Wilson's Favorable Accomplishments During World War example essay topic

Woodrow Wilson made several mistakes leading up to World War I. One of the most fundamental mistakes was his stance of holding Germany to a "strict accountability" for all American losses including American citizens sailing on Allied ships. Wilson claimed that freedom of the seas was being impeded by the U-boat blockade of the British Isles but protested only mildly of the British blockade of the Central Powers. Wilson insisted that Americans had the right to sail on any ship they chose. The only explanation for these differences of policy was Wilson's personal desire to sway the mass American public to be more sympathetic to the English and their war effort.

Wilson had ignored George Washington's warnings of avoiding alliances that would drag America into disputes in which it had no interest. "Wilson had been a long time admirer of the British system of government". (Brummett) He had no desire to go to war against Britain with the Germans, even though the British were the first nation of the war to violate America's freedom of the seas with their blockade of the central powers. Wilson's request for Americans to be "impartial in thought as well as in action" (Jones) was a thinly covered attempt to keep the United States out of the war on the German side, which millions of Americans, being German or of German descent, and Irish immigrants who hated the English, would have supported. Wilson wanted to swing the American public opinion to favor the English, so, when the Germans began unrestricted submarine warfare it was exactly what he needed to accomplish that goal. One of Wilson's reasons to enter the war in 1917 was that he wanted a seat at the peace table once the fighting was over to help guide the peace and make it a "peace without victory".

Mr. Wilson made this kind of peace impossible by entering the war. When America entered the conflict on the allied side the balance of power in Europe shifted to the Allies. Involvement in a European war was in direct violation of the Monroe Doctrine, which states "Our policy in regard to Europe... is not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its powers". He feared a total German victory as much as an Allied one.

A victory by the Allied Powers would leave a power vacuum in Germany that could possibly lead to a "Bolshevik" type revolution in Germany. Wilson's fatal mistake was made in 1916 when a German U-boat commander broke the Arabic pledge and sank the French passenger liner, The Sussex, injuring several Americans. In a strongly worded note to Berlin, it was stated that America would sever diplomatic ties with Germany if it resumed unrestricted submarine warfare. This took the decision to enter or stay out of the war from the American people and placed it in the hands of a foreign government. At the beginning of the hostilities in Europe, America was a debtor nation of approximately three billion dollars. By 1918 America was a creditor nation with loans in excess of three billion dollars to The Allied countries for food and munitions.

Because of this, neutrality of the United States between 1914 and 1917 is heavily debated. If Wilson would have allowed America to remain "neutral", we could have maintained our economy in a war time status until the European powers had worked out their own peace plan in which both sides would have been dealing from a position of strength. If the Europeans had an actual peace conference where both parties had been represented there would have been a more equal peace and there could have been a "peace without victory". On January 8, 1918, Wilson presented his Fourteen Points, a statement of war aims. It became at once a war weapon and a peace program, inspiring the peoples of the allied powers, while undermining the confidence of the Germans.

Germany made its peace overture in the hope of obtaining just treatment under Wilson's proposals. These proposals failed. Without the huge reparations and loss of national pride, Germany would not have been thrown into years of chaos that ultimately allowed a little known corporal, at this time, named Adolf Hitler talk his way into a small political party then rise to power. Wilson's favorable accomplishments during World War I should also be noted. Despite provocation and pressure to enter the widening war in Europe that had begun in 1914, Woodrow Wilson maintained American neutrality for two years. He ran for reelection in 1916 with the slogan, 'he kept us out of war".

But rapid escalation of submarine warfare by Germany to include unlimited war on neutrals as well as belligerents left Wilson with no alternative but to ask Congress for a declaration of war in April 1917. "Wilson led his country into World War I and became the creator and leading advocate of the League of Nations, for which he was awarded the 1919 Nobel Prize for Peace". (McCarthy) It has been argued that the American interest to enter World War One may have been quite reasonable at the time. The thought of a German victory could have meant eventual German domination of the balance of power and perhaps a greater threat to America. Also, if the United States had not intervened in the war, perhaps it would still not have been an equal peace, but an unequal one in Germany's favor. With the United States in the war, Wilson hoped to have a stronger influence on the peace settlement.

His Fourteen Points, I believe, were an honest effort to mediate the conflict. His League of Nations was the first systematic attempt to create an organization designed to prevent war and promote peace. Although it was unsuccessful, it provided the groundwork for the United Nations. Other accomplishments of the League of Nations were that it reduced the international opium traffic and it aided poor countries by controlling disease. Wilson had made several mistakes before and during World War I. He led a nation into a war in which it had no business in participating. He favored the British government and violated international law by shipping munitions to Europe during time of war.

His "false promises" regarding his Fourteen Points had led Germany into chaos and which also led to an outspoken, charismatic leader to end up in power. However, Wilson did his best to keep the United States "out of war" for as long as he could. He developed a plan that attempted to mediate the conflict in which the League of Nations was developed. This provided important groundwork for the United Nations after the Second World War.

I feel that the United States was probably better off for stepping in to prevent a German victory that could have led to domination in Europe, and possibly a huge threat to America. I suppose that it is easy to find failure in any action, which is probably why there are so many controversial issues regarding Wilson. I do, regardless of his mistakes, feel that he did his best to make peace in the world. Woodrow Wilson's Flaws and Victories in International Relations during WWI

Bibliography

Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People, Volume One: To 1877, Third Edition.
United States: McGraw-Hill. 2000.
Brummett, Palmira: et al. Civilization Past & Present. Ninth Edition. United States: Addison-Wesley. 2000 Jones, Walter.
The Logic of International Relations. Eighth Edition. 1997.
McCarthy, Michael. "Woodrow Wilson as Commander-In-Chief". 19 Sep. 1992.
Online posting. University Department of History. Huntington, West Virginia. 15 Nov. 2000 web.