Foreign Policy
The U.S. foreign policy stance of avoiding alliances and international political commitments before WWI
What is Isolationism?
Sensationalized, exaggerated newspaper reporting that helped push the U.S. into war with Spain.
What is Yellow Journalism?
The passenger liner sunk by a German U-boat in 1915, killing 128 Americans and turning public opinion against Germany
What was the Lusitania?
Woodrow Wilson's post-war blueprint for peace featuring "peace without victory" and self-determination.
What are the Fourteen Points?
The official peace treaty that formally ended WWI and placed harsh economic blame on Germany.
What is the Treaty of Versailles?
Theodore Roosevelt's foreign policy approach symbolized by the phrase "speak softly and carry a big stick"
What is Big Stick Diplomacy?
The U.S. battleship that mysteriously exploded in Havana harbor, triggering public outrage and the war
What was the USS Maine?
The intercepted telegram where Germany tried to convince Mexico to declare war on the U.S.
What is the Zimmerman Telegram?
Wilson's proposed international organization meant to maintain global peace, which the U.S. ultimately never joined
What is the League of Nations?
Financial payments forced upon Germany by the Treaty of Versailles that crippled its post-war economy.
What are Reparations?
An extension of the Monroe Doctrine claiming the U.S. had the right to act as an international police power in Latin America
What is the Roosevelt Corollary?
Pacific island territory annexed by the United States in 1898 during this era of overseas expansion
What is Hawaii (or Puerto Rico)?
Government acts passed during WWI that made it illegal to speak out against the war effort or draft.
What are the Espionage and Sedition Acts?
The principle championed by Wilson stating that national groups should govern themselves rather than being ruled by empires
What is Self-Determination?
The clause in the Treaty of Versailles that forced Germany to accept 100% responsibility for starting the war.
What is the War Guilt Clause?
U.S. policy aimed at keeping Chinese markets open to all nations equally rather than letting it be carved up into spheres of influence.
What is the Open Door Policy?
Caribbean island whose rebellion against Spanish rule was heavily sensationalized by American press
What is Cuba?
Government-produced visual and print media designed to rally public support and mobilize resources for the war.
What is WWI Propaganda?
The international meeting in 1919 where Allied leaders negotiated the terms to end WWI
What is the Paris Peace Conference?
The year the Treaty of Versailles was officially signed and implemented
What is 1919?
The canal zone acquired and completed by the U.S. to drastically cut down naval travel time between the Atlantic and Pacific.
What is the Panama Canal?
The treaty ending the Spanish-American War that gave the U.S. control of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines
What is the Treaty of Paris (1898)?
The devastating global conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 before the U.S. entered
What is World War I?
The domestic political group in the U.S. Senate that strongly opposed joining Wilson's international peacekeeping body
Who are the Reservationists / Isolationists?
The long-term consequence of the harsh treaty terms imposed on Germany, which directly helped pave the way for this subsequent global conflict.
What is World War II?