The Kellogg-Briand Pact
On December 7, 1917, the United States officially declared war on Austria-Hungary, formally marking their entry into the long and destructive First World War. Despite the United States’ delayed involvement in the war, over 320,000 American soldiers were still wounded or killed. Following the United States’ participation in World War I, a definitive shift in foreign policy drew the country to a renewed period of illusory security through isolationism. Less than 12 years later, on October 5, 1929, the stock market experienced a devastating crash that led to years of turmoil and unemployment. In addition to the isolationism that came out of the First World War, the succeeding economic depression of the 1930s encouraged Americans to focus even
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more so on domestic issues. Worsened global conditions and the country’s inability to survive without global interaction soon became apparent, resulting in President Roosevelt’s push towards internationalism and America’s eventual compliance.
When World War I finally came to a close, President Wilson of the U.S., Prime Minister Clemenceau of France, and Prime Minister Lloyd George of Britain convened in Versailles, France in January of 1919 to work out peace terms. One year previous to the conference, on January 8, 1918, President Wilson put forth a list of Fourteen Points that he intended to present at the conference which outlined his visions for a more peaceful world following the end of the war. The fourteenth of these points proposed that a “general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” This was one of the few demands presented by Wilson that the prime ministers of Britain and France agreed with. Along with the Treaty of Versailles, a Covenant of the League of Nations was established, outlining its exact role and how it would function. One of the most notable and controversial sections of the Covenant was its article X: The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.
Article X guarantees that any member country of the League will protect other member countries from “external aggression”. If any member nation were to be attacked, or have war declared against them, all other member nations would be immediately obligated to assist said attacked nation and wage war on the belligerent country(s). This worried many Americans, especially considering that the immense, global conflict of WWI had just drawn to a close. The United States’ involvement in the first world war was largely determined by a feeling of obligation to protect and defend their friends, allies, and selves; while they were able to protect said allies, and the war did in fact defeat Germany and gave a check to its power, it also brought massive debts and casualties to nations worldwide, including the U.S. The United States was not quite willing to commit themselves to what seemed like the prospect of eventual war, and a heated debate on the topic was certain to ensue.
Out of fear of securing themselves in further foreign entanglements, the Congress of the United States chose not to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in order to stay out of the commitment of the League of Nations; thus began their isolation from the rest of the world. The senate had a lengthy and in vehement debate on the topic, one which strongly displayed the growing isolationist sentiment within the United States. During the debate, Senator Frank B. Kellogg boldly declared, “I do not believe in internationalism. I believe in nationalism; and I am going to vote for every reservation which preserves the absolute freedom and independence of this Nation in effecting the greatest nationalism…” Kellogg believed that the League of Nations was directly undermining American nationalism, something that was of the utmost importance in a post-war period of time. His distrusted the idea of “internationalism”, believing that national pride and putting the needs of one’s own nation before the needs of another was far more vital to America’s thriving and surviving; and that isolation was perhaps the best way to focus solely on American needs. Some senators also argued that the League directly violated explicit advice from George Washington’s Farewell Address, which pleaded that the United States “...steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world…”. Senator William Borah addressed this question directly, claiming that the Covenant directly violated “...the great policy of 'no entangling alliances' upon which the strength of this Republic has been founded for one hundred and fifty years..." Many people, including Senator Borah, believed that the foundation of America was built on self-focus and improvement - or rather, on isolation. For a long time, the United States had also had a feeling of superiority over many of the rest of the world’s nations. When unpleasant things happened inside or outside of U.S. borders, Americans had been known to blame those missteps on any believable nation but themselves. Senator Hiram Johnson argued that “[Americans] would wish, if we could not stem the tide of greed and avarice, selfishness and sordidness, and stop the secret plotting and plunder, at least to be no part of it; to be ourselves again, with our ideals untarnished, to be just Americans.” In his opinion, the alleged struggle of the United States to stay away from the greed and maliciousness of the rest of the world was a timeless one, and would only be made more difficult by participation in the League. Instead he believed that it was in America’s best interest to remain isolated from it all, so that their supposedly pristine ideals could remain “untarnished,” protected from the grime and violence of the rest of the world. With the Senate unable to generate a practical compromise, isolationism triumphed greatly over the idea of global cooperation and alliance, setting the United States on a path of foreign policy that it would continue to follow until Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
Still reeling from World War I, Secretary of State Kellogg and Prime Minister Briand of France designed the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, hoping to eliminate war and seal the U.S. off from global conflict once and for all. Following the “futility and senseless slaughter of [World War I]”, the people of Europe and the United States were particularly inspired to pursue a movement of peace. The Kellogg-Briand pact took an alternative and uniquely isolationist approach to the issue of war; initially proposed as between France and the U.S. but soon open to and signed by almost all nations of the world, the pact attempted to outlaw war as a means by which to resolve conflict. Article I of the pact reads as follows:
Article I: The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of nation policy in their relations with one another.
