World War I, at its time, was the most violent and destructive war in human history. Afterwards, the Allies convened at the Paris Peace Conference to ensure that such total and utter demolition and loss of human life would never happen again. At this conference, they created the Treaty of Versailles, a peace treaty which dictated the terms of Germany’s surrender. America’s greatest concern with this treaty was Article X, a clause which stated the terms of the League of Nations. This was incredibly controversial, as it dictated that the nations who ratified the treaty would be required to involve themselves in conflicts which may not necessarily pertain to them. Understanding the potential infringement upon Congress’ right to declare war, thereby …show more content…
Wilson believed Article X was the “inevitable logical center of the whole system of . . . the League of Nations (Document B).” Wilson was taught from a young age not to “compromise with wrong (Bailey).” He saw the senators not only as being wrong, but as being “lesser intellects” and “pygmy-minded (Bailey).” This sense of superiority caused Wilson to underestimate the strength of the opposition and the legitimacy of their argument against Article X. He steadfastly refused to compromise on any aspect of the League of Nations, despite the Senate having concerns about Article X being unconstitutional (Document D). Senator William Borah made a speech in 1918 in which he described the League of Nations as using “force to destroy force, conflict to prevent conflict, militarism to destroy militarism, war to prevent war (Document A).” The senator’s qualms were not assuaged by Wilson’s continued persistence in enacting his exact version of the League of Nations, nor were those of other senators who feared the hypocrisy that Borah noticed would cripple the league to a point of uselessness. Wilson was already on poor terms with the Senate as he made a “brutally direct appeal for a Democratic Congress in October, 1918 (Bailey).” He also had previously announced he was sailing to France which made the Senate think he had a “Messiah complex (Bailey).” Wilson’s stubbornness led the senators to dislike him both as a person and a politician. Many senators, such as Henry Cabot Lodge, were “in favor of a league of nations (Bailey).” These senators only wanted to modify the treaty, and Herbert Hoover himself implored Wilson to accept the reservations passed by the Senate (Document C). However, Wilson would not ratify anything that was not exactly as he and the other international delegates had composed it. Wilson’s lack of
Additionally, the League of Nations would control the United States's foreign affairs. The goal of the League of Nations is to help foreign countries, therefore the U.S. would always be out helping other nations. These actions would have cost our money, resources, and men. Consistently helping out other countries would cause the United States to run out of resources and energy. The United States would probably not be the world power it is
He believed in the high role of the chief executive, but he was arrogant and lacked a common touch. His idealism made him difficult to compromise and stubborn, and he was convinced in his own right. Wilson Tackles the Tariff
Ironically, Edith, while seeking to gladden Wilson, who wanted the unamended treaty to pass, used her ingenuine executive power to ultimately defeat the Treaty in the United States Senate. Her narrow views and formidable determination led her to deny the idea of compromise brought up by the Cabinet. A compromise with the Treaty could have allowed for an agreement in the Senate, Edith claimed that the President would not hear for it. Edith’s unwillingness to accept compromise caused the United States inability to pass participation in the League of Nations, which could have brought more peace into the American life and more power into the League. Even then, Edith’s actions would not stop there.
According to the Sources, you can see that American involvement in WWI had been unpopular in the USA. Democratic President Wilson, a liberal idealist, believed that the League of Nations offered the best way to secure future world peace, and had made it a fundamental part of his Fourteen Points regarding the post-war peace treaties. Republican Senator Borah, a devout nationalist, believe that the League of Nations would encourage states to 'meddle ' in each other 's affairs, making future wares more
As William McKinley did when he advocated keeping the Philippines, Woodrow Wilson took advantage of this same feeling of heavenly mission to enroll bolster for his campaign to redo the world into a liberal law based world request. He talked about another world based on Christian standards, finishing war by entering the war on the unified side to guarantee "peace without triumph." While Wilson's contention about going to war to overcome one side in the contention keeping in mind the end goal to accomplish "peace without triumph" appears to be conflicting to most, it was not for Wilson. For Wilson, the logical inconsistency was established and settled in his comprehension of his Presbyterianism, and in addition his eagerness to think and act in Calvinist examples, which submitted evident logical inconsistency to the Divine will. Wilson acted in these religious examples even while taking absolutely mainstream
In his eyes, they were terms for a better world. It in he entails the need for the “League of Nations” as a way of keeping anything like World War One from happening in the future, but again here we see a “good try worth a Nobel”. Wilson tried to make a form of a peaceful “kum ba yah” communion, but in politics there's nothing is resolved by just talking, there needs to be an incentive for someone to do something, or fear to stop someone from doing something. The League had none of these so eventually, it was just another try and by never even joining the League of Nations there was no solid ground of what had to be done. When the war finally ended with the Treaty of Versailles Wilson's attempt to sign the treaty was unsuccessful since it was deemed unconstitutional by congress.
