How Did Woodrow Wilson's Failure To Join The League Of Nations

The Treaty of Versailles had a great chance of being ratified if only President Wilson would have been able to make small amendments. The reservationists had a strong argument about the pros of a League of Nations, but they disagreed with Article 10, which gave the League’s

The source is a speech delivered by Woodrow Wilson on January 8th 1918; the speech was delivered among Woodrow’s fellow congressmen in the American congress. However, the speech was not written purely by Wilson, During World War I, Walter Lippmann became an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson and assisted in the drafting of the speech. The several points covered in Wilson’s speech aimed to resolve territorial issues in Europe, as well as improving post-war American diplomacy. To achieve this Wilson supported the League of Nations which was set up following the end of war. The speech therefore was not focused purely for American congress, but instead the International stage.

The treaty of the Versailles was an agreement between France, England and the United states. Its intentions were to prevent a second world war however, it was a total fail. An obvious reason for not being effective could be because not everyone was included in the conference such as Russia, and Central Powers. Instead, Prime minister George Clemenceau had thought he would speak for all of europe and wanted to be the strongest of europe. Clemenceau seeked revenge towards Germany, in fact he desired most dismantle the best of Germany 's military and their nationalist pride. As for the United States, Wilson implemented the fourteen points which focused on self determination of people. Only few of his points were included in the treaty but these points had been the reason for conflicts happening in europe. Participation from everyone is important and not allowing everyone 's input could lead to negative outcomes such as, The league of nations which most likely failed because the United States wasn’t allowed to participate.

The end of World War I left much of America confused on the country’s role in world affairs. Many people believed that the United States should primarily worry about its own issues and problems, and let the world handle their own problems. But President Woodrow Wilson was not one of those people. He believed that the United States should be directly involved in the issues affecting all of the countries of the world. He also wanted the United States to be the country to make a push for a League of Nations. “The people of the United States could act upon no other principle; and to the vindication of this principle they are ready to devote their lives, their honor, and everything that they possess. The normal climax of this the culminating and final war for human liberty has come, and they are ready to put their own strength, their own highest purpose, their own integrity and devotion to the test.” Wilson believed that if the United States needed to be a part of a League of Nations in charge of keeping peace around the world, this would keep America

After losing a generation of men and experiencing the hardships of war, many peace related objectives were put into place to prevent another war so destructive and disastrous. The road to peace started with the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. United States President, Woodrow Wilson, presented a drafted series of peace proposals called the Fourteen Points. The last point addressed the possibility of having a group dedicated to peace and interactions among nations no matter the size (Macmillan). This organization would stop wars like World War I from happening so that it does not become part of the culture of the Western World yet again. While the idea of the league was originally rejected, the Treaty of Versailles, the most significant treaty to come out of WWI, established the League of Nations. Eventually, the League of Nations disbanded in five years after the start of World War II and the United Nations was formed. Newton Diehl Baker, Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of War argues that the lack of such a league to keep peace in 1914 is what threw the world into the chaos of World War (Macmillan). Even Baker did not know the ramifications the war would have due to the lack of peace structure until after the war

With Woodrow Wilson being a democrat, ratification of the Treaty would be difficult in a Republican led senate. The Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles based primarily on objections to the League of Nations. One of the main objections to the League of Nations was that it would eventually lead to a loss of American Sovereignty. William Borah said during a speech in United States Senate “Will anyone advocate that those matters which are of vital importance to our people shall be submitted to a tribunal created other than by our own people and give it an international army subject to its direction and control to enforce its decrees?” (Document A)

In the summer of 1914 World War I began in Europe between the Allied and Central powers. Although the war was seen as unavoidable in Europe it came as a surprise to the American people. When word reached America of the outbreak of war, President Wilson urged the United States government and the American people to hold a neutral attitude on the war in Europe(1). For the most part President Wilson’s initial stance on neutrality was strongly supported by the majority of the country. In the early stages of World War I President Wilson approached both the Central and Allied leaders and offered to be a mediator between the two sides. “The Central Powers replied that victory was certain, and the Allies required the dismemberment of their enemies' empires. No desire for

The situation required the formation of alliances as an insurance of support in case the war would break out. Central Powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary, while the Entante powers were Great Britain, France and Russia – that had many formal and secret agreements. In 1915, Germany declared war on Great Britain at sea and attacked all ships, including merchant ships. By drafting these first five points, Wilson was hoping to prevent any future conflict at the same scale as the Great War, by eliminating the actual causes of war. By bringing every nation to the same level and introducing them to the free trade and free sea navigation Wilson hoped to engage the nations into an economically beneficial alliance. The more nations joined the League of Nations – the more benefits would they have. This diplomatic solution is revolutionary because it did not only refer to the couple of countries – it referred to the global stage.

The United states should not have joined the league of nations in 1919. The United States shouldn’t have joined the league of nations because we would be supplying the troops and food a lot and not getting anything out of it, and we were in no danger of an attack.

Wilson's peace plan, known as the Fourteen Points, introduced the idea of the League of Nations. The League of Nations would bind together all of the countries involved in order to resolve conflicts peacefully and protect independence. Wilson very much wanted the United States to be a part of the League, which would prevent a return to isolationism (Document G). Article Ten of the Treaty of Versailles outlines some of the obligations attached to being a member of the League. This article states that if any nation who is a part of the League is under attack or in danger, all other countries are mandated to come to their aid (Document E). The League of Nations, and this article in particular, caused a great deal of controversy in the U.S. Henry Cabot Lodge, a Reservationist senator, gave a speech to show his objection to the League. Lodge believed the United States should focus its efforts on self-betterment, rather than being forced to "play the part of umpire" in European affairs of no direct interest (Document D). Lodge's discontent with the circumstances that would be created by the League were also shared by the majority of senators, leading to the rejection of the Treaty of Versailles. This decision allowed the U.S. to return to its former isolated

In his mind, the establishment of this “League of Nations” as it would come to be called, would be an essential part of the post-war peace treaties. In Wilson’s opinion, the USA would have to play a major role in this League of Nations. In Wilson’s eyes, that was the only way to guarantee a lasting peace.

President Wilson was seen as an the only idealistic person from the influential people in the conference. As a matter of fact the Treaty of Versailles is seen from historians’ point of views as one of the main reasons that lead to World War Two. The questions that remains a mystery is where is the peace that President Wilson wanted and promised for

In his Fourteen Points speech, he said, “A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” He believed states should work together and not let differences divide them so as to avoid another large-scale war like this one was. Leaders and delegates from all over the world met at this conference to discuss rules and regulations for how the League would operate, with meetings lasting for months, arguing over clauses and what should the League of Nations should be allowed to do or take control of. After four months of discussions and negotiations, the League of Nations adopted their “covenant”, as Wilson called it, and would rule as an assembly of countries to meet

To better understand the successes and failures of the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, it is essential to define the image he portrayed to the American population during his presidency. Many Americans and historians will claim he was a man of impartiality and the one who led America into WWI. He had a very solid influence on Congress for the many domestic and foreign affair policies he endorsed. The goal is to illustrate how President Woodrow Wilson ran his presidency in the eyes of the American citizens. This will be done by examining the many facades that President Woodrow Wilson exhibited during his term as president. Upon researching the events of President Woodrow Wilson, it is clear that he was significant in moving our nation onward and supporting the American people in every which way possible.

Together with the Treaty of Versailles, the League of Nations was established, with the aims of “disarmament,; preventing war through collective security,; settling disputes