STUDY GUIDE NOTES
1. US imperialism was directly connected to the Industrial Revolution in so far as imperialism was driven, in part, by a desire to search out new markets for US goods. The greater levels of production during the Industrial Revolution required more/larger market for consumption.
2. US neutrality was a function of a longer-standing foreign policy of isolationism. The US was incredibly leery of being drawn into European conflict and alliances.
3. US senate opposition to the Treaty of Versailles was related to this fear of entangling European Alliances. The fear was that the League of Nations would dictate US foreign policy and enmesh the US in European affairs.
4. Yellow journalism was instrumental in leading the US into the Spanish American War.
5. The building of the Panama canal was orchestrated by a rather underhanded support of a Panamanian Independence struggle. US backed Panamanian independence from Colombia so that it could have access to the land for the canal.
6. One complicated outcome of the Treaty of Paris involved the purchase of the Philippines for $20 million and the question of Filipino Independence. The US became bogged down in a costly war in the Philippines to prevent its independence and secure US control of this key imperial outpost in the Pacific.
7. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the catalyst for WWI but not an underlying cause. The underlying causes of WWI were the larger historical trends of imperialism, nationalism and militarism.
8. The German military strategy called the Schlieffen Plan required a lightening fast strike through Belgium to Paris in hopes of establishing control of the Western Front early. When Germany invaded Belgium, violating its neutrality, Great Britain declared war on Germany and Austria Hungary.
9. Freedom of the Seas was a key principle in Wilson's Fourteen Points and a reason for US engagement in WWI.