprise of the lengthy debate that occurred on the eve of World War I when the Wilson administration debated how to respond to German submarine warfare against British vessels carrying American passengers. The death of Americans in these attacks became one of the justifications given by Woodrow Wilson for declaring war on Germany. Roosevelt publicly objected to the act's "inflexible provisions" and warned that the Neutrality Act might drag the United States into war. Nonetheless, he signed it into law on August 31, 1935. In October 1935 Italy invaded Ethiopia. Roosevelt acted quickly to invoke the Neutrality Act and stop arms shipments to either side. Consistent with its isolationist impulse, the United States refused to join with the League of Nations in imposing an embargo on Italy for being the aggressor. Instead, Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull called for Americans to undertake a "moral embargo" against Italy and suspend trade in oil, steel, and other vital ...