At this point in the world’s history, war had always been a more or less acceptable and common method by which to address international disagreements.
While during this time period there had always been an existing presence of pacifists throughout the world, the Kellogg-Briand pact was one of the first attempts at global pacifism, in which war was “renounced...as an instrument of national policy…”. Although war was arguably never part of any nation’s legitimate “national policy”, it was frightening to America that the potential of war was always on the table. Negative feelings following the end of war did not simply go away when peace treaties were signed. Out of the devastations of the Great War came a renewed desire for a period of isolation and peace. Regardless of how unrealistic it may have been, people were so traumatically scarred from the horrors for the First World War that they did not want war to even be considered an option. “Leave me alone” was America’s brand new policy. Considering the impracticable nature of the of the Kellogg-Briand pact’s goal of global pacificity, it came as no surprise to many that as it was passed many would ultimately deem the agreement, “largely meaningless”. Accepted and signed by representatives of nearly all of the world’s nations, the pact was only backed by “the good faith of the signers”. However, in spite of the little actual effect that it had on diplomatic regulation, the pact was yet another symbol of the United States’ growing preference towards isolationism. Whether or not the other participating nations would choose to honor the pact was uncertain, but avoidance of war was on the top of the new isolationist U.S. list of priorities - a list that would continue to be developed as the Great Depression followed in the years to
come.
more so on domestic issues. Worsened global conditions and the country’s inability to survive without global interaction soon became apparent, resulting in President Roosevelt’s push towards internationalism and America’s eventual compliance.
When World War I finally came to a close, President Wilson of the U.S., Prime Minister Clemenceau of France, and Prime Minister Lloyd George of Britain convened in Versailles, France in January of 1919 to work out peace terms. One year previous to the conference, on January 8, 1918, President Wilson put forth a list of Fourteen Points that he intended to present at the conference which outlined his visions for a more peaceful world following the end of the war. The fourteenth of these points proposed that a “general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” This was one of the few demands presented by Wilson that the prime ministers of Britain and France agreed with. Along with the Treaty of Versailles, a Covenant of the League of Nations was established, outlining its exact role and how it would function. One of the most notable and controversial sections of the Covenant was its article X: The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.
Article X guarantees that any member country of the League will protect other member countries from “external aggression”. If any member nation were to be attacked, or have war declared against them, all other member nations would be immediately obligated to assist said attacked nation and wage war on the belligerent country(s). This worried many Americans, especially considering that the immense, global conflict of WWI had just drawn to a close. The United States’ involvement in the first world war was largely determined by a feeling of obligation to protect and defend their friends, allies, and selves; while they were able to protect said allies, and the war did in fact defeat Germany and gave a check to its power, it also brought massive debts and casualties to nations worldwide, including the U.S. The United States was not quite willing to commit themselves to what seemed like the prospect of eventual war, and a heated debate on the topic was certain to ensue.
