War Message On Congress, By Woodrow Wilson

He labeled the conflict as “a war against all nations” exemplifying the distress that other countries have experienced due to the unbiased and relentless bombing of their own neutral ships (Safire 111). By associating the United States with other friendly countries who are also at odds with Germany, Wilson’s cry for war seemed more convincing. He went on to assert that the choice made by the U.S must be befitting to the singular characteristics of the country and that they must be very clear what their motives upon entry into the war were: not vengeance or profession of physical might, but to defend the principles of peace and justice and “to set up amongst the free people of the world an observance of these ideals” (Safire 113). We were entering the war not to battle with the German people, but to combat a greater menace, the system that had impended these violations (Baker 512).

When President Wilson sought to enter the war, however, his objectives went beyond the defense of U.S. maritime interests. In his War Message to Congress, he stated that the U.S. objective was “to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world.” The U.S. Senate voted On April 4, 1917, in support of the measure to declare war on Germany. Two days later the House concurred. [5]

Wilson’s fourteen points summarise the quest for international cooperation in achieving and maintaining peace. However, this can be questioned as the first paragraph also suggests a self-centred approach taken by Wilson. The speech suggests that the USA is the only ones with the capacity to achieve such peace, the programme of the world's peace, therefore, is our programme; and that programme, the only possible programme. It reflects a world view and hierarchy, suggesting one big American alliance rather than an idea of international cooperation. This is also further illustrated on in Wilson’s speech, his concern for the safety of the USA is key in the way he treats countries such as Russia and Germany, and his disagreement with some of the terms in the Treaty of Versailles. In point six of the speech when dealing with Russia it talks of securing the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world. Wilson was careful in how he achieved peace, as he wanted to maintain relationships with countries within Europe, whilst keeping USA dominance ad not upsetting France and Clemenceau who wanted harsh treatment of Germany. This is illustrated in point eight of Wilson’s fourteen points.

Zieger points out a great question concerning this vague reason for going to war: If the pathological character of the German state was truly the reason for American entry, why did Wilson take so long to recognize its irredeemable evil? (Zieger, 54) Other would question Wilson's motives and influences for going to war or not going to war earlier for decades to come. Wilson's vision of neutrality and facilitating as peace maker for the warring nations as Roosevelt did in 1906 (Davidson, 647) came to questionable end. Wilson's next vision would be to facilitate peace as a member of the Allies and secure the world from another such war.

Out of the many speeches given by President Woodrow Wilson regarding World War One, two in particular serve as a sort of showcase of the changing role of the United States in global politics during the early 20th century. The first is Wilson’s Address to the Senate of the United States: “A World League for Peace” (“World League”). The second is Wilson’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Conditions of Peace, also known as his 14 Points. Although the themes of these speeches have similar ideals such as the quest for self-determination and multiple countries uniting to prevent aggression, the proceedings at Brest-Litovsk make 14 Points speech both a continuation and a shift from the “World League” one. Wilson’s 14 Points speech reflects the commitment of the United States to enter the war and enforce its own agenda (as well as that of the other Allies), a drastic change from its earlier neutrality.

Despite Wilson’s best efforts to stay neutral during World War One, he was was not able to accomplish that task. Entering the war was not going to be a fruitless endeavor, however. The main goals of American participation during World War One was to protect freedom and democracy, and to spread it to the other countries of the world, to help ensure financial stability, and to protect the ships that the German U-Boats were destroying. Wilson’s 14 points helped to reflect the goals of freedom and democracy by generally pushing for a more peaceful world. One of the main reasons for the 14 points existence was to share Wilson’s postwar hope for the world. In the fourteen points, he also lays out a proposition for freedom of the seas. This

It may look this way at first, but the picture actually shows much more than what might be seen at first glance. There is a two documents that Wilson is seen holding in the picture. One of those documents clearly says, “Congress the war declaring body called to convene,” and has the date April 2 printed on it. The other document that Wilson is holding in his other hand says, “American ships sunk without warning, american lives lost. The second document that Wilson is holding that details the sunk american ships is clearly referring to the Lusitania, which was sunk without warning on May 7, 1915. This can also be seen as an example of Yellow Journalism which was heavily put into use at the time to rile up the americans and push the agenda of war. The other document says that congress is meeting to declare war. This is clearly alluding to president Woodrow Wilson calling congress to meet in April 2, 1917. What makes this obvious is the date that can be seen written on the document. What ties these two documents together is the fact that the U.S was pulled into the war because of the sinking of the Lusitania. Woodrow signing the document to call congress to convene while holding the news of the sinking of the Lusitania only shows that he has retaliation in mind. There the congress convened and declared war on Germany and its allies. The U.S finally enter

President Wilson was determined to achieve peace. He based his peacemaking efforts in the academic argument Fourteen Points. Ideas of freedom of the seas, internationalism and justice for all were embedded in his idealistic approach, in an attempt to making long lasting peace.

