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THE MAKING OF A NATION - January 3, 2002: 1920s/Foreign Policy
By David Jarmul
VOICE 1:
THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English on the Voice of America.
(Theme)
The nineteen-twenties are remembered today as a quiet period in American foreign policy. The nation was at
peace. The Republican presidents in the White House generally were more interested in economic growth at
home than in relations with foreign countries.
But the world had changed. The United States had become a world power. It was tied to other countries by trade,
politics, and joint interests. And America had gained new economic strength.
VOICE 2:
Before World War One, foreigners invested more money in the United States than Americans invested in other
countries -- about three-thousand-million dollars more. The war changed this. By nineteen-nineteen, Americans
had almost three-thousand-million dollars more invested in other countries than foreign citizens had invested in
the United States.
American foreign investments continued to increase greatly during the nineteen-twenties.
Increased foreign investment was not the only sign of growing American economic power. By the end of World
War One, the United States produced more goods and services than any other nation, both in total and per person.
Americans had more steel, food, cloth, and coal than even the richest foreign nations. By nineteen-twenty, the
United States national income was greater than the combined incomes of Britain, France, Germany, Japan,
Canada, and seventeen smaller countries. Quite simply, the United States had become the world's greatest
economic power.
VOICE 1:
America's economic strength influenced its policies toward Europe during the nineteen-twenties. In fact, one of
the most important issues of this period was the economic aid the United States had provided European nations
during World War One.
Americans lent the Allied countries seven-thousand-million dollars during the war. Shortly after the war, they
lent another three-thousand-million dollars. The Allies borrowed most of the money for military equipment and
food and other needs of their people.
The Allied nations suffered far greater losses of property and population than the United States during the war.
And when peace came, they called on the United States to cancel the loans America had made. France, Britain,
and the other Allied nations said the United States should not expect them to re-pay the loans.
VOICE TWO:
The United States refused to cancel the debts. President Coolidge spoke for most Americans when he said,
simply: "They borrowed the money." He believed the European powers should pay back the war loans, even
though their economies had suffered terribly during the fighting.
However, the European nations had little money to pay their loans. France tried to get the
money by demanding payments from Germany for having started the war. When Germany was
unable to pay, France and Belgium occupied Germany's Ruhr Valley. As a result, German
miners in the area reduced coal production. And France and Germany moved toward an
economic crisis and possible new armed conflict.
VOICE 1:
An international group intervened and negotiated a settlement to the crisis. The group provided
a system to save Germany's currency and protect international debts. American bankers agreed
Calvin Coolidge to lend money to Germany to pay its war debts to the Allies. And the Allies used the money to
pay their debts to the United States.
VOICE 2:
Some Americans with international interests criticized President Coolidge and other conservative leaders for not
reducing or canceling Europe's debts.
They said the debts and the new payment plan put foolish pressure on the weak European economies. They said
this made the German currency especially weak. And they warned that a weak economy would lead to serious
social problems in Germany and other countries.
However, most Americans did not understand the serious effect that international economic policies could have
on the future of world peace. They believed that it was wrong for the Europeans -- or anyone -- to borrow money
and then refuse to pay it back.
VOICE 1:
Many Americans of the nineteen-twenties also failed to recognize that a strong national military force would
become increasingly important in the coming years. President Coolidge requested very limited military spending
from the Congress. And many conservative military leaders refused to spend much money on such new kinds of
equipment as submarines and airplanes.
Some Americans did understand that the United States was now a world power and needed a strong and modern
fighting force.
One general, Billy Mitchell, publicly criticized the military leadership for not building new weapons. But most
Americans were not interested. Many Americans continued to oppose arms spending until the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in nineteen-forty-one.
VOICE 2:
American policy toward the League of Nations did not change much in the nineteen-twenties.
In nineteen -nineteen, the Senate denied President Wilson's plea for the United States to join the new League of
Nations. The United States, however, became involved unofficially in a number of league activities. But it
continued to refuse to become a full member. And in nineteen -thirty, the Senate rejected a proposal for the United
States to join the World Court.
The United States also continued in the nineteen-twenties to refuse to recognize the communist government in
Moscow. However, trade between the Soviet Union and the United States increased greatly during this period.
And such large American companies as General Electric, DuPont, and R-C-A provided technical assistance to the
new Soviet government.
VOICE 1:
The Coolidge administration was involved actively in events in Latin America. Secretary of State Charles Evans
Hughes helped several Latin American countries to settle border disputes peacefully.
In Central America, President Coolidge ordered American Marines into Nicaragua when President Adolfo Diaz
faced a revolt from opposition groups. The United States gave its support to more conservative groups in
Nicaragua. And it helped arrange a national election in nineteen-twenty-eight. American troops stayed in
Nicaragua until nineteen-thirty-three.
However, American troops withdrew from the Dominican Republic during this period. And Secretary of State
Hughes worked to give new life to the Pan American union.
VOICE 2:
Relations with Mexico became worse during the nineteen-twenties. In nineteen-twenty-five, Mexican President
Plutarco Elias Calles called for laws to give Mexico more control over its minerals and natural wealth. American
oil companies resisted the proposed changes. They accused Calles of communism. And some American business
and church leaders called for armed American intervention.
However, the American Senate voted to try to settle the conflict peacefully. And American diplomat Dwight
Morrow helped negotiate a successful new agreement.
VOICE 1:
These American actions in Nicaragua and Mexico showed that the United States still felt that it had special
security interests south of its border. But its peaceful settlement of the Mexican crisis and support of elections in
Nicaragua showed that it was willing to deal with disputes peacefully.
America's policies in Latin America during the nineteen-twenties were in some ways similar to its policies
elsewhere. It was a time of change, of movement, from one period to another. Many Americans were hoping to
follow the traditional foreign policies of the past. They sought to remain separate from world conflict.
VOICE 2:
The United States, however, could no longer remain apart from world events. This would become clear in the
coming years. Europe would face facism and war. The Soviet Union would grow more powerful. And Latin
America would become more independent. The United States was a world power. But it was still learning in the
nineteen-twenties about the leadership and responsibility that is part of such power.
(Theme)
VOICE 1:
You have been listening to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English. Your narrators have
been Harry Monroe and Kay Gallant. Our program was written by David Jarmul.
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