WWI was one of the deadliest and most destructive wars in human history. The total number of military and civilian casualties was about 40 million. The destruction of infrastructure and economies was massive. At the end of war, France’s GDP was about 60% of what it had been in 1914. Germany, Austria and Russia also declined severely. (The US and Great Britain prospered.) Empires and governments were fractured and fell including Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Russia. Those countries had all been ruled by monarchs. They had no experience with democracy. Not included in the 40 million casualties from the war were an additional 50 million killed by the “Spanish Flu” between 1918-1919. The armies of most of the vanquished were partially dismantled; the armies of the victors were exhausted, under or unpaid, and wanted to go home. Where to begin to restore order?
I have long held Woodrow Wilson in low esteem. In doing my research for the History of Palestine course, I have gained more appreciation for him. Wilson did his best to keep the US out of the near apocalypse that was devasting Europe. However, when a German U-boat commander released a single torpedo toward the RMS Lusitania, Wilson had no choice. Over 1,200 civilians died including 128 Americans. We entered the war in April 1916. The following year, Wilson established a commission of 150 of America’s best and brightest to determine how the peace should be resolved. Out of that came the “The 14 Points”. The most significant, long term, were points #2 (Freedom of the seas), #3 (Free Trade/minimal tariffs), #5 (self-determination for people groups) and #14 (establishment of the League of Nations.) A key reason the Germans surrendered and signed an armistice on 11-11-18 was the expectation that Wilson and his 14 points would prevail.
When Wilson arrived in Paris four weeks later, he was seen by people around the planet as being the primary voice of wisdom, reason, and compassion. He was the main hope for establishing a new and better world order that would restore peace and prosperity. He held some 150 meetings with the other key players over the next 7 months. The major nations represented at the negotiating table were France (Clemenceau), Great Britain (Lloyd George), Italy (Orlando) and Japan. However, it was essentially Wilson, Lloyd George and Clemenceau who made all the key decisions. While Wilson wanted to contain Germany, he did not want to severely punish it. Clemenceau, in particular, wanted to obliterate Germany after two devasting wars in the past half century. In addition to taking land and people from it, rendering its military impotent, and dismembering all of its overseas colonies, Clemenceau and Lloyd George also wanted a “Guilt Clause” in the Treaty of Versailles hanging full blame for the war on Germany (which it was not) and also heavy reparations. Wilson opposed both. He recognized that it would infuriate the German people and plant the seeds for a future war.
Wilson’s opposition to imperialism was based on his understanding that it was the principal cause of WW I and most wars. Wilson was responsible for the mandate system being established which called for self-determination based on race and culture of former colonies and people groups in the Ottoman Empire. (However, he was a total hypocrite when it came to applying that concept closer to home.) In the end, Wilson caved on many of his points placing his hope that through the League of Nations, issues causing future international tension would be resolved. (One explanation for why Wilson folded on so many of his principles was that he contracted Spanish Flu while in Paris which greatly debilitated him.)
While Wilson was in Paris, the mid-term elections were held in the US. Both houses of Congress switched to the Republicans. Wilson was unable to get the Senate to approve the Treaty of Versailles or to join the League of Nations. The United States backed away from the world stage and left it up to other nations to deal with global problems. Bad decision. The next world war would begin two decades later with Germany seeking to expand its empire eastward into Poland.
Though Wilson would die a frustrated and broken man, in theory, though not always in practice, he was right on many points. Another 45 million people would need to die untimely deaths before his key concepts were implemented with the United States becoming the chief architect and implementor.
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