What role did Woodrow Wilson have in World War I?
Woodrow Wilson, our 23rd president, became involved in a war that he did not want any part of. Wilson wanted to remain neutral and have peace as in his first term of office. During World War I Wilson’s roles in the war became well known in all countries. Wilson wanted peace more than anything else. In seeking for peace Wilson asked Congress for the U.S. to enter World War I. which may not sound like a peace strategy but Wilson felt it was the only way to stop Germany and gain peace. Wilson wrote his speech for world peace, Fourteen Points, that he was probably most famous for. He attended and played an integral part in The Treaty of Versailles. He was the founder of the League of Nations, which he talked about in his Fourteen Points speech. .
On April 4, 1917 President Wilson asked Congress for the U.S. to enter the war. The U.S. declared war on April 6, 1917.
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).
On January 8, 1918 Wilson presented to Congress his speech The Fourteen Points. This was a plan for freedom and peace after the war (http://www.angelfire.com/in3/wilson/wilson.html). Without going into details of the entire Fourteen Points, a quote from u-s-history.com list the following:
The first five of the Fourteen Points dealt with issues of broad international concern:
1. Open diplomacy.
2. Freedom of the seas.
3. Removal of economic barriers.
4. Reduction of armaments.
5. Adjustment of colonial claims.
The next eight points referred to specific territorial questions:
6. Conquered territories in Russia.
7. Preservation of Belgian sov...
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... In 1919 Wilson suffered a stroke and unfortunately never recovered. In that same year, Wilson received the Nobel Peace Prize. Wilson was able to continue performing every day task in his presidency until the end of his term (http://www.angelfire.com/in3/wilson/wilson.html).
Wilson had some important roles in World War I that took a tole on his health. Just the fact of being a president is enough pressure. What stands out most after much research is the fact of how much he wanted peace. One would not underestimate by saying he spent his life by trying to have world peace. He was a remarkable president and benefited our nation tremendously by his works.
References
Baggett, Blaine & Winter, Jay (1996, September). The Great War, p.220,288.
Feldmeth, Greg D. "U.S. History Resources" http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html (31 March 1998).
“World War I The Fourteen Points January I, 1918” http:///www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1324.html “The terms of the Treaty of Versailles” http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm “Woodrow Wilson Biography”
http://www.angelfire.com/in3/wilson/wilson.html
But Wilson's legacy was not confined to foreign policy. His progressive domestic programs helped stabilize and humanize a huge industrial system, and his success in making the presidency the intellectual and political leader of the American government enabled the United States to deal effectively with the challenges and threats of the modern world. But don't forget the credit of Roosevelt's "New Imperialism. " It became the hallmark of American foreign policy in the new century, positioning America as the leader of the Western alliance.
Woodrow Wilson advocated for world peace and after his famous Fourteen Points his ideas on how world peace is achieved was pretty obvious. The principles for Wilsonian Idealism are the promotion of democracy, the spread of capitalism, and the opposition of non-intervention. So self-determination and popular sovereignty were almost one in the same for Woodrow Wilson. His Wilsonianist foreign policies were driven by the freedom for a country to advance itself, the ability of the people to determine what happens in their state as well as the freedom of trade. So all of these concepts made up what Wilsonian Idealism
Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president and the current president during World War 1. Wilson played one of the most important roles in the war. Wilson Became the first democratic president elected to a second term since Andrew Jackson when he was reelected. He received 49% of the votes over republican Charles Evan Hughes. What got him the bulk of his votes was his campaign slogan “He kept us out of war”, he was exhausted from the stress and traveling of the campaign.
Wilson uses emotion and logic to back up his spin on American credibility. He uses logic of peace to create a merciful, heroic power in the war, and uses emotion to credit the cause of joining. He not only tries to increase the credibility of the country, but of himself by proving he still endorses peace. With the lens of ethos, Wilson’s speech is highly successful. He managed to create an image in the American mind of a land that heals and saves. The people he addressed believed in the war and came out victorious. However, Wilson’s fourteen points were all but ignored by European countries. He asked to end colonial claims, yet the Ottoman Empire was split to England and France (Don 103). He wanted the European countries to be merciful to the losing opponents and let them heal, but Germany ended in 35 billion dollars of debt (Don 103).The League of Nations was formed, but it was overall ineffective in times to come. Woodrow Wilson was correct, however, in his points – if the European nations had decided to follow them, they may have been capable of staying out of the next conflict: World War
in a Fourteen Points speech. the first five are: "1st, No more secret agreements. 2nd, Free
IThe United States declared war on the Central Powers in April of 1917 for several reasons. Foremost among these was the issue of unrestricted submarine warfare. The British Royal Navy had successfully blockaded Germany since the beginning of the war in 1914. This action strangled Germany's maritime trade, and gradually resulted in severe shortages of food and other necessities within the country. To counter Britain's blockade, the German Navy unleashed its submarine fleet against the Allies. The German U-Boats were given the task of sinking any merchant vessels trading with the Allies, regardless of nationality. This policy of unrestricted submarine warfare was temporarily halted after the sinking of the British passenger liner R.M.S.
