America's Involvement and the Intentions of Wilson’s Fourteen Point Plan

652 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: What were the social, political, and economic effects of World War I on Europe

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.

Wilson’s first proposal for the treaty among the Nations stated that no secret treaties should be made among Nations. This point is important, because unknown treaties and betrayals are what started and continued the war, and an end to this practice would greatly prevent the chance of new wars. This point is directly related to America’s involvement in the war, with the intercepted Zimmermann Note. This note sent by Germany proposed a secret treaty between their Nation and Mexico, granting them back land in possession of America, including: Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, if they caused the U.S. to break out into war.

The second point that Wilson proposed was the declaration for the freedom of the seas. I do not believe that America was directly affected by this problem during the war, but rather saw it as a chance to remove dangerous practices that so nearly destroyed the entire people of Germany. The practice of blockades and unrestricted submarine warfare were remarkably effective, and Wilson felt that it was in fact too effective, and must be removed to prevent any future wars.

Wilson’s third point encouraged the practice o...

... middle of paper ...

...s Fourteen point policy, as listed above, were not perfect, yet it greatly appealed to the people of all Nations, and brought hope of peace at the end of the war. On November 11, 1918, on the eleventh hour, Germany sounded its surrender. Sadly, at the press conference in the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, the other three of the Big Four rejected many of the points, and light many fuses, especially in Germany. Despite these efforts, the interference of America in the war, only served as a setback, as Germany lays in wait for their rightful return to power. With a grim future, America can be satisfied with two points. One, that they both physically and verbally helped to unite the world’s powers in a way that prevents Imperialistic wars, and two, that America can stand as a beacon of hope for the revival of a Nation’s spirit, and the establishment of peace.

Show More
Related

  • Woodrow Wilson and World War I

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    The German’s unrestricted submarine warfare was the main reason for the U.S. to enter war. Wilson had tremendous support from Americans. The Germans had to be stopped. The attacks came without warning killing many innocent people (Winter and Baggett, 1996). The Germans sank numerous ships including our own. The most famous ship sunk was the Lusitiania. Aboard that ship 128 Americans were killed (http://www.angelfire.com/in3/wilson/wilson.html). The Lusitania was torpedoed without any notice. The Lusitania sunk in 18 minutes killing a total of 1198 people (http://www.poltechnic.org/faculty/gfeldmeth/chart.ww1.html).

    Read More

  • America’s Great War: World War I and the American Experience by Robert H. Zieger

    1764 Words  | 4 Pages

    Both sides accepted the United States’ aid but they also sought to cut-off each other’s supply chain. While the Allies barricaded Germany’s ports with the British Navy, Germany began attacking merchant ships using their submarines, or U-boats. While Wilson was angered by the British tactics he was even more infuriated by the German’s. This would be the ultimate end of U.S. neutrality as Wilson would sternly address Germany’s actions and not Britain’s.

    Read More

  • Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt's Imperialistic America

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    American taking part in imperialism gained its motion from both economic and cultural justifications that stemmed from America's history of expansion; American imperialism only varied slightly in the first few generations of presidents as we will explore sampling from Theodore Roosevelt's presidency on into Woodrow Wilson's presidency. American's previous western expansion became the breeding grounds for American imperialistic justification. Though cultural justifications were used to keep the public interest in support of imperialism economic justifications were viewed as more important throughout the history of imperialism, even in uniting the similarities of Theodore Roosevelt's and Woodrow Wilson's imperial agendas.

    Read More

  • Theodore Roosevelt vs Woodrow Wilson

    876 Words  | 2 Pages

    On the other side, Wilson was determined to revise the imperialist practices of earlier administrations, promising independence to the Philippines and making Puerto Ricans American citizens. But Wilson's own policies could sometimes be high-handed. His administration intervened militarily more often in Latin America than any of his predecessors. In the European war, American neutrality ended when the Germans refused to suspend submarine warfare after 120 Americans were killed aboard the British liner Lusitania and a secret German offer of a military alliance with Mexico against the United States was uncovered. In 1917, Congress voted overwhelmingly to declare war on Germany.

    Read More

  • U.S. Neutrality in World War I

    488 Words  | 1 Pages

    Although the United States was against the blockade, it had very little impact on the U.S. economy. With Great Britain going to war, the United States produced enough war-related exports to pull it out of its prewar recession. Although Wilson claimed neutrality, he held sympathetic feelings toward Great Britain. After all, the Americans shared language and culture with the English, in contrast to Germany, who ruled their nation in a more militaristic manner. Because Wilson did nothing in response to Great Britain’s violation of American neutrality, Germany saw this as an indication of siding with the English.

    Read More

  • Ww1 Interventionism

    688 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Zimmerman telegram clearly stated that Germany would help Mexico get back their lost lands from the American Southwest if they waged war against America. In the document “Germany Must Not Be Allowed to Win the War, it is explained that, “German agents have undoubtedly been at work in Mexico arousing anti-American feeling...Germans also appear to be operating in Haiti and San Domingo and are probably doing so in other Latin American republics” (D). Germany had tried to persuade Latin American nations to fight against America because of their proximity to this country. Interventionists believed that to stop the risks of Latin American countries waging war on us, we should get involved first to display our strength and not be threatened. American interests were best sheltered by interventionists because our lands would be protected and defended by joining the

    Read More

  • The Legacy of the Great War by William R. Keylor

    937 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the Peace Conference there was two themes that was very critical. The first is that each victorious European ally had betrayed the new diplomacy of President Woodrow Wilson and therefore deprived the postwar international order of its moral

