Wilson and the Treaty of VersaillesLecture 4

It was the strength of the opposition forces , both liberal and conservative , rather than the ineptitude and stubbornness of President Wilson that led to the Senate defeat of the Treaty of Versailles. Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1917-1921 , assess the validity of this statement. USE American Spirit Readings:

Pages 248-253Pages 258-264

Define the terms in the questionDetermine the essence of the questionBrainstorm relevant outside information

TO DO :

Read each document try to write a quick one sentence summary of each document Categorize documents into three groups

Wilson supporters and liberal internationalistsReservationists conservative internationalistsIrreconcilables isolationists To Do :

Who in your opinion was MOST responsible for the demise of the Treaty of Versailles? You must be able to categorize evidence. What evidence supports placing the responsibility for the demise of the Treaty ratification on each potentially responsible group?

Liberal v. ConservativeLiberal Interventionists /InternationalistsConservative Isolationist Terms: Liberal and Conservative meanings differ when applied to foreign vs. domestic affairs. Progressives were liberal on domestic issues but many of the irreconcilables were progressive although they were isolationist (conservative) when it came to the Treaty of Versailles.)Reservationists - Internationalists

It was the strength of the opposition forces , both liberal and conservative , rather than the ineptitude and stubbornness of President Wilson that led to the Senate defeat of the Treaty of Versailles. Using the documents and your knowledge of the period 1917-1921 , assess the validity of this statement.

Recognize the complexity of the question

The tension between:Wilsons ineptitude and stubbornnessvs.The strength of the opposition forces, both liberal and conservativeThe thesis may argue for one of these contributing factors over the other but the best answers recognize the other sides role in the defeat , if only in a few references or sentencesDO the DBQ Thesis Worksheet on this question

The 96 senators who were eligible to vote on the treaty belonged to one of three groups:Wilson Supporters and liberal InternationalistsReservationists led by Henry Cabot LodgeIrreconcilables who were mostly isolationists

I. WILSON'S FOURTEEN POINTSJANUARY 8, 1918a speech to Congress which was his proposal for peace after World War I

Human rights principlesPreventive medicine in dealing with the causes of warfareEuropean territorial division of spoilsWilsonian idealism with the proposed League of Nations

Fourteen Points a mixture of :

1. No secret treaties (A)Secret diplomacy abolishedNations would practice diplomacy openly and make no secret treatiesAll treaties open covenants arrived at openly

2. Freedom of the seas (M)(I)Ships allowed to move freely during peace and war

3. No economic barriers between nations (I)Removal of tariff (taxes on imports) barriers to allow free trade

4. Arms cuts (M)Nations would reduce their armaments

5. A voice for colonized peoples (N)Self determination for former coloniesCompeting claims over colonies settled impartially in the best interests of the colonial peoples

National borders adjusted to allow for self ruleProtection of ethnic and national groups under foreign rule prevent genocideattempted by Ottoman Turks against Armenians

6. Germany out of Russian (I)

7. Germany out of France and Belgium (I)

8. Alsace - Lorraine to France (I)

9. Expansion of Italy (I)

10. Autonomy for Czechs, Magyars, Bulgars (N)

11. Poland's independence (N)

12. Autonomy for Greeks, Armenians, etc (N)

13. Free passage thru the Dardanelles (I)

14. A league of nations

"A general association of nations should be formed on the basis of covenants designed to create mutual guarantees of the political independence and territorial integrity of States, large and small equally."

Wilson was also against war reparations

2. Woodrow Wilson Versus Theodore Roosevelt on the Fourteen Points (1918)

II. TREATY OF VERSAILLESJUNE 28 1919

A. The four leaders who dominated the conference:

President Wilson (US) Prime Minister David Lloyd George (Britain) Premier Georges Clemencaeau (France)Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

B. Germany is required to:1. Admit guilt 2. Pay war reparationsAllies take temporary control of the German economy3.Return the rich Alsace - Lorraine region to France4. Surrender her overseas colonies 5. Disarm German rearmament is strictly limited

C. Redrew Map of EuropeDivided the Austria-Hungary empire into four nations

SudetenlandCreated mandates in the former Ottoman Empire and Germanys former colonies

D. Established the League of NationsExecutive Council (like the Security Council)

Decisions would require unanimous approval for actionAgreed to not make war without arbitration

Unilateral action amounted to war against the entire leagueArticle X

Executive Council could advise upon measures necessary to maintain order and keep peace in the world.

