Triumph and Downfall: America's Pursuit of Peace and Prosperity, 1921-1933

(Hardback)

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This study shows how, contrary to traditional thought, the U.S. government assumed a leadership position in world affairs and introduced innovative policies to ensure the maintenance of international peace between 1921 and 1933. During the Interwar Period, the Republican Party dominated American foreign policy under three successive presidents: Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover. The development of coherent strategies to preserve world peace and security engaged the energies of their three secretaries of state: Charles Evans Hughes, Frank Billings Kellogg, and Henry Lewis Stimson. Optimism for a lasting peace would initially prevail with the negotiation of new international agreements but the dream would fade after 1931 as Japanese and German extremists embraced the use of force to achieve power. The three Republican administrations recognized that it was in America's national interest, as the leading world power and major creditor nation, to help resolve the economic and political problems of other nations. Louria describes U.S. sponsorship of disarmament conferences, economic intervention in Germany under the Dawes Plan, and establishment of a framework for conducting relations in the Far East, particularly in China. Filling a crucial gap in the post-World War I literature, this study introduces substantial evidence of America's pursuit of world peace and examines the original thinking related to the prevention of future wars that existed. It also details why these Republican innovations failed to halt the world's drift into another disastrous war.

Reviews

All in all, this book takes its place with important earlier studies of the same era....Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above.-Choice
The book by Margot Louria is an excellent demolition of the old myth that the United States pursued an isolationist foreign policy during the 1920's. She demonstrates conclusively that the United States played a very active role in the world, and support this position with detailed examinations...-The International History Review
The book offers a strong succinct account of the issues confronting the Washington Conference of 1921-22.... In analyzing Stimson's diplomacy, Louria effectively discusses the Soviet-Chinese border tensions of 1929, the 1930 London naval conference, and the 1931 London economic parley.... Louria has made a contribution, helping to demolish many myths concerning supposed American inertness in the twenties.-Peace and Change: A Journal of Peace Research
"All in all, this book takes its place with important earlier studies of the same era....Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and above."-Choice
"The book by Margot Louria is an excellent demolition of the old myth that the United States pursued an isolationist foreign policy during the 1920's. She demonstrates conclusively that the United States played a very active role in the world, and support this position with detailed examinations..."-The International History Review
"The book offers a strong succinct account of the issues confronting the Washington Conference of 1921-22.... In analyzing Stimson's diplomacy, Louria effectively discusses the Soviet-Chinese border tensions of 1929, the 1930 London naval conference, and the 1931 London economic parley.... Louria has made a contribution, helping to demolish many myths concerning supposed American inertness in the twenties."-Peace and Change: A Journal of Peace Research

Author Bio

MARGOT LOURIA is an independent researcher with extensive experience in political science, government, and history./e She has taught at George Washington University, worked for nonprofit research organizations and held positions in the federal government. For the last ten years she has conducted research on American diplomacy in the inter-world period in the United States and abroad.