Foreign Policy

1921-1936: Diplomacy of Isolationism
Despite its lack of participation in the League of Nations, the United States was at the forefront of extensive efforts at disarmament during the 1920s and 1930s to restrict the growth of naval tonnage, considered to be an approximate measure of military strength. Also, The policy of expansionism in China pursued by the autonomous Kwangtung Army of Japan accelerated in the late 1920s and early 1930s and became a major concern of the U.S. government. This page is under development and other topics will be added.

The Kellogg-Briand Pact
This Treaty between the United States and other Powers provided for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy. Signed at Paris, August 27, 1928; it was ratified in the US in 1929.

Washington Conference of 1921
Also called WASHINGTON NAVAL CONFERENCE and the of INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NAVAL LIMITATION (1921-22), this international conference was called by the United States to limit the naval arms race and to work out security agreements in the Pacific area. Held in Washington, D.C., the conference resulted in the drafting and signing of several major and minor treaty agreements: the Four Power Pact and the Five Power Naval Limitation Treaty.

Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 was the subject of enormous controversy at the time of its passage and remains one of the most notorious pieces of legislation in the history of the United States. In the popular press and in political discussions the usual assumption is that the Smoot-Hawley Tariff was a policy disaster that significantly worsened the Great Depression.