In this section, Wilson had both good and bad qualities, but the bad had more drastic results, causing his grade to be a B for economic and domestic policy. Foreign policy has been a big deal for Woodrow Wilson since he served as the president during the First World War. It was said Wilson’s stubbornness and persistence shaped foreign policy, taking America from isolation to internationalism. Wilson’s original plan during World War 1 was to stay neutral, but England and France began buying American products, Germany became angry and started sinking American ships, causing Congress to declare war in 1917.
The crackdown was intensified by his Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer to include expulsion of non-citizen radicals during the First Red Scare of 1919–1920. Following years of advocacy for suffrage on the state level, in 1918 he endorsed the Nineteenth Amendment whose ratification provided all women the right to vote by its ratification in 1920, over Southern opposition. Wilson staffed his government with Southern Democrats who believed in segregation. He gave department heads greater autonomy in their management. Early in 1918, he issued his principles for peace, the Fourteen Points, and in 1919, following armistice, he traveled to Paris, promoting the formation of a League of Nations, concluding the Treaty of Versailles. Following his return from Europe, Wilson embarked on a nationwide tour in 1919 to campaign for the treaty, suffering a severe stroke. The treaty was met with serious concern by Senate Republicans, and Wilson rejected a compromise effort led by Henry Cabot Lodge, leading to the Senate's rejection of the treaty. Due to his stroke, Wilson secluded himself in the White House, disability having diminished his power and influence. Forming a strategy for reelection, Wilson deadlocked the 1920 Democratic National Convention, but his bid for a third term nomination was
To begin with, during the early years of World War I, Wilson tried his best not to interfere in European affairs and to keep America neutral with the opposing countries at war (Clements 151). Wilson’s desire was to keep his nation safe from the horror, bloodshed and troubles of the war. In an effort to establish peace between the fighting European countries, Wilson offered help in settling matters with the opposing power alliances, to negotiate an agreement that would end the violence (Cooper 363). Wilson, the peacemaker tried his best, but he failed in getting the nations to end their brutal hostility. As an act of neutrality, Wilson wanted America to continue trading goods; food, cl...
Woodrow Wilson accomplished many things while in office. During his first term, he passed was the Underwood Simons Act. It was passed by congress and signed by Wilson. This act was good for America. It lowered tariff rates from 40% to 25% (History.com Staff). This helped the American economy because
...ir racial characteristics. He also knew the value of the ethnic vote. Wilson on the other hand was a racist who brought his Virginia attitude with him to the White House. Perhaps the most ironic thing about these two men is the fact that Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1904 for helping resolve the Russian-Japanese fighting, and TR never was in office during the Great Wars while Wilson was. However, we did end up getting the United Nations from Woodrow Wilson’s presidency.
In 1918 President Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech named “The 14 Point Speech.” In his speech Woodrow Wilson outlined a plan to End WWI and to secure world peace. Wilson’s 14 points were designed to prevent wars, by securing borders, creating open treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, and reduction of armaments. The most important point of the 14 Point Speech was to create a world organization to ensure world security. During the Treaty of Versailles Wilson promoted his 14 points and tried to implement them into the peace treaty, but was faced with opposition from other Allies such as Britain, France, and Italy. Brittan, France, and Italy were more concerned at punishing Germany
Like the others, this is seen in his life and actions. As the twenty-eighth President of the United States, he was not afraid to do what he needed to promote peace and neutrality, and he tried to do what he thought was best for everyone. Within the United States itself, Wilson oversaw the passage of several policies that, while politically debatable, were intended to benefit the common people. This culminated in the creation of the Federal Reserve System, and the Clayton Antitrust Act. With these policies, Wilson intended to prevent banks and businesses from controlling people, and instead put them at the people’s service. Wilson also became involved on the international level as a proponent of world peace. During the early years of WWI, he refused to become involved in the conflict, and instead did everything that he could to resolve it through diplomatic means. He took a staunch stance of neutrality, and is quoted as saying "the true spirit of neutrality, which is the spirit of impartiality and fairness and friendliness to all concerned."(Wilson Library) Wilson was initially successful in his attempts at neutrality, and he was able to secure Germany’s pledge to not carry out any attacks against the United States. However, Germany failed to honor this agreement, and it was only then that Wilson became involved in the war. Wilson saw that if Germany was to succeed in their conquest, they would continue to spread violence throughout the world. Following the war, Wilson continued to do all he could to help establish international peace, and played a major role in the creation of the League of Nations. In doing all of this, Wilson shows what it means to be a great man. (Wilson
Wilson’s Fourteen Points was a peace program Wilson delivered to Congress; used for peace negotiations leading to the end of World War I (Textbook pg. 568). The League of Nations was an organization in which the nations of the world would join and ensure safety to all members. Only some of Wilson’s Points were successful and The Treaty of Versailles was not ratified. Also The United States failed to join the League of Nations because president Wilson was unwilling to compromise.
World War I was a magnificent war. It originally began as a result of the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, who was next in line to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1914. World War I began July 28, 1914 and ended November 11, 1918. The United States president at the time was president Woodrow Wilson. The U.S. declared war later on Germany in 1917 due to the sinking of the Lusitania, a British cruise ship with Americans on board.