Woodrow Wilson vs the Senate

woodrow wilson vs the senate

“The Only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”

They say time is a great teacher. How true. History has taught us that peace must be kept at all costs. At the end of World War 1, the common goal between the victorious nations throughout the world was to declare peace. The leading statesmen of these triumphant nations met in Paris to draw up the Treaty of Versailles, which would decide the fate of the central powers. Woodrow Wilson, the American President, created fourteen points as the basis for peace negotiations. Among these fourteen points was the most controversial and yet the most important to President Wilson, the League of Nations.

President Wilson developed its charter and soon died from exhaustion after his own country, the United States, refused to ratify it in the senate. American policy had temporarily shifted from isolationism to internationalism because of the war, however the United States senate was not ready for the responsibilities of a world peacekeeper. Due to a republican majority, senators Henry Cabot Lodge, Alfred Beveridge, and other isolationist senators helped to sway the rest of congress to deny the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles. These senators believed that by entangling themselves in an international organization they would create new alliances, which would commit them to go to war. Also, Lodge felt that the League of Nations would be able to control the United States military by limiting the number of armaments that a nation could have. Due to Article 10 and the limitations on armaments, which the senators objected, and the inability to compromise on the deadlock between the President’s beliefs and the Senators, led to the failure to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. These factors lead the senate to their decision, which left the world vulnerable for another war and the eventual demise of the League of Nations.

The Fourteen Points were one of Wilson’s major accomplishments while he held office.

Wilson introduced this theory on what he believed were successful measures in not only preventing Germany from beginning a war again, but to prevent all wars. After all World War One was the war to end all wars. These Fourteen Points included proposals such as freedom of the seas, general disarmament, the removal of international trade barriers, impartia...

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...n and his political rival were stubborn and stayed in a deadlock. Therefore, the treaty failed to be ratified. Wilson died on February 3, 1924 and along with him died the United States involvement in the League of Nations and the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles.

Out of the Fourteen Points came Wilson’s most important achievement at Versailles, the creation of an international peacekeeping organization, the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson did all that he could to gain the support of his people for the acceptance of the League of Nations in the Treaty of Versailles. He believed that the idea of collective security was the key to keeping world peace. Yet, Wilson was ahead of his time. America was not ready to switch from an isolationist state to an international peacekeeper. The American senate wanted to make changes to the treaty in order to secure their international stand on domestic issues. But Wilson was unwilling to compromise on securing peace for mankind, so Wilson gained nothing. The ratification of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations would fail, however the idea still burned on, and the United Nations would be formed after the Second World War.