    Read More

  • Treaty Of Versailles

    991 Words  | 2 Pages

    What started with an assassination of an Austrian prince unpopular in with royalty in Vienna and plotters in Belgrade ended in war. Four years of artillery, machine guns, and poison gas had ruined the countryside of Europe. Woodrow Wilson put the blame for dead millions at the feet of secret diplomacy, excessive armament, imperialism, and the lack of international cooperation. His plan for a lasting peace was presented to the world in the form of the Fourteen Points, some of which were present in the final plan for peace, the Treaty of Versailles, which faced internal opposition at home. It was the strength of this opposition, from self or fawning-historian labeled "progressives" to conservatives and isolationists, in conjunction with the intractability and incompetence of President Wilson that encouraged the Senate defeat of the Treaty of Versailles.

    Read More

  • The Espionage Act and The Sedition Act

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    ...Wilson took on the persona of the leader of a “righteous war”, and with much support from the people approached Congress asking for a declaration of war (James and Wells, 26). While not everyone was supportive of the war, the vast majority was extremely pro-war. Congress passed the declaration of war against Germany primarily based on its unrestricted usage of U-boats against American ships. Thus through actions taken by the Germans, the United States would begin its involvement in the Great War.

    Read More

  • The Treaty of Versailles

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Treaty of Versailles was a violation of Wilson’s ideals. The Treaty is one of the most important agreements (or disagreements) that shaped 20th century Europe socially and physically. Woodrow Wilson on January 22, 1917 in an address to the United States Senate called for a peace without victors, but the Treaty signed by the participating nations was everything but that. The blame for the war was placed on Germany and justified the reparations that were outlined by the treaty for the war. The terms of the treaty were very harsh to the Germans and they took on great resentment. It was a fragile peace agreement that would be used as fuel to keep hostilities going 20 years later.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of President Woodrow Wilson And Franklin D. Roosevelt

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    people wanted (Doc 1a). Wilson wasn’t very strict on his neutrality though. As WWI continued exports to Germany decreased as they greatly increased for Great Britain (Doc 1b). The U.S. still favored Great Britain and its allies and were not very neutral in trade. It raises the question if Germany was wrong to sink merchant ships. In response to the destruction of passenger and merchant ships Wilson wrote notes to the German leadership and made strong protests against their actions (Doc 2). Germany promised to stop the attacks, but later broke their promise leading to the U.S. entering the war. As stated before Roosevelt also supported neutrality. His actions before the war (WWII) were more drastic then Wilson’s. He put trade embargo’s on Japan fearing their increasing aggressiveness toward other nations and their possible threat to the United States and stationed the U.S. fleet at Hawaii (Doc 7). Roosevelt believed the best way to help European nations was to act as a beacon of liberty and restr...

    Read More

  • Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles. When the peace processes were to start after the end of World War One, there were four people who were major components in the treaty of Paris: Clemenceau, George, Orlando, and Wilson. Clemenceau wanted revenge on the Germans by punishing them through the treaties because he believed that they were at fault for the war; George was in agreement with Clemenceau although he did not feel that Germany should suffer severe punishment; Orlando who wanted the irredenta to be re-established; and President Wilson of the United States of America wanted to create a mild peace with Germany in a fair way. In view of this, Wilson created fourteen points that he wanted accomplished in full as a result of the peace treaties. His fourteen points were his plan for a world peace and included plans for the end of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, the just settlement of colonial claims, the establishment of a League of Nations, and the evacuation of occupied territories and national self-determination.

    Read More

  • Just War Theory Essay

    763 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Treaty of Versailles is an example of how the neglect of principles proposed by the Catholic Church, namely social restoration, just accords, long-term security and physical reconstruction, can lead to lasting global repercussions and future wars. The sanctions were enforced in the hope of slowing German recovery and eliminating future conflict. However, the United States didn’t sign this treaty because we recognized that it didn’t give the Germans a fair deal or promote long-term security (Treaty).

    Read More

  • Differences Of Wilson And Woodrow Wilson's Decree On Peace

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lenin’s decree states good points on how to achieve a brief period of peace and opens it up to negotiations on how to alter the decree to better serve the purpose of peace. The Fourteen Points directly say exactly what Wilson believes is needed and is included in his declaration of entering the war. The Fourteen Points possibly would have been the best plan for the world and did help with the good aspects of the conclusion of the war; however, every country in Europe had it’s own agenda that did not adhere to the wants of the foreign United States of America. In the course of human history, what is best for the people of the world is not what transpires and this is evidently seen in the ambitious ideals put forth by Vladimir Lenin and Woodrow

    Read More

  • Paris Peace Conference

    739 Words  | 2 Pages

    It has been almost a century since the first Paris Peace Conference was hold, but even until now, it is a popular yet also controversial event in the history of the world. The Paris Peace Conference took place in 1919 involving more than 1,000 representatives from over 30 nations. The results of the Conference are five treaties regarding terms that, according to the Conference, shall prevent any upcoming conflicts among nations. Although World War II started only after 15 years, nonetheless, the treaties did function as a buffer between countries. Although many resolutions were discussed, the negotiation of the Conference revolves around four main topics, reparation from the previous war losses or limitations on the main Central Power, Germany, self-recognition, President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, and the annexation of land.

    Read More

More about America's Involvement and the Intentions of Wilson’s Fourteen Point Plan

Open Document