Dr. Libby                                              

A346

American Diplomatic

History: 1890-1945.

 

 

Office................CA-527

Office Phone..........274-3981

 

History Office........CA-504M

History Department....274-3811

e-mail: jhlibby@iupui.edu

 

 

The study of One's nation's

history makes one a better

and moral loyal citizen.

(Voltaire)

 

The trouble of the world is

not that people so little,

but that they know so many

things that ain't so.

(Mark Twain)

 

History is the witness of truth.

The Life of Memory.

The Teacher of LIfe.

The Messenger of Antiquity.

(Cicero)

 

Wisdom is the Principal Thing

Therefore Get Wisdom

(Plato)

 

But perhaps the study of history

has been hindered by the following

truth:

This course is designed to introduce the student to the broad spectrum of American diplomatic history from the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt to the formal signing of the peace treaty between the United States and Japan on April 28, 1952. 

 

The course provides the student with perhaps his or her first introduction to historical research, writing a sizeable paper, footnoting and concluding his or her study with a Bibliographical Essay.  The essence of these technical aspects of the paper will be explained more fully in class.

 

Textbook:

 

Walter LaFeber,   The American Age: U.S. Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad Since 1750.

 

 

Examinations:

 

There will be a MID-TERM and a FINAL EXAMINATION.  All of my examinations are essay in form...I do not ask fill-in-the-blank questions...choose the right answer...etc., you will need to write and to write well.  You will have plenty of notice before the examinations are given.

 

The student is expected to answer completely, comprehensively and in a clear fashion.  If you have not had experience in writing essay examinations it would be prudent to visit the Writing Center on the fourth floor for assistance.  I will discuss further details in class.

 

 

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

 

Attendance in my classes is now mandatory and a seating chart will be provided.  Students not attending the class or having a continuous absence will have their names reported to the Registar's Office as now required by the university.

 

I ask students not to record my lectures; this is a private conversation between you and me and since lectures were recorded years ago and sold to students, I adopted this procedure.

 

If you are hearing impaired or, in any other way cannot take lecture notes without a tape recorder (for example because English is not your native language), please visit the Office of Adaptive Educational Services in CA-001C and have them contact me.

If you need to call that office the phone number is:

274-3241 or 274-3242.

 

Indiana University has a policy regarding cheating and plagarism.  I ask you not to do either as no one wins.

 

If a student plans on leaving the course I would recommend that you withdraw officially by visiting the Registrar's Office.

 

Do not assume that I know you left the course because you have chosen to no longer attend the class.

 

Many students find out much later that they are not officially withdrawn from the class and there is no way I can be of assistance.

 

Should you call my office I have an answering machine which records the time and date of the call...for some reason students will speak clearly when talking to such machines but then give their phone numbers too rapidly for the mechanism to record.

 

Please speak precisely so the machine can pick up your whole messsage.

 

If you have never had a good experience in a history course (presuming you were taught by an historian) I would recommend staying current with your reading in the textbook and the Chronology to avoid that sense of being overwhelmed and frustrated by the course's requirements.

 

There is no daily nor weekly reading assignment.  By the time you have arrived at the college-university level educational process, you should be able to make such judgements for yourself.

 

The textbook is a supplement to my lecture but it cannot serve as a substitute for learning the material required for the course.

 

The grade of incomplete is rarely given, usually for deaths in the family or hospitalization.  Please do not rely on the possibility of an incomplete to save you if you have not completed the work.

 

If you have any questions regarding the grade of incomplete please see Dean Miriam Langsam in CA-401.  Her phone number is 274-3976.

I encourage students to ask questions in class so do not be embarrassed.  If the question is an honest inquiry then there is no reason not to clear up any confusing aspects of the course or its content.

 

The main information you will need for the examinations will come from my lectures...the Chronology will give you an overall panorama of the information contained in our course and the textbook is a supplement. 

 

If you have not had any experience in writing essay examinations I suggest you visit the Writing Center (CA-427) on the fourth floor for assistance.  Do check for the center's semester hours.

 

The dates of the examinations and the paper will be updated as needed on the web-site and will also be announced in class.

