The Wilsonian Peace

President Woodrow Wilson became the world-renowned prophet of democratic peace, embodying morality in a world at war. He supported U.S. intervention in war settlements to ensure American leadership in peace negotiations.

On January 8, 1918, Wilson presented his famous Fourteen Points to Congress, outlining the conditions for peace. The first five points contained liberal principles: open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, the removal of trade barriers, arms reductions, and impartial resolution of colonial claims in accordance with the interests of local populations. The subsequent points addressed border adjustments that respected the self-determination of smaller nations. The final point was, in Wilson's view, the most important: the establishment of an international organization to maintain peace.

Some of the Fourteen Points conflicted with secret treaties made by the Allies. Wilson disregarded these agreements, hoping to persuade the Allies to renounce them.

In January 1919, the victorious powers convened in Paris to negotiate the terms of the peace to be imposed on Germany. Wilson, accompanied by a modest delegation and numerous experts, traveled to Paris, believing he alone was destined to secure a magnanimous peace. However, several factors weakened his negotiating position. In the 1918 elections, American voters had created a Republican majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, signaling rejection of Wilson's policies at home.

When Wilson included the creation of the League of Nations in the preliminary peace treaty and returned to Washington, more than one-third of the Senate opposed it. He returned to Paris with his authority significantly diminished and was forced to make numerous concessions. He had to cede significant German-speaking territories to Italy. Japan not only acquired Germany's Pacific colonies but also its holdings on the Shandong Peninsula. Germany was stripped of its colonies, merchant fleet, and territory, disarmed, and forced to accept responsibility for the war, which obligated it to pay reparations.

The peace treaty failed to facilitate reconciliation between the victors and the vanquished. Meanwhile, Bolshevik Russia had declared a global revolution, and the Allies, hoping to suppress Bolshevism before it spread, occupied certain Russian territories with U.S. participation. Wilson joined the Allied military blockade and refused to diplomatically recognize the new Soviet state.

To the exhausted Wilson, the realization of self-determination and, most importantly, the establishment of the League of Nations compensated for the flaws of the Treaty of Versailles. He envisioned the League as a means to reduce armaments, oversee the administration of former German territories, and preserve the independence and integrity of nations.

In the United States, the League faced significant opposition: disillusioned minority groups, isolationists who wanted to keep America out of European affairs, and liberals who opposed compromises that deviated from democratic principles. The Senate failed to achieve the two-thirds majority required to ratify the treaty.

Wilson embarked on a national speaking tour to gain support but, emotionally and physically drained, his health deteriorated. He was forced to return to Washington, where he suffered a severe stroke that left him nearly incapacitated for the remainder of his presidency. Wilson hoped the American people and the 1920 presidential election would secure the treaty's approval. However, Warren G. Harding won the election, and the campaign, press, and results indicated that the American people wanted a president who was as different from Wilson as possible—and that is exactly what they got.

Sellers-May-McMillen "Az Egyesült Államok története", Maecenas kiadó, 1996