Wisconsin public opinion of foreign policy, 1935–1940

82 Pages·05.627 MB·English

by  Holmes, Torlief S

This thesis, having been approved by the
special Faculty Committee, is accepted by
the Graduate School of the
University of Wyoming,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of MMieEL.of__Arls____
_______
Dean of the Graduate School.
Date—ARSR§^-12^.195o..
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
V7130 OHS IK PUBLIC DPI HI OK
OF FOREIan POLICY
1935 - 1940
by
T orlief S. Holmes
A Thesis
Submitted to the Committee
on In tern atio n al A ffairs and to the Graduate School
of the U niversity of Wyoming in P a rtia l
Fulfillm ent of Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
U niversity of Wyoming
Laramie, Wyoming
August, 1950
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. 1935 - NATIONAL ISOLATIONISM................................................... 1
II. 1936 - CONTINUED NATIONAL ISOLATIONISM................................19
III. 1937 - SYMPATHETIC NEUTRALITY.........................................................25
IV. 1938 - FROM NEUTRALITY'TO COLLECTIVE SECURITY . . . 37
V. 1939 - CASH AMD CARRY NEUTRALITY ................................47
VI. 1940 - NEUTRALITY BACKED BY PREPAREDNESS...........................61
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................ 73
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CHAPTER I
1935 - NATIONAL ISOLATIONISM
In 1935-36 the fir s t roots of the world crises, now
known to h istorian s as fo rla far II, were popping up above
the surface in a dozen widely separated places* Japan cele­
brated the end of 1934 denouncing the Washington Naval Treaty
of 1922, In Germany and R ussia, a series of m ystifying purges
were proceeding m errily. Prance and Ita ly signed an agreement
se ttlin g colon ial claim s in A frica, including control of th#
Ethiopian railroad, and the "incidents" along the Abyssinian
border m ultiplied. The people of the Saar Territory voted
overwhelmingly to be returned to the Reich and the Jews, lib er­
a ls and the French hurriedly moved out of the Basin, Troops
moved from Italy to North A frica but II Duce had nothing to
say regarding h is designs on H aile S ela ssie's Empire, A
noisy lit t le revolution began in Greece. Germany restored
universal m ilitary training and Great B ritain sent a u seless
note of p rotest. At the Stresa Conference, the em issaries
of B ritain, France and Italy agreed to oppose "any u n ilateral
repudiation of trea ties which might endanger the peace of
Europe"— and in le ss than six months Italy Invaded Ethiopia
and started a large scale war*1 Thus, the stage is set for
1
Francis S ill Wlckware, "What We Think About Foreign
A ffairs," Harpers Magazine, 179:398, September, 1939.
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our story. How aid the American public react to th is chain
of explosive events? In p articular, how did the people of
W isconsin react?
In the autumn of 1935, the American public had its fir s t
opportunity in history to give a direct expression of opinion
about many things v ita lly affectin g the individual and col­
lectiv e w elfare of a ll c itiz en s. The attitu d e of the citizen
on the subjects of social unrest, poverty, debt and unem-
ployment at home, and the menacing thunder of marching armies
abroad, could now be gauged by the American In stitu te of
Public Opinion which began regular publication of p o lls after
a long period of experim entation with technic. America's
place in a world of chaos was mulled over and argued about
wherever Americans exchanged ideas. No longer were happen­
ings on other continents d istant and remote. As troops mobi­
liz e d and d ictators conferred, radio sh rilled the news to
the m etropolis and hinterland. Swift clippers brought photo­
graphs from foreign cap itals and b a ttle field s in forty-eigh t
hours. Newspapers and magazines featured the sto ries. In
every part of the country, men and women talked about how to
keep the United States out of the war and about what the
United States should do if i t was plunged in to war. P racti­
ca lly every American handed down a "back-porch opinion” on
the chaos that confronted c iv iliz a tio n . It is th is voice
^ b ld ., p. 397
^Richard L. Neuberger, "What the Home Polks Say About
Events Abroad," Harpers Magazine, 179:407, September, 1939.
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5
th at I am try in g to recapture and evaluate. Was Wisconsin
the "home of isolationism " as so many people believed? Did
the opinions of* citizens of Wisconsin and the Mid-West d iffe r
greatly from those of the nation as a whole? A careful analy­
sis of the public opinion p o lls, the newspaper and magazine
ed ito ria ls, the addresses of public figures, e tc ., may give
the answer to th is.
E ditorials in several leading Mid-Western newspapers of
the period give us the Wisconsin attitu d e toward the dangers
of joining the League of Nations and the World Court and