 

The Midterm Examination will cover:

 

Chapters 7-10, pages: 193-333.

 

 

The Final Examination will cover:

 

Chapters 11-13, pages 334-456

 

 

You are quite free, however, to read beyond page 456 but the final examination will not cover any materials beyond the surrender of Germany and Japan in the spring and summer of 1945.

 

For the period 1945-forward, I would suggest the modern history course offered by Professors Monroe Little and Annie Coleman.

 

Office Hours:

 

MONDAY-TUESDAY-THURSDAY..... 10:00 A.M.-Noon

 

MONDAY-TUESDAY-THURSDAY.......4:00-5:30 P.M.

 

AND BY APPOINTMENT

 

If you have any questions about what has been written above, be sure to see me. 

 

Written Paper:

 

The student will choose one of the topics listed below and write a 20-30 page paper.

 

YOU HAVE AMPLE TIME TO COMPLETE THE

ASSIGNMENT DURING THE SEMESTER SO

PLEASE START EARLY AND END ON TIME.

 

The essay will be typed, double spaced, but beyond the format the student should exhibit enterprising research (no encyclopedias...dictionaries...etc.), a thorough analysis of the topic, person or treaty chosen, in addition to revealing an understanding of the topic chosen.

 

If you begin researching your topic immediately at the beginning of the semester the time frame will not be a burden;

 

 

however, if you wait to research and write the paper until the week before the essay is due to be turned in, then, of course, you have created an unnecessary burden upon yourself which could have been avoided with proper time allotment.

 

More about the paper will be said in class.

 

The paper constitutes 40 percent of the class grade while the two examinations total 60 percent of your grade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics:

 

Because of the number of students in the diplomatic class it would be impossible if not futile to list all the topics so the subjects noted below are just samples of what students may choose for their topics. 

 

I do ask all students to check with

me and to let me mark their topics on

my syllabus.

 

1.    The Era of Expansionism beginning in 1890 and   terminating with the acquisition of Puerto Rico,

Guam and the Philippine Archipelago in the Treaty

of Paris, December 10, 1898. 

 

This is a very broad topic and the student might consider researching and writing on any subject within that time frame.

 

***BE SURE TO SEE ME FIRST BEFORE EMBARKING ON ANY

OF THE VARIOUS TOPICS DURING THIS TIME PERIOD.

 

 

2.  Theodore Roosevelt:

 

A.    The concept he had of the balance of power in European affairs, his reaction to the new

imperialism motivating European nations to seek

new empires in Africa, the eastern end of the

Mediterranean, in Southeast, Northeast, and Eastern                     Asia, as well as what today we call the Pacific Rim.   

 

 

B.    Caribbean intervention including his Colombian-Panamanian policies, the Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine and his ideas of receiverships.

 

 

 

 

 C.   Asian issues and negotiations following the American acquisition of an insular empire throughout the Pacific basin.  You will need to define Roosevelt's concept of American diplomatic and military policies and strength combined with his growing suspicions and fears of Imperial Meiji Japan.

 

 

D.    American acquisition of an empire and its consequences.  Here the student will research and reflect upon the Supreme Court "Insular Cases" that allowed the United States to gain an insular empire and the Congressional legislation written and passed (sponsors of these proposals) that enabled the United States to govern these newly won possessions.

 

            The student will also need to address the controversies surrounding the acquisitions as defined and argued by expansionists and anti-expansionists and know the exact difference between their philosophies.

 

 

BE CAREFUL: THEIR PHILOSOPHIES

NEED CAREFUL EVALUATION.

 

 

3.          The presidency of William Howard Taft..choose one

of the three major issues of his administration:

 

 A.   The issues in Asia, especially the Taft-Knox Neutralization Scheme regarding railroads in Manchuria as well as other issues relating to

Eastern Asia in general and Japan specifically.

 

 

 B.   His policies revolving around Dollar Diplomacy in Central and South America.

 

 

 

 

 C.   Whichever topic relating to President Taft that you choose be sure to explain his later conflicts with Theodore Roosevelt which were so important in electing Thomas Woodrow Wilson to the White House in 1912.

