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21 -- The Search for a New World Order (Wilson's Wishes (Wilson's…
21 -- The Search for a New World Order
Wilson's Wishes
Fourteen points
-- Wilson's address to Congress about his postwar demands
Eight recommendations for adjusting war boundaries to replace the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires
These reflected his belief in self-determination
5 recommendations for international conduct
freedom of the seas
open covenants to replace secret treaties
reduction of armaments
free trade
The last part of his plan was the League of Nations
Flaws and effects of his plan
did not provide method to enforce self-determination
did reflect progressive ideas so the people generally liked it
The points were a response to the new Bolshevik government in Russia -- they were an attempt to keep the country in the war
also demonstrated that the world would look to the US for the postwar outlook
Wilson's dissent
Wilson embarked on a long tour to arouse public support of the Treaty.
He traveled 8,000 and hardly rested, sometimes speaking 4 times a day
He suffered a major stroke and severe headaches, which were so bad that he could not talk to anyone, maying Mrs. Wilson in charge
His left side was paralyzed and he only had a portion of his mental and emotional capacity as result of the stroke. The public was not informed of the gravity of his condition
The Senate tried first to pass the treaty with 50 reservations, which Wilson refused. Then they tried 14, but ended up voting for no reservations. The Treaty was not supported by the US.
US wishes
Pre-conference
Wilson tried to make his points appealing to the general public by asking Americans to support the Democratic candidates for Congress that year as referendum for his war claims. However, when the Republicans were elected mostly for their postwar policy, Wilson's plans lost their appeal.
The Republicans were pretty angry at Wilson for trying to make their election a referendum for his war claims.
Furthermore, Wilson refused to let the Republican negotiation team represent the US in the Versailles Conference, antagonizing them further
Ratification issues at home
Many Americans did not support Wilson's commitment to being an integral part of European order
After a long dissent with the Senate, Wilson returned to Europe in Feb. 1919 to demand to his fellow contributors that the US would not accept the League's mandate over all this territory and that the League must promise to not to challenge the Monroe Doctrine
Wilson in the mean while was suffering from the effects of an undiagnosed stroke.
There were fourteen Senators who said they would never support the Treaty on principle. Some Senators eventually forced the Wilson to compromise a bit.
Henry Cabot was one such senator who strongly opposed Wilson
In general, however, the public (apart from the Irish who were appalled that the Treaty did not create the independent nation of Ireland), the Treaty was well liked.
The President refused to yield on anything
European Nations demands
many European nations were preparing to resist Wilson's moral demands because they made the US, who was not an early influence in the war, look superior to the rest of them. They also came from a mindset where they needed supplies from the losing countries
Britain and France were determined to get something from the war from Germany. There physical land and its people lost too much to benignly beg for peace.
League of Nations and the Paris Peace Conference
League of Nations
Job was to implement new policies to resolve world conflicts
The Allies voted to support the making of the League of Nations on January 25, 1919. Wilson was convinced that this League would fix what he saw as issues in the Treaty
The League would meet regularly to debate methods to protect the peace of the world
The US was part of a nine member council and would be one of the permanent five members of the council along with Britain, France, Italy, and Japan.
The covenant most notably did not discuss how the League would enforce anything
Paris Peace Conference
Wilson was welcomed to Paris as a savior
The participants of the conference were: David Lloyd George of GB, Georges Clemenceau representing France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and Wilson -- these men were known as the Big Four
Notably, Russia was not represented because they were still fighting counterrevolutionaries in their own country. There was a fear of the threat of Communism even in this conference
The US had sent troops to Russia to supposedly save 60,000 Czech soldiers in Russia, but their actual job was to stop the communist revolution. Lenin's regime remained in power.
WIlson was unable to gain free trade and open covenants. He also was forced to give Germany's colonies to Japan because Britain had previously promised them to Japan in return for their aid during the war.
The treaty departed mostly from the points on the subject of compensation. $56 billion dollars were asked of the Germans. In the end they paided back $9 billon which was far more than they could afford
Wilson did gain the fact that most of the German colonies went to the ownership of the League of Nations. He also stopped the French proposal to break Western Germany into a bunch of tiny nations. He helped create the new nations of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia