United States foreign policy change from 1920 to 1941

United States foreign policy change from 1920 to 1941

In those eventful days of the Roaring Twenties, people were living in a time of peace but the Great Depression took away the joys and excitement of life to replace it with tension. The period of 1920 to 1941 saw the emergence of major events in this short span of time. From the end of World War I in 1918 to the Roaring Twenties, and then to Great Depression in 1929, followed by the beginning of the World War II ten years later and then to the horrors of the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941, United States faced these difficult times with confusion. It was though the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who with his quick, immediate and appropriate responses stabilised America. Among his responses also included the changes to the American foreign policy from avoiding foreign issued to becoming involved in global affairs, or in other words, it shifted from isolationism to interventionism.

Since the times of George Washington, United States had followed non-interventionism or isolationism and had shown its reluctance to become involved in European alliances since they held different views from that of European societies. Germany's advancement towards American ships during the First World War provoked the US to leave aside the policies of isolationism and participate in the First World War. This marked the first shift away from non-intervention policies. But as soon as the war ended it reverted back to same policies that it held before the war (www.u-s-history.com). During that period, Americans were too arrogant about their isolationist views and were not interested even in becoming more aware of the foreign affairs let alone become a part of it. With the presidency of Harding and Coolidge, there was an ...