 

 

4.    Woodrow Wilson's Diplomacy:

 

A.    Pre-World War I diplomacy and the futility of neutrality, 1914-1917.  The student will need

to explain Wilson's decision to ask Congress for

a declaration of war in April, 1917.

 

 

B.    Once the United States was in the First World War

what were Wilson's objectives, how did he hope to

implement them and then evaluate how well he                     achieved his goals by explaining the issues he faced during the       Treaty of Versailles and League of Nations negotiations. 

 

Finally, discuss and explain the provisions of the treaty and League as well as the treaty's strengths and weaknesses as commented upon by historians.

 

C.    Explain Wilson's relationship with the Senate                           before we entered the war, during the conflict and                    during the crucial advice and consent ratification                        debates.

 

***ANY STUDENT CHOOSING ONE OF THE WILSON TOPICS                        SHOULD BE VERY EXPERIENCED IN RESEARCH, HAVE A FIRM                        KNOWLEDGE OF THE LIBRARY AND BE WILLING TO READ                     MANY OF THE BOOKS AND ARTICLES RELATING TO THESE                       TOPICS AND KNOW ALSO HOW TO WRITE EVALUATIVE                            PAPERS.

 

 

 

 

5.    Republican Foreign Policy: 1921-1933.

 

A.    Washington Conference, 1921-1922...explain the four treaties and their impact on our government's diplomatic and military policies during the decade.

 

 

 B.   Reaction to the Chinese Revolution, 1925-1928.

 

 

 C.   The origins, diplomacy and consequences of the Kellogg-Briand Pact...The 'Outlawry of War' concept.

 

D.    The Manchurian Crisis, 1931-1933...the Hoover-Stimson Non-Recognition Policy...the onset and continuation of the depression and the continuing issues in China.

 

 

6.    The Diplomacy of Franklin Roosevelt:

 

The diplomacy of the four-term president is so vast that it cannot be conveyed in the handout.  I would, however, divide the issues into four time frames:

 

A.    The diplomacy of the early New Deal...the Italian-Ethiopian War of 1935, Hitler's invasion of the demilitarized Rhineland in 1936, the problems relating to neutrality legislation from 1934 to 1937, and the Spanish-Civil War, 1936-1939.

 

B.    Reaction to the Second Sino-Japanese War beginning on July 7, 1937 at the Marco Polo Bridge (also known as the Marco Polo Bridge Incident) and its consequences through June 1940. 

 

 

Be sure to include in this topic the bombing and sinking of the U.S.S. Panay on December 12, 1937, the attempt to revise the Neutrality Legislation and how Roosevelt viewed Chiang Kai-shek and China in America's East Asian policy formulation.

 

 

 C.   American-Japanese relations, 1933-1937.  Here the student should begin with relations following Japan's withdrawal from the League of Nations, her withdrawal from the Washington Conference Naval Treaty obligations and the announcement of a future New Order in Asia that foreshadowed antagonisms in the next several years. 

 

There are other issues but those mentioned here are required for understanding the growing hostility between Tokyo and Washington.

 

D.    For the years 1937-1941, relations with Japan continued to deteriorate and the student will need  to explain the final collapse of diplomatic cordiality between the two nations resulting in the Japanese strategic military blunder of attacking Pearl Harbor on that "date (NOT DAY) that will live in infamy".

 

****THERE ARE TOO MANY ASPECTS TO AMERICAN-JAPANESE RELATIONS BETWEEN 1937 AND THE ATTACK AT PEARL HARBOR TO LIST HERE.  THUS, ANY STUDENT DESIRING TO WORK ON TOPIC NUMBER D SHOULD SEE ME DURING REGULAR OFFICE HOUR.

 

E.    Any student who wishes to write about the historiography of the Pearl Harbor disaster and the charges of dereliction of duty that arose from the attack should see me for assistance with this massive topic. 

 

The Bibliography that was passed out in class should be helpful. PLEASE USE IT; DO NOT IGNORE IT.

