What Impact Did the Disarmament Conferences, Congressional Hearings and Peace Movements of the 1920s and 1930s Have on the U.S. Military, Essay Example

The work of David Cortright entitled “Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas” states that the international disarmament movement that took place during the 1920s and 1930s involved evidence being revealed that confirmed “documented price fixing, the bribing of public officials, collusion between U.S. and British firms, and excess profits from the sale of arms to both sides in the war.” (2008) While the hearings did not provide absolute proof that a conspiracy has taken place to “foment war” and that conveyed was the “impression of private munitions industry that dragged the nation into war for the sake of private profit.” (Cortright, 2008) Further revealed according to Cortright were “violations of US Neutrality law” which resulted in congress taking efforts to enact “the 1935 Neutrality Act” as well as a tightening on the restrictions of arm sales to “belligerent nations”. (Cortright, 2008) The hearings additionally resulted in the “rise of pacifist movements, which pressed ever more strongly for disarmament and neutrality.” (Cortright, 2008) Albert Einstein wrote of pacifism that his pacifism is “an instinctive feeling, a feeling that possesses me because the murder of men is abhorrent.” (Peace Pledge Union, n.d.) The work entitled “Literature, Politics and Social Change” reports that it is well-documented “that politically, the United States in the 1920s was moving away from foreign involvement toward almost total military isolation in the global sphere. One need only look at the treaties, the speeches given by senators and presidents, the arms-reduction process, and the Neutrality Acts to see where the nation was heading” (Etu.edu, n.d.) It is additionally reported that the Disarmament Conference, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1927 and the Neutrality acts of the mid 1930s could be held to be “official victories for the movement during this time as they all were aimed at the avoidance of military aggression or intervention.” (Etu.edu, n.d)

References

Albert Einstein (n.d.) Peace Pledge Union. London. Retrieved from: http://www.ppu.org.uk/people/einstein.html

Cortright, David (2008) Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=JCgvvXUzu-oC&dq=What+Impact+Did+the+Disarmament+Conferences,+Congressional+Hearings+and+Peace+Movements+of+the+1920s+and+1930s+have+on+the+U.S.+Military%3F&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Literature, Politics and Social Change (n.d.) Introduction. Retrieved from: http://etd.lib.fsu.edu/theses/available/etd-06072005-165446/unrestricted/05_cen_intro.pdf