Essay on International Politics in the Twentieth Century

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I. “Little Brown Brothers” in the Philippines
1. The Filipinos had assumed that they would receive freedom after the Spanish-American War, but when they didn’t they revolted against the U.S.
The insurrection began on February 4, 1899, and was led by Emilio Aguinaldo, who took his troops into guerrilla warfare after open combat proved to be useless.
Stories of atrocities abounded, but finally, the rebellion was broken in 1901 when U.S. soldiers invaded Aguinaldo’s headquarters and captured him.
2. President McKinley formed a Philippine Commission in 1899 to deal with the Filipinos, and in its second year, the organization was headed by amiable William Howard Taft, who developed a strong attachment for the Filipinos, calling them his “little brown brothers.”
3. The Americans tried to assimilate the Filipinos, but the islanders resisted; they finally got their independence on July 4, 1946.
II. Hinging the Open Door in China
1. Following its defeat by Japan in 1894-1895, China had been carved into “spheres of influence” by the European powers.
2. Americans were alarmed, as churches worried about their missionary strongholds while businesses feared that they would not be able to export their products to China.
3. Finally, Secretary of State John Hay dispatched his famous Open Door note, which urged the European nations to keep fair competition open to all nations willing and wanting to participate. This became the “Open Door Policy.”
All the powers already holding spots of China were squeamish, and only Italy, which had no sphere of influence of its own, accepted unconditionally.
Russia didn’t accept it at all, but the others did, on certain conditions, and thus, China was “saved” from being carved up.
4. In 1900, a super-patriotic group known as the “Boxers” started the Boxers’ Rebellion where they revolted and took over the capital of China, Beijing, taking all foreigners hostage, including diplomats.
5. After a multi-national force broke the rebellion, the powers made China pay $333 million for damages, of which the U.S. eventually received $18 million.
6. Fearing that the European powers would carve China up for good, now, John Hay officially asked that China not be carved.
IV. Imperialism or Bryanism in 1900?
1. McKinley was the easy choice to be president in 1900, and New York Republican party leaders wanted to get rid of burdensome progressive reform maverick Teddy Roosevelt, so they cooked up a scheme to kick him into the vice presidency, a traditional political graveyard.
“TR” received a unanimous vote for VP, except for his own.
2. The Democrats could only decide on William Jennings Bryan (rather, he decided for them that he would be the candidate).
3. Just like four years before, it was McKinley sitting on his front porch and Bryan actively and personally campaigning, but Theodore Roosevelt’s active campaigning took a lot of the momentum away from Bryan’s.
4. Bryan’s supporters concentrated on imperialism—a bad move, considering that Americans were tired of the subject, while McKinley’s supporters claimed that “Bryanism,” not imperialism, was the problem, and that if Bryan became president, he would shake up the prosperity that was in America at the time; McKinley won easily.
VI. TR: Brandisher of the Big Stick
1. Six months later, a deranged murderer shot and killed William McKinley, making Theodore Roosevelt the youngest president ever at age 42.
TR promised to carry out McKinley’s policies.
2. Theodore Roosevelt was a barrel-chested man with a short temper, large glasses, and a stubborn mentality that always thought he was right.
Born into a rich family and graduated from Harvard, he was highly energetic and spirited, and his motto was “Speak softly and carry a big stick,” or basically, “Let your actions do the talking.”
Roosevelt rapidly developed into a master politician, and a maverick uncontrollable by party machines, and he believed that a president should lead, which would
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