Which policy kept the United States out of foreign wars in the interwar period?

• A. Isolationism
• B. Non-Intervention
• C. Neutrality Acts
• D. Pacifism

Answer: (C)

The Neutrality Acts established the policy that kept the United States out of foreign wars during the interwar years by creating a formal, law-based stance of neutrality. Passed in the mid-1930s, these laws restricted actions that could draw the U.S. into conflicts—banning arms sales and loans to belligerents and enforcing cash-and-carry trade rather than credit sales. This legal framework aimed to prevent entanglements similar to those that pulled the United States into World War I, even as public sentiment leaned toward avoiding involvement. While broader attitudes like isolationism shaped public thinking and non-intervention describes a general stance, the Neutrality Acts are the specific policy tool that codified the United States’ non-entry into foreign wars during the interwar period. Pacifism, meanwhile, is an anti-war ideology rather than a government policy.