Essay/Term paper: Treaty of versailles

Essay, term paper, research paper:  American History

The Treaty of Versailles had a lot of opposition from various groups, but Wilson"s stubbornness was most liable for the failure of it in the United States. There were many problems with the treaty according to the senate. The opinions on the treaty we

split into three groups. The first group was the isolationists who argued that the United States should not interfere with European affairs. The second consisted of Wilson and those who supported him. They wanted the Treaty as it was, with no modifi

tions. The third party were those who were ready to ratify the treaty if there were a few changes. They felt that these changes should consist of the elimination or reduction of American obligations to the League.

At the end of World War I, President Wilson led the U.S. delegation in Paris in order to make sure his Fourteen Points were used. Wilson felt that America was the only nation that had nothing to gain and he was the only one who really cared about

preventing future wars. He was determined to create the League of Nations. In order to gain this objective, he compromised at the Paris Peace Conference on several major issues. When President Wilson returned home in 1919, he met with the Senate to di

uss the treaty. In order for the Senate to adopt the treaty there had to be a two-thirds vote, according to the Constitution. However, many were opposed to it.

The treaty was never ratified by the U.S. Senate because of Article X, which contained the requirement that all members preserve the territorial independence of all other members, even to joint action against aggression. Some were concerned about the



welfare of the United States. They felt that the League of Nations was foreign and there was no reason to put their safety in the hands of the world. They wanted to accept responsibility for America as America. The idea of another country"s government

ealing with America"s domestic affairs and concerns, especially if the have an army to support whatever they decide. Also, it would not be very popular to approve of a tribunal, with 41 other nations in it, to settle a problem that might arise between

embers of the nation because what one sees as vital, another nation may see as wasteful. This in turn could lead to another World War. Wilson defended that Article X morally bound the United States to aiding other victimized nations. Therefore, the U

. did not have to help who they did not have a desire to help. Article X angered Congress because they wanted to reserve their constitutional right of declaring war to themselves.

The League, according to the opposition, is contrary in all that it is to accomplish. "Force to destroy force, conflict to prevent conflict, militarism to destroy militarism, war to prevent war."

The Treaty as portrayed in The New Republic is useless, which is a strong reason it shouldn"t be passed. It wasn"t useless in the sense that it would officially end the war, but in a sense that it would not "moralize nationalism". The moralization of

ationalism could be achieved by ending the separation of classes and ambitions that could only be enjoyed by some, not all, people in the country. According to the journalist the Treaty doesn"t make even a bland attempt to solve these problems, and tha

it, in fact, promotes and heightens those differences of opinion between the nations.



Herbert Hoover correctly advises President Wilson to, in so many words, to hurry up and do something to approve the treaty in the Senate or it will never get passed. He gives this advice to President Wilson because he knew Lodge was effectively using

lay tactics (such as reading the whole treaty aloud to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee) to divide and sway public opinion about the Treaty to his favor. Although he was pleased with the concern the government is giving to the treaty, he felt the

could be improvements. If these improvements aren"t quick in happening, then the very necessary public opinion of the Americans will start to disapprove because of the many "wrongs imposed in the Treaty" and Lodge"s active lobbyism. When popular publi

opinion goes, in most cases, so does the bill.

Many people felt the punishment was too harsh on Germany. The Allies needed to pay off their war debts, and decided Germany should pay for it. America needed the money to pay off the war debts, instead of using tax dollars. This would actually go

against the Wilson supported idea of Article X because America would morally have to help Germany out. Ironically enough, the most economic and physical damage happened to Germany. It did not seem possible for Germany to pay reparations because of its

remendous loss in coal resources. Yet the failure to do say would result in trouble.

The treaty faced a lot of opposition, however almost everyone wanted peace. They just couldn"t agree on the same terms as Wilson. If he didn"t stand his ground so firmly, and gave into a few of the improvements, then perhaps the treaty had a chance.

Well, he didn"t and the trouble predicted by many occurred. This all led to World War II.