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What were the effects of FDR’s Good Neighbor policy during World War II?
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FDR's Good Neighbor Policy, initiated in 1933, shifted U.S. relations with Latin America from interventionism to diplomacy and cooperation. This fostered goodwill, leading to Latin American support during World War II. Many nations provided resources, hosted military bases, and opposed Axis powers, enhancing U.S. strategic focus elsewhere. Agreements like the 1942 pact in Brazil furthered economic and military collaboration. Despite Argentina's initial neutrality, regional support for the Allies was significant, aided by the policy's diplomatic success.
The Good Neighbor Policy was adopted by FDR's administration and announced in his inaugural address in 1933. It signified a change from the traditional American approach of interventionism concerning its Latin American neighbors to the south. US foreign policy in the region was now to focus on building positive relationships through diplomacy, collaboration, and commerce. The United States military forces were pulled out of places like Cuba and Haiti, and Roosevelt promised not to interfere forcefully in the affairs of other nations in the region.
This policy built a lot of goodwill towards the United States throughout much of Latin America. As a result, many countries in Central and South America were quick to answer America's calls for aid shortly before and during World War II. They supplied materials and hosted military bases and ships. Furthermore, they refused to offer any assistance to the Axis powers. At the Pan-American Conference...
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of 1936, the United States brokered a pact in which many Latin American countries agreed to form an alliance to counter any Axis aggression in the hemisphere. This allowed the United States to focus its attention on other possible theaters of the war and not worry about a potential third front to the south.
The Good Neighbor Policy also encouraged an agreement made in Brazil in January of 1942, in which Latin American countries agreed to increase economic support of the United States' war effort, sever ties with Axis nations, censor Axis propaganda, and hunt down Nazi collaborators in their own countries. Chile and Argentina were the only dissenters and remained neutral in the whole affair. However, as a result of their neighbors' support of the US, they did not overtly support the Axis.
It is likely that without the good will fostered by the Good Neighbor Policy, many Latin American nations would have been hesitant or even opposed to aiding the United States in its war effort. In fact, many of the region's military leaders and dictators were admirers of fascism. However, the diplomacy and benefits of FDR's policy made it more expedient for them to support the Allies during the war.
References
The positive relationships and cooperation between the United States and the countries of Latin America provided a basis for support of the Allied war efforts during World War II by the countries of Central and South America. Treaties signed before the United States entered active involvement pledged all the signers to cooperate and support each other's efforts.
Once the United States entered the fighting, the Latin American nations did offer support through supplies of needed resources and materials, through offering locations for military bases, and through increased prosecution of Axis sympathizers in the Latin American countries. Argentina initially resisted joining in this support of the Allies; it was eventually pressured into doing so, which did go against the pledges of noninterference that had been put into practice under the Good Neighbor Policy.