Woodrow Wilson on the League of NationsI think I can say of this document that it is at one and the same time a practical and humane document. There is a pulse of sympathy in it. It is practical, ad yet it is intended to purify to rectify to elevate

Wilsons Reasons for RatificationCollective SecurityLeague of Nations would simply make the world a safer place by

reducing the chances for war stopping needless arms buildingEnable US to assume its rightful role in

the forefront of world affairs where we could use our best intentions and leadership to promote world peaceWe are participants in the world, whether we wish to be or not What affects mankind is inevitably our affair as well

III. THE RATIFICATION FIGHT

TIMELINEFebruary ,1919 trip to Washington listened to harsh criticismMarch, 1919 - Wilson allows 4 changes July , 1919 presented the Treaty to Congress August , 1919 Wilson met with entire Senate Foreign Relations Committee

DOCUMENTS - Read: 1,2,3,4 The Text of Article X; Wilson testifies for Article X (1919) ; The Lodge-Hitchcock Reservations(1919) ; The Aborted Lodge Compromise (1919) late in the summer of 1919- Wilson took his case to the people

Speech Wilson 1919 When you read Article X, therefore you will see that it is nothing but the inevitable , logical center of the whole system of the Covenant of the League of nations, and I stand for it absolutely. If it should ever in any important respect be impaired, I would feel like asking the Secretary of War to get the boys who went across the water to fight and I would stand up before them and say, Boys I told you before you went across the seas that this war was a war against wars, and I did my best to fulfill the promise, but I am obliged to come to you in mortification and shame and say I have not been able to fulfill the promise. You are betrayed. You have fought for something that you did not get.

Wilsons speech defends Article X of Treaty as essential to achieve goals for which the war was fought.

TIMELINENovember , 1919 Senate voted

with reservations 39- 55 defeated DOCUMENTS - Read: 5. Wilson Defeats Henry Cabot Lodges Reservations (1919) without reservations 38 53 defeated DOCUMENTS - READ : 6. Lodge Blames Wilson (1919)March 19, 1920- with reservations 49 for 35 against (7 short of 2/3 needed for approval)November - 1920 Presidential Election - Wilson believed it would be solemn referendum on the League

Woodrow Wilson Appeal to the Country October 3, 1920This election is to be a genuine national referendum The chief question that is put to you is, of course: Do you want your countrys honor vindicated and the Treaty of Versailles ratified? Do you in particular approve of the League of Nations as organized and empowered in that treaty? And do you wish to see the United States play its responsible part in it?... [The founders of the Government] thought of America as the light of the world as created to lead the world in the assertion of the rights of peoples and the rights of free nations this light the opponents of the League would quench.

Wilsons appeal to the country views election of 1920 as a referendum on the Treaty.

Factors that Defeated the Treaty Ratification: 1. Climate of post war U.S. Rising intolerance towards things un-American Ku Klux Klan rebornRed Scare The Great Migration

1. Climate of post war U.S. B. Backlash against the Great War Questioning the wisdom of having participated in a war that had caused many American deaths and wounded Stories of Allied greed and desire for revenge disillusioned many who thought that the war had been fought to make the world safe for democracy revulsion of the treaty led to desire to return to isolationism

2. Political OppositionIrish AmericansGerman AmericansItalian AmericansConservativesLiberalsIsolationistsSenate RepublicansAnti-Wilsonites

1a. Wilson supported ratification un- amended DemocratInternationalistLiberal foreign policy because he was an internationalist

1b.Other InternationalistsLiberals who believe the treaty does not do enough to change the old world order or enough to put in place the protections against future war; against the treaty with any restrictions on the power of the League of Nations

