Excerpt from the Kellogg-Briand Pact
Published on August 27, 1928

World War I (1914–18) involved thirty-two countries around the globe in a conflict that took more than 15,000,000 lives. Although casualties suffered by the United States were comparatively small—130,000 were killed, and 190,000 wounded—the country joined the rest of the world in shock at the bloodshed and destruction of this war. A mood of isolationism (keeping apart) dominated the United States as people expressed their strong desire to stay well away from other nations' troubles. Lawmakers and leaders reflected this mood. In 1929, for example, the U.S. Senate voted not to join the League of Nations, the international organization originally conceived by President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924; served 1913–21) as a way to prevent war through global cooperation. The next year, the size of the U.S. armed services was reduced from a wartime high of 4,355,000 to...