Out of fear of securing themselves in further foreign entanglements, the Congress of the United States chose not to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in order to stay out of the commitment of the League of Nations; thus began their isolation from the rest of the world. The senate had a lengthy and in vehement debate on the topic, one which strongly displayed the growing isolationist sentiment within the United States. During the debate, Senator Frank B. Kellogg boldly declared, “I do not believe in internationalism. I believe in nationalism; and I am going to vote for every reservation which preserves the absolute freedom and independence of this Nation in effecting the greatest nationalism…” Kellogg believed that the League of Nations was directly undermining American nationalism, something that was of the utmost importance in a post-war period of time. His distrusted the idea of “internationalism”, believing that national pride and putting the needs of one’s own nation before the needs of another was far more vital to America’s thriving and surviving; and that isolation was perhaps the best way to focus solely on American needs. Some senators also argued that the League directly violated explicit advice from George Washington’s Farewell Address, which pleaded that the United States “...steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world…”. Senator William Borah addressed this question directly, claiming that the Covenant directly violated “...the great policy of 'no entangling alliances' upon which the strength of this Republic has been founded for one hundred and fifty years..." Many people, including Senator Borah, believed that the foundation of America was built on self-focus and improvement - or rather, on isolation. For a long time, the United States had also had a feeling of superiority over many of the rest of the world’s nations. When unpleasant things happened inside or outside of U.S. borders, Americans had been known to blame those missteps on any believable nation but themselves. Senator Hiram Johnson argued that “[Americans] would wish, if we could not stem the tide of greed and avarice, selfishness and sordidness, and stop the secret plotting and plunder, at least to be no part of it; to be ourselves again, with our ideals untarnished, to be just Americans.” In his opinion, the alleged struggle of the United States to stay away from the greed and maliciousness of the rest of the world was a timeless one, and would only be made more difficult by participation in the League. Instead he believed that it was in America’s best interest to remain isolated from it all, so that their supposedly pristine ideals could remain “untarnished,” protected from the grime and violence of the rest of the world. With the Senate unable to generate a practical compromise, isolationism triumphed greatly over the idea of global cooperation and alliance, setting the United States on a path of foreign policy that it would continue to follow until Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
Still reeling from World War I, Secretary of State Kellogg and Prime Minister Briand of France designed the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, hoping to eliminate war and seal the U.S. off from global conflict once and for all. Following the “futility and senseless slaughter of [World War I]”, the people of Europe and the United States were particularly inspired to pursue a movement of peace. The Kellogg-Briand pact took an alternative and uniquely isolationist approach to the issue of war; initially proposed as between France and the U.S. but soon open to and signed by almost all nations of the world, the pact attempted to outlaw war as a means by which to resolve conflict. Article I of the pact reads as follows:
Article I: The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare in the names of their respective peoples that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of nation policy in their relations with one another.
At this point in the world’s history, war had always been a more or less acceptable and common method by which to address international disagreements.
While during this time period there had always been an existing presence of pacifists throughout the world, the Kellogg-Briand pact was one of the first attempts at global pacifism, in which war was “renounced...as an instrument of national policy…”. Although war was arguably never part of any nation’s legitimate “national policy”, it was frightening to America that the potential of war was always on the table. Negative feelings following the end of war did not simply go away when peace treaties were signed. Out of the devastations of the Great War came a renewed desire for a period of isolation and peace. Regardless of how unrealistic it may have been, people were so traumatically scarred from the horrors for the First World War that they did not want war to even be considered an option. “Leave me alone” was America’s brand new policy. Considering the impracticable nature of the of the Kellogg-Briand pact’s goal of global pacificity, it came as no surprise to many that as it was passed many would ultimately deem the agreement, “largely meaningless”. Accepted and signed by representatives of nearly all of the world’s nations, the pact was only backed by “the good faith of the signers”. However, in spite of the little actual effect that it had on diplomatic regulation, the pact was yet another symbol of the United States’ growing preference towards isolationism. Whether or not the other participating nations would choose to honor the pact was uncertain, but avoidance of war was on the top of the new isolationist U.S. list of priorities - a list that would continue to be developed as the Great Depression followed in the years to
come.