Woodrow Wilson: World War I and the League of Nations|5-Minu…
Woodrow Wilson: World War I and the League of Nations|5-Minute Videos
In his very first term as president, Woodrow Wilson sought to change America. In his 2nd term, he sought to transform the world.
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Script:
For over a hundred years, the United States of America had counted on the genius of people to solve issues. It was extremely productive however often disorderly, causing the greatest economic expansion in world history.
For Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States, the time had actually concerned bring order to that mayhem. That would imply less flexibility for the individual, but, a minimum of in theory, more equality across society.
It was an exchange that perfectly fit into his progressive worldview: that the government should be active in every aspect of American life.
In an amazing first term, Wilson laid the groundwork for this transformation of America.
In his second term, Wilson sought to change the world.
The First World War– 1914 to 1918– provided him the chance.
Wilson did whatever he could to keep the country out of that war. The factor he won his re-election in 1916 was his promise not to send out American young boys to fight on another continent.
Within 2 years, over 2 million Americans would be on that continent. Over a hundred thousand would pass away.
German aggression, particularly its submarine warfare that killed numerous Americans, made it very tough for Wilson to keep the nation out of the war.
The final straw was the notorious “Zimmermann Telegram” in which the German federal government guaranteed to assist Mexico recover much of the Southwest if Mexico would stir up problem along the Rio Grande.
On April 2, 1917, Wilson requested a statement of war. Congress provided it to him four days later.
If Wilson believed the federal government was supreme during peacetime, just how much more so during wartime? To turbo charge the war effort, Wilson basically took control of the US economy. He nationalized whole markets, allocated food and fuel, fixed rates, and raised the leading income tax rate to 77%.
Criticism of the war was essentially forbidden. German authors like Bach and Beethoven were banned, teaching the German language in schools was prohibited, and sauerkraut was renamed “liberty cabbage.”
To his credit, Wilson left the prosecution of the war to his generals, and America did certainly turn the tide in favor of the Allies.
On November 11, 1918, the Germans, unable to counter America’s financial and military may, accepted stop battling.
Peace was at hand.
What would that peace appearance like?
As always, Wilson had a vision. He called it the Fourteen Points.
The key point was the production of a global League of Nations.
Wilson was so devoted to this concept that he decided to go to Europe personally and negotiate the peace contract. Europeans greeted him as a conquering hero, lining the streets any place he went.
Wilson’s impulse was to give Germany generous peace terms. He wanted what he called “peace without triumph.” The French and British saw things much differently. Having suffered so grievously, they desired Germany significantly punished.
Wilson believed that was a dreadful mistake, but eventually yielded. It was a rate he wanted to pay to get the Allies to accept his League of Nations.
However while Wilson had actually sold the League to the Europeans, he could not sell it to Congress.
Republicans and even some Democrats were leery that the League needed member nations to counter “external hostility” against “all members.” They feared this might cause endless American participation in foreign wars.
Wilson brushed aside their concerns and took his case straight to the American individuals, convinced that as soon as they comprehended it, they would accept it. The speaking tour took everything Wilson had and more.
On October 2, 1919, he suffered an enormous stroke, rendering him partially paralyzed.
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source
In his first term as president, Woodrow Wilson sought to transform America. If Wilson believed the federal government was supreme throughout peacetime, how much more so throughout wartime? To supercharge the war effort, Wilson basically took control of the United States economy. Criticism of the war was basically prohibited. Wilson’s impulse was to give Germany generous peace terms.
