On August 27, 1928, several hundred spectators crowded into a magnificent room in the French Foreign Office in Paris to watch a historic ceremony. Six huge klieg lights illuminated the scene so that the newly invented “talking movie” cameras could record that moment for a world eager for peace.
“Peace is proclaimed”
French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg and representatives of thirteen other nations entered the room to sign a treaty outlawing war. Briand opened the ceremony with an eloquent speech in which he announced, “Peace is proclaimed.” As the representatives of former enemies listened, Briand solemnly dedicated the treaty to all of the soldiers who died in World War I.
After Briand’s speech, the German Foreign minister became the first official to sign the historic document. Next came Secretary of State Kellogg. Choked with emotion, Kellogg signed the treaty with a foot-long gold pen given to him by the citizens of the French seaport city of Le Harve. Within ten minutes, the remaining representatives added their signatures. Outside an enthusiastic crowd cheered.
Many people in the United States believed that the treaty truly marked a momentous event in world history. One senator called the Kellogg-Briand Pact “the most telling action ever taken in human history to abolish war.” Indeed, within a year, almost every nation in the world signed the agreement. Many hoped it would end the arms race and create an enduring safeguard for world peace.
Selective engagement
The Kellogg-Briand Pact illustrates the complex and often contradictory way the United States viewed its global role from 1919 to 1939. Although the Senate rejected Wilson’s idealistic hopes for the League of Nations, the Coolidge administration embraced the Kellogg-Briand Pact’s idealistic attempt at peacemaking. While deliberately staying out of European political entanglements, American financial loans played a key role in stimulating Germany’s post-war recovery.
The period of diplomatic selective engagement took a new turn following the onset of the Great Depression. The collapse of the United States economy led to a renewed disillusionment with Europe. Congress expressed America’s isolationist sentiment by passing a series of Neutrality Acts in 1935, 1937, and 1939. Designed to prevent American from being involved in rising international tensions, the Neutrality Acts prevented President Roosevelt from responded to the growing threat of Nazi Germany.
So why should you remember the Kellogg-Briand Pact. Although APUSH exams have yet to include a specific question about the Kellogg-Briand Pact, it offers a concrete example that can be used as part of either a DBQ or LEQ essay discussion on America’s role in the world from 1919 to 1939. Recent LEQ questions have specifically included this topic.