Topic 2: United States of America (1919–45)

Between the First and Second World Wars,  the United States experienced a significant social transformation and economic collapse. War, boom, and depression shaped a national identity and resulted in a range of new and diverse domestic and foreign policies. This was an era that established the United States as a global power for the remainder of the 20th century.

A background study introduces students to the changing identity of the United States and the nature of its role in regional and global affairs. They investigate ways in which people, groups, and institutions contributed to domestic and international policies and responded to internal and external challenges.

The following are focus areas for study in this topic:

• isolationism and interventionism
• depression and the New Deal
• The United States of America as a superpower.

Background study

A return to normalcy 

• The responses of the United States to the First World War.
• The nature, causes, and consequences of internal divisions in society and the aims and beliefs of different groups.
• The influenza pandemic.
• Relations with other American nations. 

Focus areas

Isolationism and interventionism

• Response to Wilson's 14 Points and the League of Nations.
• The influence of internal economic and social conditions on isolationism and interventionism from the Roaring Twenties.
• The role of key individuals and groups in shaping foreign policy.
• Conflict between isolationism and interventionism up to and including the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Depression and the New Deal

• The causes, course, and consequences of the Great Depression, and its impacts on different social, geographic, economic and racial groups.
• The aims and effectiveness of political and social responses, including Roosevelt's New Deal.
• The significance of the Great Depression in shaping values and the role of government in everyday lives.

The United States as a superpower

• The nature and impact of the United States' global wartime involvement.
• The attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States military entry into the Second World War.
• The social, political, and economic experiences of women and minorities, including African Americans, and Native Americans up to 1945.
• The emergence of a new national identity and the role of the United States as a superpower.