World War I And The United Policy Of Strict Neutrality

After the end of World War I the United States entered into a period of isolationist foreign policy. On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson announced the United States’ objectives through his Fourteen Points. His fourteenth point proposed a league of nations to protect international security and stability. After the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the Treaty

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.

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

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

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.

When World War 1 began in 1914, the United States was neutral and wanted to remain that way because their chief objective was to continue doing business with Great Britain, France and Russia (Keene, Cornell & O’Donnell, 2013). By remaining neutral, America would benefit from all sides. We know that this would cause hatred among other nations. However, what really caused the United States to part-take in the war was the “sinking of the Lusitania ship by a German submarine.” This was a British Passenger ship that was transitioning from New York to the British Islands and had crossed into the war-zone. This was not a mistake as what was described in that driver who took the wrong turn, ending the lives of Archduke Francis and his wife that started the initial war 1 (Keene, Cornell & O’Donnell, 2013, p. 595). Was that ship smuggling ammunition and other contraband on board the passenger ship? If this is true, we can see how the heart of man is very brutal; the love of money is the root to all evil. America had to find a way in protecting their loan to Britain. Overall, one can say, if Archduke had given Serbia its independence from Australia to a Slavic state, would there be a World War 1 (DeVry University, 2016)

The Fourteen Points were distributed all over the world. On November 5, Wilson delivered the peace plan to the German government (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1234.html). The Germans surrender November 11,1918 and expect a peace treaty under Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The war was now over. Many lives were loss because of the war. There was disease and starvation that killed ten million civilians. In addition, ten million soldiers were killed (http://www.polytechnic.org/faculty/gfeldmeth/chart.ww1.html).

The Fourteen Points was a speech that was given by Woodrow Wilson to be used as peace negotiations after World War I. Woodrow Wilson was president at the time and the speech was broadcasted all over the world. There were fourteen points given in the speech, as the name implies. This was actually pretty unsuccessful because many of the countries wanted to punish Germany more so they only kept one point, the final one. This point established a league of nations.

The Wilsonian Moment was a short period of history that lasted from the last days of the Great War to the end of the peace conference. Out of this period came the term and idea of Wilsonianism. Wilsonianism was developed by Woodrow Wilson during his years as the President of the United States. President Wilson was noted for his creation of the Fourteen Points which became the basis for Wilsonianism. The one point that made such a large impact was the concept of self-determination. During Wilson’s Fourteen Points he had made several references to the creation of states based upon allegiances and nationality. Furthermore, he stressed the colonial possessions must be adjusted and that the

When the First World War erupted in Europe on July 28, 1914; President Woodrow Wilson formally proclaimed that the United States would remain neutral on August 4, 1914. However, the United States did not stick to this proclamation, and eventually became involved in the war efforts. This investigation aims to evaluate the reasons the United States violated their neutrality in order to join the war. In inquiring into the reasons of the United States’ entry into the war, the Zimmermann telegram will be assessed. Primary sources, Message to Congress., 2d Sess., Senate Doc and War Messages, 65th Cong., 1st Sess. Senate Doc. No. 5 by Woodrow Wilson will also be assessed. Online sources, for example

A devastating war had left much of Europe in ruin and smoke, but a task almost as difficult as the war was still ahead for the allies, devising a treaty. President Woodrow Wilson had come up with a fourteen point plan, which he proposed to the allied leaders of France, Italy, and Britain. Although this plan was eventually voted down by the senate, and never passed, several key points were put into the treaty that was accepted by the senate.

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

Assess the impact of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points on the Paris Peace Settlement and determine whether Wilson was successful in his goals.