Wilson Fights for Peace
His Plan
• Goes to Europe to propose his ideas
– Did not expect rejection
• 14 Points Speech
– Divided into 3 groups
– First 5 points were to prevent another war
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No secret treaties among nations
Freedom of the seas
Tariffs and other economic barriers should be lowered and/or abolished
Arms should be reduced
Colonial policies should consider the interests of the colonial people as well as
the interests of the imperialist powers
– Next 8 points dealt with boundary changes
– 14th point called for the creation of an international organization to
address diplomatic crises like those that had sparked the war
• League of Nations > able to discuss and settle grievances by other means
Rejection
• Georges Clemenceau French premier lived
through 2 German invasions of France
• David Lloyd George was British Prime Minister
and wanted to “make Germany pay”
• Vittorio Orlando was Italian prime minister and
wanted control of Austrian held territory
• These 3 plus Wilson -> the “Big 4”
• Russia not included in this discussion…. Why?
• Wilson concedes on most of his 14 points to
establish the League of Nations
Treaty of Versailles
• Big 4 plus leaders of the defeated nations
gather to sign the peace treaty
• Provisions
– Established 9 new nations
– Gave 5 areas from Ottoman Empire to France and
Great Britain
– Barred Germany from maintaining an army and
required them to pay reparations of $33 billion to
the allies
Treaty’s Weaknesses
• Humiliated Germany
– War guilt clause -> made Germany take sole
responsibility for starting WWI
– Germany could not pay the huge war reparations
• Russia loses more territory than Germany
– Will want to regain this territory
• Treaty ignored claims of colonized people
– Vietnamese demand same political rights that
were present in Western nations
Opposition to the Treaty
• Opposition faced upon Wilson’s return to the
U.S.
– People believed treaty was too “harsh”
• Did not end imperialism
– Exchanged one group of rulers for another
• New national boundaries did not satisfy some
cultures demands for self-determination
Debate Over League of Nations
• Possibly threatened the U.S. foreign policy of
isolationism
• Conservatives wanted constitutional right of
Congress to declare war not a joint action
Wilson Won’t Compromise
• Becomes ill, has a stroke, and become
paralyzed from waist down
• November 1919 -> treaty came up for vote in
the Senate
– Had a lot of amendments attached
– Did not pass the Senate
• Wilson refuses to negotiate its terms
• Failed in the Senate again
– U.S. never joins the League of Nations
Legacy of War
• Normality would not exist
• WWI strengthens the U.S. military and
government’s power
• Differences for women and blacks