The Pros And Cons Of The Treaty Of Versailles

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The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty created at the end of World War I, in hopes of establishing peace among nations. Although it sought after harmony, the United States’ Senate refused to ratify the treaty due to the distasteful idea of the United States’ involvement in the League of Nations, and Woodrow Wilson’s unwillingness to compromise with Henry Cabot Lodge’s revisions of The Treaty of Versailles.
The President of the United States after World War I was Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was an idealist who longed for peace among nations. After the war he left for Europe to attend a peace conference where he, the prime ministers of Britain, Italy, and France met to discuss what provisions had to be taken in order to weaken Germany (Tindall and
As Wilson’s attempt to ratify started to form controversy in America, Lodge presented amendments suggesting the only way the Senate would approve the treaty is if revisions could be made. Wilson in fact, refused the offer because he asserted it would enervate the whole treaty (Bailey 1957, 7). As the decision of ratification came closer, Wilson made a final attempt to help authorize the treaty. He went around America to try and advocate the treaty to the people of the United States. He gave thirty-two speeches until September 25, 1919 in Colorado where he suffered a severe stroke. Wilson’s obstinacy strengthened after his stroke, making him nearly impossible to compromise with. While Wilson was recovering from his stroke, Lodge made fourteen alterations to the treaty; most of the modifications were to the League of Nations (Tindall and Shi 2013, 1014). Bailey writes, But the iron hand of circumstance had forced Wilson to compromise away many of his points in order to salvage his fourteenth point, the League of Nations, which he hoped would iron out the injustices that had crept into the treaty. He was like the mother who throws her younger children to the pursuing wolves in order to save her sturdy first-born son” (Bailey 1957, 5). Wilson was not happy about the changes but one thing he would not let change was the last point,
Wilson’s absence of negotiation was the most essential reason why the treaty was never signed off. Bailey writes, “A good deal of compromise had already gone into the treaty, and a little more might have saved it” (Bailey 1957,

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