Many factors contribute to a group of people failing to accomplish a goal, but the stubbornness of participants often is a leading cause. The Senate’s failure to ratify the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 shows this idea, due to the feud between President Woodrow Wilson and the Internationalists, and Henry Cabot Lodge and the Reservationists. The Internationalists fully supported the passing of the Treaty of Versailles, whereas the Reservationists believed it was necessary to change the Treaty, specifically Article Ten. Similarly, Borah and the Irreconcilables believed that the League of Nations was in conflict with one of the ideals the nation was founded on; to not engage in foreign entanglements. As Senator William Borah, put it, the League …show more content…
The Republicans resisted the Treaty because they believed that if it were to be ratified, Wilson’s prestige would soar and he might even be re-elected for a third time (Bailey, 184). Thus, the Republican Party was against the Treaty of Versailles in its original form out of fear. Wilson fully believed that the Treaty was going to bring world peace, and regardless of this belief, the Republican Party voted against it because of who came up with it. Wilson fought greatly for it and said that if the Treaty failed that he would gather all the soldiers who fought in World War One and tell them “I told you before you went across the seas that this was a war against wars and I did my best to fulfill the promise, but I am obliged to come to you in mortifications and shame and say I have not been able to fulfill the promise,” (Wilson). Wilson was willing to take blame for the hypothetical failure of the Treaty of Versailles and the Republicans still voted against it because they did not want Wilson’s popularity to go up. Wilson believed so strongly in Article Ten that he believed that the League of Nations would justify the United States’ honor and bring peace to the world (Wilson). The belief that the Republican Party did not ratify the Treaty because they did not want to risk another Wilson presidency is absurd. This idea perpetuates the idea that if one person, in a position of power, strongly believes in something, then it must good. One can apply this idea to how strongly Wilson believed in the Treaty of Versailles, yet it was not enough to convince the Senate that the League of Nations’ Collective Security Covenant was a good idea. It was not the Republican Party’s fear of a third term of Wilson that caused the death of the Treaty, but Wilson himself. The belief that if
Although there were different factors that contributed, they were inferior to the treaty of versailles, which caused severe exasperation and antagonization within Germany.
The Versailles Treaty helped cause WW2 due to Germany’s territorial loss as well as the strict limitations imposed on Germany’s military. Germany’s territorial losses were one of the main contributors to the beginning of WW2. Document A provides a map showing the German border before WW1, and the territorial loss by Germany after WW1. Germany lost a significant amount of land including: the Polish Corridor, Lorraine, Alsace, and Danzig. Throughout, Document A helped suggest Germany’s territorial struggles.
The Treaty of Versailles & WWII DBQ The Treaty of Versailles had the most direct impact on the general German acceptance of the Nazi Party, which in turn caused World War II to break out. While it was not the sole cause, if such harsh terms had not been imposed upon an already struggling post-war country, a war of the scale that the Second World War was might not have happened at all. David Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau both wanted to ensure a strong Germany would never return, and given the great losses from both sides this is understandable, however giving such a nationalistic country with barely a military to protect themselves will only produce one thing: rebellion. While the Treaty of Versailles ended World War One, since it took land, restricted military, needed large reparations, and demanded an admittance of guilt from Germany, it set the stage for a bigger war and was one of the
Olivia Sico Mr. Whalen History 228 29 April, 2024. The Treaty of Versailles: Assessing Its Impact on Germany There will never be justification for Nazi Germany's transgression and inhumanity. The Treaty of Versailles was created to diminish any future wars. So, what was the root cause of World War II?
How did the Versailles Treaty help cause World War II? The Treaty of Versailles was created on June 28, 1919, a year after the end of World War I. The head principals of the Versailles Treaty were George Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of England, Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States. Germany was treated unfairly after World War I. World War I wasn’t entirely their fault, they had to admit to causing it anyways.
There are many things that the Treaty of Versailles help cause World War II. Economic losses, territory loss, overpowered by size, reparation and war guilt were causes that led to World War II. The Treaty of Versailles brought World War I to an end but began World War II.