The League of Nations was a treaty to end the first war. Ending the first war, is what America needed and what they wanted. “He presided two amendments” (Witkosi). The two amendments he presided were very important to America and changed the way people voted and how they were. This was significantly important because the people wanted to vote and lowered income taxes for
As a member of the Pennsylvanian Provincial Congress James Wilson spoke of an unconstitutional act made by legislature. The system for watching governmental acts with the constitution now well on its way. James Wilson was a very influential person with ideas that really helped to bring forth some of the most important
Wilson, in seeing his opening, seized the opportunity and decided to take part in the war continents away. In the events of the War Wilson tried his best to make it end quickly, as while it ended, he saw his opportunity to unveil his greatest prank, the League of Nations. The League of Nations would define not only Wilson’s Presidency but also Wilson’s pranking career. He must make it memorable.
This is the effect that World War I had on America. This is the war in which we stated we were neutral and then entered the war looking for a peaceful outcome. Wilson wanted to have democracy for the world, but he didn’t want to do what was necessary to achieve his goal. He thought that international law and organization would do the hard work of convincing all countries to convert to democracy. If he would have done this then it would have been national interest in which we was running the country for instead of moral and legal ideas.
Whilst examining the documents Woodrow Wilson, an Address to the Joint Session of Congress, 1917 and George Norris, 'A Speech in the Senate,' 1917, I have arrived at the conjecture that Woodrow Wilson’s supplication was immeasurably more superior than that of George Norris’s. I have reached this conclusion for several reasons. The main reason being that Woodrow Wilson’s speech proved to be the better case because it eventually led to the United States to World War I while George Norris’s opinions stayed his opinion and ultimately did not affect the outcome of the American history.
If nation chooses not to be a part of either group, they have no chance in being defended against the violator because they are not a part of the council and the council as whole makes all the decisions. To conclude, the only way the League of Nations would prove to be successful if everyone were to cooperate and have the same idea of peace in mind. While the League of Nations prevents some of the problems that Roosevelt brought to congress in his speech, it does not do so in an effective way. If America were to be a member in this conference, the country would have to participate in every battle or fight, even if it did not pertain to us. The same would go for other nations.
Secondly, Woodrow Wilson and the United States of America denied wanting any part in the League of Nations. The final reason why it had been doomed from the start and continued to weaken was because the League of Nations had no armed forces. In other words, without armed forces, the League of Nations was defenseless and appeared very
The League of Nations was an international organization created 1919 by the American president, Woodrow Wilson, as a part of his Fourteen Points. The League was meant to maintain universal peace and resolve international disputes between nations to avoid a repeat of the First World War. The League of Nations had some successes in maintaining universal peace, however, there numerous failures as well. Some of the successes include the Åland Islands crisis and the Upper Silesia incident. Some of the failures of the League include the events that took place in Manchuria and Abyssinia.
They were on his side and accepted his efforts. Soon after the Allied Powers accepted the idea, President Woodrow Wilson began on founding the League of Nations. The purposes of the League of Nations that President Woodrow Wilson was pushing were regulating international relations, limiting armaments, and settling disagreements between nations in a peaceful way. He believed that these regulations would help keep the peace forever between the countries.