History

3 Pages 754 Words

It was President Woodrow Wilson’s belief that "To conquer with arms is to make only a temporary conquest; to conquer the world by earning its esteem is to make permanent conquest." In Wilson's time, America wanted to focus on its domestic problems --Democrats and Republicans alike. Wilson made every effort to keep the United States out of World War I. In 1914, he announced that the U.S. would not take sides in the war.
In 1917, frustrated with his efforts to mediate a peace, Wilson becomes convinced that both sides needed to cease hostilities. Shortly after, he declared war, saying the world needed to be safe for democracy. A year later, he listed his goals for a war-free world, including a League of Nations and the Fourteen Points. In 1918, the Germans surrendered, expecting a peace treaty from Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
Wilson sought to create a new world order after World War I that simply did not include war as a legitimate tool of foreign policy. The first five points called for an end to secret treaties between nations, demanded freedom of navigating the seas, equal trading practices and elimination of protective tariffs, reduction of armaments, and an end to imperialism. The next eight points advocated self-determination to national minorities in Europe, specifically the Poles and Slavs in the east of Europe. Most significant, however, was the final point, calling for a "general association of nations" that would make "mutual guarantees of independence and territorial integrity," to be known as the League of Nations.
However, many believe that the peace treaty signed led to WWII, which involved President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt was an advocator of neutrality acts designed to keep the United States out of another world war. Roosevelt did not share the isolationist sentiments that lay behind such legislation. But he hoped to avoid war. However, Germany's aggressiveness in 1939 forced Roosevelt to take a stronger po...