They agreed with most of the treaty that was presented to them, after the negotiations with Britain and France; however, they had an issue with the League of Nations. They did not want the United States to have to answer to the League or be tied to other countries. They believed that by joining the League, the United States would no longer be in control of its own foreign policy, jeopardizing its independence (Document A). They further believed that the American people, who up to this point had historically been isolationists (not wanting to be involved in foreign affairs), were not ready to support American participation in the League of Nations. Furthermore, they believed that collective security was unlikely to work - it would help with large scale issues like World War, but it would be counterproductive when it came to minute disputes, and they did not want the United States to be tied down by foreign entanglements and alliances (Document E). Wilson, however, was uncompromising, he realized that if the League was created without the United States in the it, Britain and France would take control and punish Germany economically for the war, which they did, and it led to another world
On September 3, 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the revolutionary war between the United States and Great Britain. After the Treaty of Paris was signed, the U.S broke away from what appeared to be a corrupt government in England and the American leaders formed the concepts of their ideal society. The end of the American Revolution instigated much change within the newly independent nation, particularly political and diplomatic. From the years 1783 to 1801 the U.S faced many political and diplomatic issues including a weak national government, the national debt, international relations,
On October 2, 1919, at the White House in Washington, D.C., United States President Woodrow Wilson suffered a massive stroke that left him partially paralyzed on the left half of his body. Wilson had poured all his strength into a last-ditch effort to win public support for the Versailles treaty and its vision of international cooperation through a league of nations after World War 1. After the senate foreign relations committee began it debate on the treaty, Wilson took the unprecedented step of appearing before the committee to argue for ratification, making it clear he would accept no changes to the treaty. While the committee— headed by Wilsons nemesis republican senator Henry Cabot Lodge—voted on many amendments to the treaty, while ignoring
As World War I came to a close with a victory for the allies, nearly 10 million soldiers were killed in combat while 10 million more were injured. Although the war was over, global problems, economic problems, and ways to settle disputes, became a controversy that seemed unsolvable. Hoping to end the chaos, President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, came up with a plan called the League of Nations. In this League they attempted to make the Treaty of Versailles fair while punishing Germany. Although it was designed to settle the conflicts, the Treaty of Versailles produced German anger and humiliation, sowing the seeds for World War II. The Treaty of Versailles did this by imposing territorial loss with military restrictions, economic reparations,
President Wilson's own ineptitude and stubbornness is what led to the Senate's defeat of the Treaty of Versailles, rather than the strength of the opposing forces. Even Wilson's closest and most trusted advisors could not sway his stance. Wilson was strong in his stance and incorporated the idea of the 14 points. While it is true that opposing forces contributed to defeat the treaty, it was Wilson's unmovable position that led to its ultimate defeat in the Senate.
During World War I (WWI) the soldiers utilized new tactics such as the use of machine guns and chemical warfare. As a result, the number of fatalities reached the millions. Seven months after World War I came to an end, the Allied nations, Great Britain, France, and the United States, came up with an idea to establish a treaty with hopes of preventing another calamitous war from breaking out in Europe. This treaty is called the Versailles Treaty and it was signed on June 28, 1919. Unfortunately, Germany had no say in the matter and was one of the nations listed in the Treaty of Versailles. This incident caused Germany to display signs of bitterness and conflict eventually erupted. (Background Essay) One could argue that the Versailles Treaty was the spark that fueled World War II (WWII) for numerous reasons such as territorial losses, mandatory reparation payments, and the
treaty, eventually defeated by Senate, was victim to criticism from a variety of audiences ranging
In the aftermath of World War I, during the years 1917-1921, President Wilson advocated the Treaty of Versailles, which called for the principle of self-determination, the formation of a League of Nations, and general amnesty towards Germany, as the solution for peace. However, his unwillingness to compromise led to widespread disagreement. The opposition forces in the U.S. senate consisted of the reservationists, who were willing to ratify the Treaty of Versailles with amendments, and the irreconcilables, who refused to join the League of Nations under any circumstances. If President Wilson was only willing to modify the language of the treaty, ratification may have occurred.
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.