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Nye created headlines by drawing connections between the wartime profits of the banking and munitions industries to America's involvement in World War I. Many Americans felt betrayed and questioned that the war had been an epic battle between the forces of good (democracy) and evil (autocracy). This investigation of these "merchants of death" helped to bolster sentiments for isolationism.
The committee reported that between 1915 and January 1917, the United States lent Germany 27 million dollars, and in the same period, it lent to the United Kingdom and its allies 2.3 billion dollars, almost 100 times as much.
Because of these facts Senator Nye, many war critics, and members of the American public concluded that the US entered the war for reasons of profit, not policy — because it was in American commercial interest for the United Kingdom not to lose.
The findings of the committee gave momentum to the non-interventionist movement and sparked the passage of the Neutrality Acts of 1930s, in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939.
Read more about this topic: Nye Committee
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