 

 

7.    Some students might wish to pursue the Cold War topics centering on American relations with the Soviet Union.  A wide reading is required for this topic so do not attempt it without making that commitment.

 

 

 

8.  Other possible topics:

 

 

A.    Overview of American-Chinese Relations...1911-1949

 

 

B.    Overview of American-Soviet Relations....1933-1950

 

 

C.    Overview of American-Japanese Relations..1900-1919

 

 

D.    Overview of American-Japanese Relations..1920-1940.

 

 

E.    Overview of relations with European-Asian-Latin American countries not mentioned above.  Since Africa was not of primary interest to American policy makers until the last thirty years, policies  formulated for Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa were  officially presented through the various foreign    offices of governments with colonial interests on  that continent. 

 

I encourage students to research and write papers relating to the newly forming republics in the post World War II era on any continent but diplomatic sources might be insufficient in English.

 

 

 

The student is also encouraged to study a Secretary of State within the many administrations since the turn of the twentieth century.  Among the more notable heads of the State Department include:

 

For Benjamin Harrison....James G. Blaine............1889-1892

 John W. Foster.............1891-1893

 

For Grover Cleveland.....Walter Q. Gresham..........1893-1895

 Richard Olney..............1895-1897

 

 

For William McKinley.....John Sherman...............1897-1898

 William R. Day.............1898

 John Hay...................1898-1901

 

 

For Theodore Roosevelt...John Hay...................1901-1905

 Elihu B. Root..............1905-1909

       Robert Bacon...............1909

 

 

For William Howard Taft..Philander C. Knox..........1909-1913

 

 

For Woodrow Wilson.......William Jennings Bryan.....1913-1915

 Robert Lansing.............1915-1920

 Bainbridge Colby...........1920-1921

 

 

For Warren Harding.......Charles Evans Hughes.......1921-1923

 

 

For Calvin Coolidge......Charles Evans Hughes.......1923-1925

       Frank B. Kellogg...........1925-1928

 

 

For Herbert Hoover.......Henry L. Stimson...........1929-1933

 

 

For Franklin Roosevelt...Cordell Hull...............1933-1944

 Edward R. Stettinius, Jr...1944-1945

 

 

For Harry Truman.........Edward R. Stettinius, Jr...1945

 James F. Byrnes............1945-1947

 George C. Marshall.........1947-1949

 Dean G. Acheson............1949-1953

 

 

For Dwight Eisenhower....John Foster Dulles.........1953-1959

 Christian A. Herter........1959-1961

 

 

For John Kennedy.........Dean Rusk..................1961-1963

 

Lyndon Johnson...........Dean Rusk..................1963-1969

 

 

For Richard Nixon........William P. Rogers..........1969-1973

 Henry A. Kissinger.........1973-1974

 

 

For Gerald Ford..........Henry A. Kissinger.........1974-1977

 

 

For Jimmy Carter.........Cyrus R. Vance.............1977-1980

 Edmund Muskie..............1980-1981

 

For Ronald Reagan........Alexander M. Haig..........1981-1982

 George P. Schultz..........1982-1989

 

 

For George Bush..........James A. Baker III.........1989-1992

 Lawrence Eagleburger.......1992-1993

 

For Bill Clinton.........Warren M. Christopher......1993-1997

 Madeline Albright..........1997-

 

You would have to use contemporary accounts found in newspapers, magazines, and the most recently published scholarly textbooks and journals.

 

 

*****BE CAREFUL: SOME OF THE SECRETARIES OF STATE WHO DID NOT SERVE LONG TERMS MIGHT BE DIFFICULT TO STUDY FOR MATERIALS MAY BE LACKING THAT WOULD PREVENT A DISTINGUISHED AND SCHOLARLY PAPER.  SEE ME IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY TOPIC AND SECRETARY OF STATE.

 

 

To begin your research be sure to consult the Bibliographies in the textbook by LaFeber as well as the sources listed below.

 

From the sources listed below you have a beginning to

inaugurate your historical-detective research regarding

your topic. 

 

Do not ignore these sources but do not rely upon them as your only source materials.

