Germany's unfettered submarine warfare
against American ships during World War I provoked the U.S. into
abandoning the neutrality it had upheld for so many years. The
country's resultant participation in World War I against the Central
Powers marked its first major departure from isolationist policy. When
the war ended, however, the United States was quick to leave behind its
European commitment. Regardless of President Woodrow Wilson's efforts, the Senate repudiated the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war, and the United States failed to become a member of the League of Nations.
Indeed, isolationism would persist for a few more decades. During the
1920s, American foreign affairs took a back seat. In addition, America
tended to insulate itself in terms of trade. Tariffs were imposed on foreign goods to shield U.S. manufacturers.
America
turned its back on Europe by restricting the number of immigrants
permitted into the country. Until World War I, millions of people,
mostly from Europe, had come to America to seek their fortune and
perhaps flee poverty and persecution. Britons and Irishmen, Germans and
Jews constituted the biggest groups. In 1921 the relatively liberal
policy ended and quotas were introduced. By 1929 only 150,000
immigrants per year were allowed in.
During
the 1920s and 1930s, the preponderance of Americans remained opposed to
enmeshment in Europe's alliances and wars. Isolationism was solid in
hinterland and small-town America in the Midwest and Great Plains
states, and among Republicans. It claimed numerous sympathizers among
Irish- and German-Americans. William Jennings Bryan of Nebraska, Robert M. La Follette
of Wisconsin, and George W. Norris of Nebraska were among western
agrarian progressives who argued fervently against involvement.
Assuming an us-versus-them stance, they castigated various eastern,
urban elites for their engagement in European affairs.
