The Movement for an Aggressive American Oil Policy Abroad, 1918-1920
1956; Oxford University Press; Volume: 61; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.2307/1848821
ISSN1937-5239
Autores Tópico(s)Natural Resources and Economic Development
ResumoBETWEEN I9I8 and 1920 the United States became enmeshed in a bitter international rivalry for control of the world's promising oil fields. Contributing to this discord was the remarkably swift transition during these years in the American attitude toward foreign oil resources. As late as the American entry into World War I in 1917 only an occasional American saw any connection between remote petroleum deposits and the nation's security and foreign policy. Yet within three years this indifference had given way to a concern which produced anxious attempts in Washington to ensure American access to oil resources in distant places. This switch in attitude from apathy to alarm deserves an explanation. The major aims here are, first, to analyze the forces creating the ferment within the United States for a more aggressive oil policy abroad and, second, to assess the response of the executive and legislative branches in Washington to the pressures for a stronger foreign oil policy.' Just prior to the war, the logic of technology compelled the major naval powers to begin the conversion of their fleets from coal to oil. Two leading naval powers, Great Britain and the United States, faced the problem of petroleum supplies from different points of view and emerged with contrasting policies.' Because Great Britain, still mistress of the seas and pioneer in naval conversion to oil, lacked adequate petroleum within her empire, she had to seek dependable supplies elsewhere, especially in Persia. Under the leadership of First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churclhill, the British government entered the oil business indirectly by purchasing controlling slhares in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company and used the power and prestige of the Foreign
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