The New Republic May 24,1919an editorial from the new liberal periodical Liberals all over the world have hoped that a war ,which was so clearly the fruit of competition and imperialist and class-bound nationalism , would end in a peace which would moralize nationalism by releasing it from class bondage and exclusive ambitions. The Treaty of Versailles does not even try to satisfy these aspirations. Instead of expressing a great recuperative effort of the conscience of civilization which for its own sins has sweated so much blood, it does much to intensify and nothing to heal the old and ugly dissensions.

refers obliquely to issues (war guilt and reparations) that sully the treaty from the editors viewpoint; students should make those issues explicit Based on the excerpt / document do you think The New Republic editorial is for or against the Treaty ratificationLIBERAL For or Against ???Probably Against liberal internationalist against

The New Republics liberal position that war was caused by imperialism and nationalism and that Treaty intensifies dissension and will not heal wounds.

1b.John Maynard KeynesEconomic Consequences of the Peace,1920 According to [the French] vision of the future, European history is to be a perpetual prize-fight , of which France has won this round, but of which this round is certainly not the last. For Clemenceau made no pretense of considering himself bound by the Fourteen Points and left chiefly to others such concoctions as were necessary from time to time to save the scruples or the face of the President [Wilson]. The policy of reducing Germany to servitude for a generation of degrading the lives of millions of human beings and of depriving a whole nation of happiness should be abhorrent and detestable abhorrent and detestable , even if it were possible even if it enriched ourselves, even if did not sow the decay of the whole civilized life of Europe.

Based on the excerpt / document do you thin John Maynard Keynes is for or against the Treaty ratification For or Against ???Seeds for future war sewn in the treaty

J.M. Keynes foresees that the Treatys destruction of Germany will lead to the decay of European civilization.

1b.WEB Du Bois The League of Nations, Crisis, 1921 Forty-one nations , including nearly every Negro and mulatto and colored government of the world , have met in Geneva and formed the assembly of the League of Nations. This is the most forward looking event of the century. Because of the idiotic way in which the stubbornness of Woodrow Wilson and the political fortunes of the Republicans become involved, the United States was not represented , but despite its tumult and shouting this nation must join and join on the terms which the World lays down. The idea that we single-handed can dictate terms to the World or stay out of the World , is an idea born of the folly of fools.

WEB Du Bois The League of Nations, Crisis, 1921 Liberal- represent the disappointment and dismay that lingered in the years after the treaty fight. Editorial in the NAACP periodical Crisisone can still hear echoes of the hopes that Wilson had raise when he spoke of anti colonialism and self determination of his 14 points. Du Bois still on the road to being radicalized wishes a plague on both the Internationalist and Reservationists houses but his sympathies still rest with the League

W.E.B. Du Bois editorial in Crisis argues that U.S. must join League and that both Wilson and Republicans are responsible for the defeat of the Treaty.

1b.Jane Addams Peace and Bread in time of War, 1922 The League of nations afforded a wide difference of opinion in every group. The Womans Peace Party held its annual meeting in Chicago in the spring of 1920 and found our branches fairly divided upon the subject. The difference of opinion was limited always as to the existing League and never for a moment did anyone doubt the need for continued effort to bring about an adequate international organization.

Jane Addams after noting the sharp division of opinion among members of the Womens Peace Party regarding the treaty itselfnotes that her (liberal) group is still virtually unanimous on the need for an adequate international organization.

Jane Addams admits that women are divided on the League of Nations, but some international organization is needed.

2. Lodge supported ratification amended

Reservationists? supported ratification with amendments (mostly Republicans led by Lodge) RepublicanInternationalistLiberal foreign policy

2. Herbert Hoover (R) to Wilson, November 19, 1919I take the liberty of urging upon you the desirability of accepting the reservations now passed . I have the belief that with the League once in motion it can within itself and from experience and public education develop such measures as will make it effective. I am impressed with the desperate necessity of early ratification. The delays have already seriously imperiled the economic recuperation of Europe. In this we are vitally interested from every point of view. I believe that the Covenant will steadily lose ground in popular support if it is not put into constructive operation at once because the American public will not appreciate the saving values of the Covenant as distinguished from the wrongs imposed in the Treaty.

