Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumWorld War I: Diplomacy, Military, and Postwar Peace

"First: Money is the worst of all contrabands because it commands everything else...
Second: The powerful financial interests which would be connected with these loans would be tempted to use their influence to make the country take sides...
Third: An American citizen who goes abroad and associates himself with a belligerent army cannot expect active protection from his government..."
— Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, letter to President Woodrow Wilson, August 10, 1914

Which of the following developments during the period of United States neutrality from 1914 to 1917 most directly undermined the policy advice presented in the excerpt?

  1. The heavy lending of capital and sale of war materials to Allied nations by American banks and businessesAnswer
  2. B
    The total cessation of all trade and diplomatic relations with European powers to establish absolute isolationism
  3. C
    The immediate declaration of war against Germany in response to the sinking of the USS Maine
  4. D
    The signing of a mutual defense alliance with Great Britain under the terms of the Monroe Doctrine

Answer

The heavy lending of capital and sale of war materials to Allied nations by American banks and businesses
The correct answer is correct because while Secretary of State Bryan warned that loans and trade would undermine neutrality and draw the nation into war, the United States ultimately allowed massive credit lines and trade with the Allied powers. This economic entanglement made the US highly invested in an Allied victory, directly undermining the strict neutrality Bryan advocated.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus document to identify the speaker's main argument.
Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan warns that offering loans to belligerents and allowing citizens to put themselves in harm's way will undermine United States neutrality and pull the nation into the conflict.
Establishing the historical context and the argument of the document is the first step in answering a stimulus-based question.
2
Evaluate the historical developments between 1914 and 1917 to see which one conflicted with or undermined Bryan's warnings.
Although initially banning loans, the Wilson administration eventually permitted American banks to extend billions of dollars in credit to the Allies, and American businesses sold massive quantities of war materials to them.
This allows us to identify the specific economic ties that directly challenged Bryan's vision of strict neutrality.
3
Connect this development to the options to select the correct historical trend.
The option describing the heavy lending of capital and sale of war materials to Allied nations by American banks and businesses represents the correct historical contradiction.
This directly matches the historical evidence of how US neutrality was undermined economically.

Key Concept

The debates over United States neutrality and the economic ties that influenced WWI entry
Estimated Time:1m 15s
Rate this question

Topics

World War I: Diplomacy, Military, and Postwar Peace

More questions from this topic