Franklin Roosevelt became president ______.

Good morning everyone. In today’s lecture, I’ll give you a brief introduction of Roosevelt’s foreign policy in the 1930s.
    As we mentioned last time, the economic depression that began in 1929 only reduced further the interest of most Americans in foreign affairs. In 1933, Franklin Roosevelt became president. Unlike most Americans, he knew the international situation well from his own experience.
    The terrible crisis of the great depression, however, forced Roosevelt to spend most of his time on economic matters during his first years in office. But be remained deeply interested in world affairs. And Roosevelt continued to believe that the United States was a world power that should take an active interest in international affairs.
    One of Roosevelt’s most important first efforts as president was to improve relations with Latin American nations.
    Thirty years earlier, President Theodore Roosevelt had claimed Washington’s right to intervene in the affairs of Latin American countries. In the years that followed, the United States sent troops to several Latin American countries. Not surprisingly, many political leaders within the area accused Washington of treating them like children. Leaders from throughout Latin America criticized the United States bitterly at a conference in 1928.
    Franklin Roosevelt promised to treat Latin American nations as friends. He called this his Good Neighbor Policy.
    However, Roosevelt’s new policy got off to a bad start when his administration refused to recognize a new Cuban government that opposed the United States. Instead, he helped bring about a new government in Havana that was more conservative and more favorable to Washington.
    By the end of 1933, however, Roosevelt was able to prove to Latin America that he honestly wanted to improve relations.
    He speeded up plans to withdraw American troops from Haiti. Within two years, the United States gave up its right from a previous treaty to intervene in the affairs of Cuba. It recognized a revolutionary government in El Salvador. And it recognized the right of Panama to help operate and protect the Panama Canal. And it helped establish the Export-Import Bank to increase trade throughout the Americas.
    All of these actions did much to improve the opinion of Latin American leaders about the United States. However, the most important test of Roosevelt’s new policies was in Mexico. The government in Mexico City seized control of oil companies owned by investors in the United States. A number of influential Americans wanted Roosevelt to take strong action against Mexico. But Roosevelt refused. He limited his actions to urging the Mexican government to pay American investors for the value of the oil companies.
    Washington’s relations with Latin America improved. But they became worse with Britain. London blamed Roosevelt for the failure of an international economic conference in 1933. And it felt that the American Congress was weak and unwilling to take a strong position against international aggression by other nations.
    Some British leaders had so little, faith in Roosevelt that they seriously suggested that London should seek cooperation with Japan instead of Washington. But the new leaders in Tokyo soon ended this possibility by presenting London with such strong military demands that the entire British cabinet abandoned any idea of cooperation with Japan.
    Roosevelt also looked to Moscow in developing his foreign policy. Washington had refused to recognize the Soviet government after Lenin and the Bolsheviks had taken control in 1917. But Roosevelt saw Russia as a possible ally if the growing tension in Europe and Asia burst into war. For this reason, he held talks in Washington with a top Soviet official. Later, he declared official American recognition of the Moscow government.
    Roosevelt hoped this step would lead to better relations with the Soviets. But the two nations did not trust each other. They immediately began arguing about many subjects.
    Within two years, the American ambassador to Moscow urged Roosevelt to break relations with the Soviets. Roosevelt refused. Relations became steadily worse. But Roosevelt thought it better to keep relations open with Moscow in case of an emergency. When Washington and Moscow joined forces against Germany years later, Roosevelt’s decision was proven right.
    Economic issues played an important part in American foreign policy during this period of the early 1930s.
    In 1933, a major international conference was held in London on the international monetary situation. France and Italy led a movement to tie every nation’s currency to the price of gold. But Roosevelt’s representatives refused to cooperate. They argued that this would slow America’s recovery from the economic depression. As a result, the conference failed.
    However, Roosevelt soon made clear to the world that he was only opposed to the gold system, not to international trade. His administration arranged new trade agreements with more than twenty nations.