America and the World 1900s
Dawes Plan (1924) - An arrangement negotiated to reschedule German reparations payments. It stabilized the German currency and opened the way for further American private loans to Germany. It provided short term economic benefits to the German economy. It softened the burdens of war reparations, stabilized the currency, and brought increased foreign investments and loans to the German market. However, it made the German economy dependent on foreign markets and economies.
Jones Act (1916) - Law according territorial status to Philippines and promising independence as soon as a "stable government" could be established. The United States did not grant the Philippines independence until 4, 1946. The Jones Act assures the U.S. mainland and its offshore communities continue to have reliable domestic water transportation service subject to national control in times of emergency. Jones Act vessel construction and repair in U.S. shipyards assures the availability of the skilled professionals and the modern facilities needed in times of war or national emergency, freight revenues earned by domestic carriers, shipyards, and repair yards are subject to taxes. Because of these requirements for the U.S.-manned vessels, the American merchant mariner is kept employed and trained, while at the same time maintaining readiness to man essential vessels in times of war or national emergency.
Peace Corps (1962)- A federal agency made to promote voluntary service by American in foreign countries. The Peace Corps provides labor power to help developing countries improve their infrastructure, health care, educational systems, and other aspects of their societies. Part of Kennedy’s New Frontier vision, the organization represented an effort by postwar liberals to promote American values and influence through productive exchanges across the world.
WW II Involvement (1942)- During the first 2 years of the global conflict, the United States had maintained formal neutrality, while supplying Britain, the Soviet Union and China with war material, until the day of Pearl Harbor. American propaganda was used to increase support for the war and commitment to an Allied victory. Using a vast array of media, propagandists fomented hatred for the enemy and support for America's allies, urged greater public effort for war production and victory gardens, persuaded people to save some of their material so that more material could be used for the war effort, and sold war bonds. It also allowed the Allies to beat the Axis in a war of industrial might do to our sheer capacity to produce war goods and other supplies that were needed.
U.S occupies Nicaragua (1926) - The United States occupation of Nicaragua was part of the larger conflict known as the Banana Wars. . United States military interventions in Nicaragua were intended to prevent the construction of the Nicaraguan Canal by any nation but the United States. Wilson's commitment to democracy and anti-colonialism, also kept marines in Nicaragua and ordered US troops into Haiti and the Dominican Republican.
American Isolationism- (1914-1917) and (1919- 1942)- the diplomatic policy whereby a nation seeks to avoid alliances with other nations in order to avoid being drawn into wars not related to direct territorial self-defense, has had a long history of popularity in the government and among the people of the United States at various periods in time. After the last period and WWII a system of interventionism on the part of the United States over the course of its foreign policy was a desire to aggressively protect the United States' interests than a desire to shun the rest of the world.
Wilsons 14 points- (1918) - a statement given in the 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson declaring that World War I was being fought for a moral cause. Europeans generally welcomed Wilson's intervention, but his main Allied colleagues were skeptical of the applicability of Wilsonian idealism. The speech made by Wilson on January 8, 1918 laid out a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. The Fourteen Points speech was the only explicit statement of war aims by any of the nations fighting in World War I. Some belligerents gave general indications of their aims, but most kept their post-war goals private.
NATO- an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. NATO's headquarters is in Brussels, Belgium. NATO was little more than a political association until the Korean War galvanized the organization's member states, and an integrated military structure was built up under the direction of two U.S. supreme commanders. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact.
SALT Treaties I and II- (1969 and 1979-1986) - two rounds of talks and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union the Cold War superpowers on the issue of armament control. The two rounds of talks and agreements were SALT I and SALT II. Negotiations commenced in Helsinki, Finland, in November 1969. SALT I led to the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and an interim agreement between the two countries. Although SALT II resulted in an agreement in 1979, the United States chose not to ratify the treaty in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which took place later that year. The United States eventually withdrew from SALT II in 1986. These talks were in essence a way to relieve the pressure of the Cold War and the foreboding idea of a nuclear holocaust.
Good Neighbor Policy- 1938- the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. The policy's main principle was the non-intervention and non-interference in the domestic affairs of Latin America. It also reinforced the idea that the United of States would be a “good neighbor” and engage in reciprocal exchanges with Latin American countries. Overall, the Roosevelt administration expected that this new policy would create new economic opportunities in the form of reciprocal trade agreements and reassert the influence of the United States in Latin America; however, many Latin American governments were not convinced.