 

Samuel Flagg Bemis and Robert Ferrell, eds.,

 

The American Secretaries of State series in multiple volumes.

 

 

 

Richard Dean Burns, ed.,

 

Guide to Ameican Foreign Relations, Since 1700

 

 

 

Frank Merli and Theodore Wilson,

Makers of American Diplomacy (2 volumes).

 

 

 

 

Norman Graebner, ed.,

 

An Uncertain Tradition: American Secretaries

of State in the Twentieth Century

 

I have always found it curious that even after listing these sources, students do not utilize them nor cite them in their papers.

 

 

 

IN ADDITION, BE SURE TO CONSULT THE REFERENCE LIBRARIANS AT IUPUI, THE MARION COUNTY MAIN LIBRARY ON MERIDIAN STREET, THE STATE OF INDIANA LIBRARY AT OHIO AND SENATE STREETS AND IF POSSIBLE THE INDIANA UNIVERSITY LIBRARY IN BLOOMINGTON.

 

 

I WOULD SUGGEST VISITING OUR REFERENCE SECTION FOR ASSISTANCE INITIALLY.

 

The grade for the paper is determined not only by the content but by the quality of the sources you have used. 

 

If you plan on just using an encyclopedia or copying from one source (or finding it on the web-site) perhaps we should part as friends and on good terms for that indifference to my course will not suffice but belongs in another level of your education that hopefully you passed out of years ago.

 

To be a good historian one must be a good detective and to do well in my class all of these elements go into determining your grade.  SEE ME IF THERE IS ANY CONFUSION.

Please Read Carefully:

 

Some students have a tendency to write short, choppy and very uninteresting sentences.  Try to combine thoughts into a sentence by using a comma, a coordinating conjunction and letting the style flow.

 

Somewhere in the background of students some teacher taught you to write such sentences or did not correct your tendency to do so but it produces a poorly written essay.

 

One of the hints I have given students over the years is to read the paper aloud to someone who does not know anything about your topic.  If that person understands your essay then you are fulfilling the objective of the assignment.

 

You and the listener should also hear the short sentence structure as you read and can make corrections at that moment.

 

It does take time and effort.

 

When quoting always identify whom the speaker is...for example:

 

Premier Hara Kei commented:

 

Admiral Yamamoto Isroku said:

 

AND SO FORTH

 

ALWAYS GIVE THE FULL NAME OF A PERSONALITY WHEN FIRST INTRODUCING HIM OR HER TO THE READER. 

 

IN JAPANESE HISTORY, MANY MEN AND WOMEN MIGHT HAVE THE SAME NAME.....WHICH IS TRUE FOR ALL NATIONS.....................

 

SO BE SURE TO IDENTIFY WHICH PERSON YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT IF A PERSON WITH THAT NAME APPEARS IN THE TEXT.

 

IN ADDITION, DO NOT JUST DROP IN LONG QUOTES WITHOUT A SPEAKER BEING IDENTIFIED.

 

IN FACT, ONLY USE LONG QUOTES WHEN ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

IT IS BETTER TO PARAPHRASE IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

 

ANY QUOTE OVER THREE LINES IN DURATION IS TO BE:

 

                 CENTERED

                 INDENTED

                 NO QUOTATION MARKS USED

 

PLEASE DO NOT WRITE SUCH WORDS AS:

 

HE THOUGHT

 

SHE BELIEVED

 

HE FELT

 

AND SO FORTH

 

YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT OTHER PEOPLE REALLY THINK, FEEL OR BELIEVE.  THE MOST WE KNOW ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE IS WHAT THEY HAVE SAID OR WHAT THEY HAVE DONE.

 

DO NOT ASSUME FOR OTHER PEOPLE AND FIND APPROPRIATE WORDS TO CONVEY YOUR IDEAS BESIDES PERSONAL TERMS WHICH ARE INAPPROPRIATE AND HISTORICALLY INACCURATE.

 

Taking your paper to the Writing Center for review can be very helpful in producing a sophisticated and college level paper.

 

Please do not begin sentences with the word "However" or "But" or "Or" or words of that nature. 

&nbs