President Woodrow Wilson presented the Fourteen Points in 1918 during his speech to Congress with hopes to have a solid plan accepted believing to be vital to the restoration of Europe in the post war world. The issues at hand required the neutral nation to make a stance for the weaker and more vulnerable countries that could not necessarily fend for themselves in the Great War. The most famous derivative from the Fourteen Points of Woodrow Wilson is indeed the world-renowned United Nations, which replaced the League of Nations after World War Two. To this day, historians have debated the President’s motives and intentions in writing the post war plan and the limitations to have a more controlled world order. After having analysed multiple interpretations of various historians, I argue that President Woodrow Wilson’s famous intervention now known as the fourteen points is indeed a direct example and expression of American ideology and interests. The United States essentially acted out as the big brother to other nations and unified them in what he sought to be the most acceptable, reasonable and efficient way possible at the time. The plans for the restoration of the European and somewhat international economy and the protection of the minorities in Europe were oddly enough in the faith of the United States, and the reflection of international forces and pressures on U.S policy was in full effect. Unfortunately, the United States Senate did not approve their membership and
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.
After America had finally established itself as an industrialized and urbanized nation to be reckoned with, the country had turned to follow a new set of ideologies described as progressive thinking; hence, the following of the Progressive Era. The Progressive Era was a period of widespread social activism and political reform that spread across the United States, and was in a response to problems that arose from immigration, industrialization, urbanization, and governmental corruption. Following the Presidential Election in 1912, this set of progressive ideologies was most sought after in a presidential candidate. This is one of the main reasons why Woodrow Wilson had won. Although many other candidates had also followed these progressive
I have taken this from an external source to show the power of idealism, and how Woodrow was perceived.
Woodrow Wilson and The Presidency From the beginning of the 1912 election, the people could sense the new ideas of Woodrow Wilson would move them in the right direction. Wilson's idea of New Freedom would almost guarantee his presidential victory in 1912. In contrast to Wilson's New Freedom, Roosevelt's New Nationalism called for the continued consolidation of trusts and labor unions, paralleled by the growth of powerful regulatory agencies. Roosevelt's ideas were founded in the Herbert Croly's novel, The Promise Of American Life written in 1910. Although both Wilson and Roosevelt favored a more active government role in economic and social affairs, Wilson's favored small enterprise, entrepreneurship, and the free functioning of
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.
Most of the World’s major Nations were in a state of turmoil from the year 1914-1918, during the conflict of World War I. This War to End all Wars began with the German’s pushing other European Nation’s buttons, including the progression of militarism, imperialism, nationalism, and the creation of alliances among all of the Nations. After the course of three years of grueling trench warfare the tide of the Germans was receding, and President Woodrow Wilson of the United States presented his famous Fourteen Points, in hope that he would direct all Nations to aspire for the establishment of world peace.
According to family records, President Thomas Woodrow Wilson was born on December 28, 1865 in Staunton, Virginia. He was born to Doctor Joseph Ruggles Wilson, a prominent Presbyterian professor, and Janet Woodrow. Wilson spent most of his childhood in Augusta, Georgia, however he always took pride in being from Virginia. From a young age, Wilson had a strong sense of what was right and what was wrong; he also based his decisions on the righteousness of his options, making him to later be one of the most prominent Progressives and reformers. Wilson’s distinguished education background proved to help him with his reforms and Presidency. In 1873 Wilson entered Davidson College in North Carolina, starting his education career. After taking a year off from school, Wilson enrolled in Princeton University in 1875. He graduated in 1879 with academic and extracurricular honors. Within the same year, Wilson enrolled in the law school at the University of Virginia. However, he withdrew from school due to poor health and continued his law studies at home.
President Woodrow Wilson tried to remain neutral when World War I broke out in 1914, but failed when the sinking of the Lusitania, caused by German hands, killed 124 Americans (Foner, 734). President Wilson viewed Germany as “the natural foe of liberty,” and declared war on April 1917 by insisting that “The world must be made safe for democracy,” (Foner, 735, Schwartz 2/16/16). After the relentless battle between nations the war ended November 11th, 1918 (Schwartz 2/16/16). The government’s involvement during World War I extended, once radical progressive ideals, into reality by shaping paths for the United States to become politically involved with the world with Wilson’s fourteen-point plan, and at home by ratifying prohibition and women suffrage.
Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president, drove America through World War I and made the Versailles Treaty's "Fourteen Points," the remainder of which was making a League of Nations to guarantee world peace. Wilson additionally made the Federal Reserve and bolstered the nineteenth Amendment, enabling ladies to vote.
second term in office. This time Wilson is running on a platform emphasizing progressive goals such as more
Wilson is very upfront with his views in his piece American Exceptionalism. He means well with his comments on how great America is compared to other countries and their ways of life, but over steps more often than not. Yes, American a great place, there is plenty of incredible opportunities, but Wilson glosses over the faults of American a bit too causally. He is quick to jump to the stats about crime that benefit American such as “by the mid- 1980s, the criminal justice policies of the two countries had switched places. America, driven by popular pressure, increased the proportion of convicted offenders sent to prison while England reduced that proportion. Crime rates fell in America and rose in England. By the early 1990s, England
Woodrow Wilson was the twenty-eighth president of these United States, he was president during World War I, and he was one of the creators of the League of Nations, which was the forerunner of the United Nations. Wilson knew of the peoples fight for freedom from oppression and tyranny firsthand, of this he famously said "Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance." Wilson’s administration is an example of a government that strived for peace after witnessing the horrors of the war to end all wars, so he helped create the League of Nations to protect the people from ever experiencing that tyranny again. Wilson is an example of a good leader using
When President Woodrow Wilson declared War on Germany in 1917, he described a goal he had for the future of American foreign policy and the World. In his war message to congress, he proclaimed, “the world must be made safe for democracy. Its peace must be planted upon the tested foundations of political liberty.” At first glance, Wilson’s goal of America’s role in the world may not sound completely new. Since the founding, Americans had hoped that the United States, by way of its foreign policy, would set an example and promote the spread of freedom and self-government.
Woodrow Wilson was the first Southerner to be elected president after the Civil War. Born on December 28, 1856 in Staunton, Va., he was the son of a Presbyterian minister who supported the Confederates. Wilson assumed the presidency after a whirlwind career as a college professor, university president and New Jersey governor. However, Wilson left the Oval Office just as heartbroken as the Confederate soldiers that returned home when he was a boy.
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