A second way in which it was a turning point was that Wilson set forth for a plan for “just and secure peace,” and not merely “a new balance of power.” His Fourteen Points outlined his vision for a safer and democratic world, whilst the proposal of an international organisation to serve as a forum against any future escalating conflicts emphasised this (The League of Nations). However, the European leaders ignored each of Wilson’s points one by one, forcing Germany to admit guilty to the war and pay endless amounts of reparations (The war guilt clause). The US Senate believed that any involvement in The League of Nations (part of the treaty) could place America at the forefront of oversea problems and therefore could not ratify it as it could be of no benefit to the country or its people. This fits in with her return to isolationist policy and the passing of the Neutrality Law in 1937. Therefore, The USA’s entry could merely be seen as a milestone as they entered the war as an associated power in order to avoid foreign

Wilson's Fourteen Points were a decent attempt at peace and restitution after the Great War; however, there were many inherent problems with the Wilsonian agenda. These problems were caused by many things, including Allied bias, American ambition, and Western European dominance. While trying to fix many problems in Europe, the Fourteen Points mainly concentrated on the things that were important to the Allied powers: France was bent on revenge, Great Britain was looking to further its power over the seas, and America was keen on becoming an even more powerful trade nation.

President Woodrow Wilson’s “War Message” addresses the momentous event of breaking neutrality and declaring war on the German government. Wilson explains that America can no longer remain stagnant. He calls his audience to action, through a tactical combination of both structured logic and emotional inclusion. Wilson begins his deduction with several points, starting with the details of the submarine warfare and the “wholesale destruction of men, women, and children” endured not only by the American people but various other countries (2). Wilson asserts that neutrality is no longer possible since peace and the freedom of the individuals of the world were under a direct threat (5). He reassures the audience that although his intentions were the same and he fully intended on keeping the American people safe, avoiding the war and remaining uninvolved was no longer a reality (4).

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson wrote and spoke one of his famous speech: War Message. President Wilson wants to ensure the people 's hope and faith from the war. As President Wilson (1917) stated in his speech "Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it... Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion."was to fix the issue the nation was in. President Wilson wants to show the people that we need to get involved war for the loss of many American lives that Germany took. Wilson persuades to Congress to go to war. President Wilson shows his persuasion effectively by using rhetorical strategies. Each strategy he used gave more persuasion to Congress to declare war on Germany. All the persuasion he used to convince Congress was put in his famous speech War Message.

Woodrow Wilson’s speech” War Message to Congress” describes the United Sates entry into World War 1, and the greatest threat to freedom in the entire world. Wilson considers the greatest threat to freedom in the world is an autocratic government. Autocratic is referring to someone who is in complete power, which in the case he was talking about the government of the German people. Wilson said,” The menace to peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people” (Wilson 1). He is saying that the problem does not lie with the Germen people, but the autocratic government. The citizens of Germany have no say in what their government decides. Wilson is extremely hesitant to enter the war, but after Germany attacking ships with American citizens on them, he has no choice but to declare war on them. Since Wilson sees the autocratic government being the greatest threat to freedom, his intentions of the

The fourth point on Wilsons plan was the reducing of armies of all nations to a bare minimum. This did not go over well at all. No nation wanted to be told by the United States that it had to reduce its army. This point was tied to Americas participation in the war because America could significantly reduce its army and still be safe. It had 2 oceans to protect it, unlike every other nation, especially those in Europe. This was another point to basically put America on top, and secure its rank as the number one nation in the world

In the early months of 1918, the dynamics of The Great War ravaging Europe changed dramatically. On March 3rd, Germany and the Russian Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, officially ending Russia’s involvement in the war and freeing Germany’s forces previously occupied on the Eastern Front . That same month, Germany launched an extensive attack in France along the Somme River, knocking a devastating blow to the Allies. By the summer of 1918, the United States had escalated it’s involvement in the war, sending over mass amounts of troops and coordinating with European powers to essentially back the German offensive into a position of little advancement. As Germany recognized its failing position in the war, the officials in the German High Command began quietly pursuing negotiations of peace and cease fire, not from their European counterparts, but from American President Woodrow Wilson . Germany was hoping to benefit from President Wilson’s ideals of peace and justice for all, ideals he had laid out publicly that year in a January speech outlining his “blueprint for a new democratic world order.” These Fourteen Points became the cornerstone of Wilson’s contribution to the peace negotiations following the armistice that ended the war in November of 1918. Focusing on the belief that an established system of democracy, communication and peace would prevent further atrocities like World War I, the Fourteen Points centered on equal representation and opportunity