Herbert Hoovers letter asks President Wilson to accept reservations ; peace can be developed with reservations and public support may decline over time.

based on the brides homeliness (undesirable Foreign Entanglements) and the grooms (Uncle Sam) nervous lookPolitical Cartoon can be interpreted as pro-Reservationistsgrasp the cartoons viewpoint, not merely as descriptive

Cartoon shows U.S. Senate opposing foreign entanglements and infringement of its Constitutional rights.Show you understand this issue remember Lodge Hitchcock reservations re: Article X

3. Irreconcilables opposed ratification Conservative - Isolationistmany of the irreconcilables were progressive although they were isolationist (conservative) when it came to the Treaty of Versailles

3. William Borah Idaho Senator (Irreconcilable) speech in US Senate , December 6, 1918The first proposition connected with the proposed league is that of a tribunal to settle the matters of controversy which may arise between the different nations.Will anyone advocate that those matters which are of vital importance to our people shall be submitted to a tribunal created other than by our own people and give it an international army subject to its direction and control to enforce its decrees? I doubt if anyone will advocate that If you do not do so, Mr. President, what will your league amount to? In its last analysis the proposition is force to destroy force, conflict to prevent conflict, militarism to destroy militarism, war to prevent war. In its last analysis it must be that -- if it has any sanction behind its judgment at all. There is where the difficulty lies

Senator Borahs isolationist position that fears loss of U.S. sovereignty and contends that Treaty encourages the use of force, conflict , militarism, and war.

WRITE YOUR ESSAY 45 minutes

I. Attempts to mediate a peace in Europe, 1916-17

1916- Wilson offered to mediate a peace Britain rejected the proposalTherefore never extended to the Central Powers

B. The Development of Wilsons Ideas on a peace settlementFormation of a world federation (an association of nations ) to end future wars1917 Peace without Victory speech to Congressa. US had a right to a voice in the peace talks at the end of the war as a neutral whose rights had been violated b. US would insist upon a just and lasting peace i. No victors peaceii. Peace without victory

3. Difficulties in Wilsons position A. impartial mediator inconsistent with US policies toward Britain B. the US as a powerful neutral 1. by March 1917 Wilson had concluded that the US could play an important role in the peace negotiations only by becoming a belligerent

II. Wilson as spokesman for the Allies

Declaration of the Fourteen Points (basis for a just peace)

1. First five points aimed at elimination of the fundamental causes of wara. abandonment of secret diplomacy b. freedom of the seas c. elimination of economic barriers d. reduction of armaments e. recognition of subject colonial peoples rights

2. Next 8 points dealt with various territorial restitution and adjustments, and with the political self determination of peoples 3. Last point , Wilson felt most important, creation of a general association of nationsunder specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. 4. Wilson closed by stating that the Allies would never make peace with a German Government controlled by the military ; invitation to the German people to revolt

B. The Fourteen Points and the Armistice1. October 4, 1918 Germany asked Wilson to arrange for the negotiation of an armistice and a treaty based on the Fourteen Points2. November 11, 1918 Armistice signedGermany forced to agree to Provisions designed to ensure that she would not start war again in the near futureSurrender her navy and heavy armaments of all typesAllied forces occupied portions of German territory British blockade was continued until June 1919

III. Wilsons Troubles on the Home Front

Republican Victory in the Election of 1918 1. Republicans won control of both houses of Congress a. Negated his claim to speaking for the whole American peopleb. Although continued to be the spokesman for the Allies

B. Costly Mistakes Before the Peace Conference

December 1918 : Wilson Decided he would attend the peace conference in person Hoped to be the presiding officer at the conference

Costly mistakes.Selection of a Democratic DelegationTreaty would have to be ratified by a Republican-controlled SenateFailure to Consult Senators Attitude toward the senate extremely arrogant cost him support of Democrats as well as Republican SenatorsFailure to Understand European Economic ProblemsPrimarily concerned with political aspects of the formation of a league of nations

IV. Wilsons Reception in Europe

Accepted as a great democratic champion by the people of Europe

B. Example of misunderstandings: 1.French people supported Wilsons idea of a just peace buta. A just and lasting peace for France would strip and dismember Germanyb. Not what Wilson had in mind