thereby projecting ourselves into the European p ictu re .
American sentiment reco ils in horror from the thought
of war. The days of 1914-1918 come back in a l l th e ir b rutal
vividness. I t is the avowed desire of th is nation to main­
ta in n e u tra lity . The point to be kept in mind if war in­
volves a great part of Europe, is that it is not our fig h t,
and that our concern is to mind our own business.^
In spite of eleventh hour concessions from the adminis­
tra tio n and d irect pressure from the White House, the Senate
defeated the protocol for American adherence to the World
Court. I t is, we must believe, a court which we are the
b e tte r for staying out o f at least u n til Europe gives
some sign of a broader outlook on world a ffa irs than has as
yet been evidenced by the nation, or in the League. The
World Court and The League have proven themselves unable to
hold back aggressive nations, or to give ju stice and fa ir
play to the weak. What business have we with i t , therefore?
Shall we bind ourselves to support the strong against; the
weak, take on an obligation to enforce a treaty which we re ­
fused to sign when i t was drafted, even before the worst of
i t s consequences were plainly visible? I t is our hope and
prayer that when another European war comes, we may stay
clear. Repudiation of the World Court helps us to stay
4
E d itorial in the Eau Claire Leader, October 15, 1935.
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4
clear a lto g e th e r for the incident which may p recip itate
the fa ta l collison, may as well as anything else, be some
p o litic a l judgment of the World Court which we as signa­
to rie s, would have been bound to enforce.-5
I t is evident here th at th is Wisconsin editor does not
place any fa ith in the League or World Court as an instrument
to preserve peace. Rather, he sees i t as a means to entangle
the United States in the web of European in trig u es and dis­
putes. We can almost hear h is sigh of re lie f as he reports
the defeat of the measures which would assure our adherence
to these two bodies.
The World Court was not a p artisan proposal. I t has
been advocated by every president since the war, and is as
much republican as democratic in i t s support. I t is, in
fa c t, a measure outside of and above p artisan sh in , as every
measure dealing with foreign re la tio n s is and ought to be.
Senators ought not to be bound by party lin es on such issues,
and the best of them never are. What the vote indicates
is that the Senate has heard from the people back home, who
have seen in recent trends in Europe a fa ir warning that
more trouble is brewing on the Continent, and hope to stay
clear. We might as well look fa.cts in the face, ho m atter
what idealism lay behind the origination of the World Court,
that idealism w ill have no free play in a world so fraught
by hates and b ru ta lity as now ex ists. With no m atter what
reservations, American p artic ip atio n in the World Court now
would more or less commit us, morally, to taking sides in
the European disputes. In a fa ire r world, we should be
recreant to our ideals to sesert an honest effo rt to bring
about a world rule of law, but In a world in which law
its e lf is wrested to the advantage of the strong over the
weak, we had b etter stas?- clear, g it is a good thing that
the World Court has been beaten.
E d ito rial in the LaCrosse Tribune, January 30, 1935.
6
E d itorial in the LaCrosse Tribune, February 1, 1935.
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5
It seems therefore, if these e d ito ria ls re fle c t the
opinions of the W isconsin voter, the League and World Court
had few supporters there. The danger of involvement in
European p o litic s was a very real danger to him. The League
and the World Court would bring him face to face with th is
danger. Repudiation of both of these in stitu tio n s was, he
f e lt, one way of keeping out of European troubles. I t is of
in te re st to note that a L iterary Diffest p o ll of some sixty
■ - - - -k- — '--f .I,, , I - c
colleges found that some f if ty per cent of the voters favored
joining the League and World Court as a means of keeping
world peace. Included in th is group was the U niversity of
*7
Wisconsin. However, a G-allup P oll of the following year
found that the opinions held by the students of these colleges
did not coincide with those of the average citizen . Only
thirty-seven per cent had any fa ith in preserving peace by
«
th is means. Thus, the W isconsin opinion, if tru ly expressed
by the •preceding ed ito ria ls, would seem to go along with the
Gallup P oll in opposition to the League of Nations and the
World Court.
Another of the issues of the year 1935 whichp rovided
much ammunition for editors and p o liticia n s alike were the
closely a llie d plans for "universal conscription'* and
"government control of munitions". 'Conscript a ll resources
?
L iterary Digest Magazine, 119:6, February 2, 1935.
8
Wickware, op. c l t ., p. 404.
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