Cartoon depicting uncertainties felt by Americans in the Interwar
Period
The United States, however, did not retreat into complete isolation as the
necessities of commercial growth dictated continued government support for
overseas private investment that drove both American engagement with Latin
America and the rebuilding of Europe in the 1920s. The United States also played
an important role in international negotiations to set arms limitations and
create pacts that aimed at securing a lasting peace. By the mid-1920s, however,
a general feeling of economic uncertainty reinforced isolationist tendencies and
encouraged new legislation that placed severe limits on immigration to the
United States, particularly from Asia. During the 1930s, the rise of fascism as
a threat to international peace sparked concern in the United States, but the
severe economic depression curtailed American willingness to act. In this
environment, keeping the nation out of the brewing tension in Europe and Asia
became an important foreign policy goal.
Interwar Diplomacy of 1921-1936
December 18, 2012
Disillusionment with the war, international commitments that could lead to war,
and economic uncertainty discouraged ambitious U.S. involvement in global
affairs during the interwar period.
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