V. Wilsons Defeats at the Paris Conference

Character of the Conference itself 1. Not actually a peace conferenceThe defeated powers were not allowed to send delegatesDecisions made by a small minority of delegates1. A committee of 10 out of the 32 victor nations set up 2. The committee of 10 turned into the Big Four who met in secret violation of one of the 14 Points that called for open covenants, openly arrived ata. France Clemenceaub. Britain Lloyd George c. Italy Orlando d. US Wilson Passions and hatreds of war would dominate the conference

B. French and British demands for revengeGeorges Clemenceau a. Alsace-Lorraineb. Mr. Wilson bores me with his Fourteen Points; why , God Almighty has only ten !David Lloyd Georgea. German Reparations b. When I talk to Woodrow Wilson, I always feel that I am addressing Jesus Christ !

C. Secret Agreements Among the AlliesDating back to 1915 ,a. provided for dismemberment of German and Austrian empires b. Distribution of the spoils among the victors Critics claimed that Wilson should have insisted that the Allies give up these treaties as a condition of US participation and aida. Wilson claimed he had no knowledge of these secret agreements

D. Difficulties with the Fourteen PointsPrinciple of Self Determination a. Polish Corridor b. Ethnic groups in Central Europe & the BalkansWilsons faith in the League of Nations to establish security and prevent war not shared by European governmentsa. Member nations:i. not required to give up any of their sovereigntyii. Would retain the right to maintain their own armed forces

E. The Treaty of Versailles 1. June, 1919 a. Presented to Germans b. Signed by Germany after protest of harsh conditions and ultimatum : sign or Allies would resume war against Germany

Robert LansingUS Secretary of State Memorandum not made public until 1945 Regarded the treaty as too harsh , the League used to enforce the harsh conditions , and the arbitrary placing of peoples under government not of their choosing would lead to future war

VI. Analysis of Alternative SolutionsWould the treaty have ensured peace if it had been based entirely on Wilsons plan?

Wilsons Peace ProgramGermany retain coloniesFew boundaries in Europe would have been drawn differently Japan would not have been awarded the Shantung PeninsulaNo reparations would have been imposed on defeated German nations

B. These differences would probably not have prevented the outbreak of future wars becauseThe League of Nations was inadequate as a guarantor of peace. No provision designed to deal with the basic problems of imperialism Wilsons program would not have achieved correction or removal of the fundamental economic causes of the war

VII. The Fight for Ratification in the U.S.July 1919 submitted to the Senate

Reasons for Hostility to the treaty 1. Small group , led by Senator Robert M. La Follette , opposed ratification on idealistic grounds , seeing in the treaty a betrayal of Wilsonian idealism

2. Personal feelings of Wilsons enemies in both parties ; his aloofness

3.Opposition by certain national groupsIrish Americans opposed as Ireland remained under British RuleGerman Americans opposed because of harsh conditions on Germany 4.Traditional American attitude of avoiding involvement in the affairs of Europe 1. Now that Germany defeated, semblance of balance of power restored, feeling of security ; desire for isolationism 5. Partisan politics 1. Republican leaders opposed in part due to Wilsons actions towards Republicans in Congress

B. Four Groups of Opinion in the Senate 23 Senators a. Supported Wilson and wanted the treaty ratified without changes or reservations Approved of the treaty but would accept moderate changes a. Mostly DemocratsGroup led by Henry Cabot Lodge a. Insisted on drastic changes and reservations b. Mostly RepublicansIrreconcilably opposed smallest group a. La Follette, Hiram Johnson and William Borah

C. Defeat of the Treaty The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee recommended ratifications with 42 amendmentsWilson went on tour for public support of the un-amended treatSuffered a physical collapse (stroke)Mrs. Wilson served as his unofficial secretaryCompromise might have secured passage Vote : 49 for / 35 against (less that 2/3 needed)i. 12 of 35 against were the irreconcilablesii. 23 of the 35 against were Wilsons friends who he told not to vote for a compromise Wilson partly responsible for defeatIf Wilson not so stubborn about compromise the treaty would have been accepted without basic alterations