Woodrow Wilson Wartime Leadership, 1914-1920ezone.lbcc.edu/.../histjd/hist11oljd/topFolder/PDFs/WilsonandWWI.pdf · He rejected imperialism He apologized for Panama Canal Takeover

Woodrow Wilson’s Wartime

Leadership, 1914-1920

How the President’s Neutrality Policy Failed and Why the President’s

Wartime Goals Proved Illusive both at Home and Abroad

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Themes and Topics

• Empire Foreign Policy Traditions: Non-Alignment and Imperialism

War Aims

World War One: Economic Watershed

Creating a Liberal Internationalist World Order

Multilateralism versus Unilateralism in Foreign Policy

• Role of Government Reasons for the U.S. Declaration of War Against Germany

U.S. War Preparation and Mobilization

• Private Enterprise Economic Aspects of U.S. Diplomacy during World War One

• Social and Cultural Outsiders American Socialism, 1900-1920

Central Analytical Questions

• Why did the U.S. reluctantly depart from traditions of neutrality and non-alignment to become a belligerent in April 1917?

• Why did Americans, after getting involved and dictating the outcome of the war, reject the peace treaty which their own President had largely shaped, and which presumably justified the sacrifices of the war?

European History, 1815-1914

• No general war-a century of peace

• Industrial Development Emergence of Germany as continental leader

Emergence of France, Russia, Italy, and Austrian-Hungarian industries

• Political Development Nation Building

• Italy, 1859

• Germany, 1870

Nation Beating • Ottoman Empire retreats from Southeast Europe

• Ethnic tensions threaten Austria-Hungarian Empire

• Pan-Slavic movement unites Russians and Southeastern Europeans

European History, 1815-1914

• Imperialism Creation of English, French, German, Italian, and

Russian empires

Increasing tensions over who gets what territory

• Arms Races Naval Arms race pits Germany against Great Britain

Army Arms race pits Germany against France and Russia

Alliance System and War

• Alliance Systems Central Powers-Germany,

Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, The Ottoman Empire, and Italy

Allied Powers-Great Britain, France, Russia, and smaller nations

Italy switched sides in 1915

July-August, 1914: The Trap is

Sprung

• A local conflict became a regional conflict Serbian nationalists assassinated the Archduke

Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary at Sarajevo

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia

Serbia appeals to Russia for help

Russia declares war on Austria-Hungary

• A regional conflict became a continental conflict Germany declares war on Russia

France declares war on Germany

• A continental conflict became a world war Great Britain and all her dominions declare war on

Germany

Non-Alignment: A U.S. Tradition

• Based on George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796

Avoid “entangling alliances”

• Based on two ocean barrier

Until 1914, U.S. strategic concerns limited to Caribbean and Pacific

U.S. practices imperialism in its own sphere of influence

• War in Europe reinforced idea that non-alignment was the correct position

Wilson War Cabinet

President Wilson

W. J. Bryan, Sec. State

Col. Edward House, Advisor

Robert Lansing, Asst. Sec. State

Positions of Wilson and Cabinet to

War in Europe

Sec State William J. Bryan

President Woodrow Wilson

National Security Thinkers: Edward House and Robert Lansing

Declare war on Germany because outcome of war will affect U.S. interests Germany is the real threat, therefore, aid Great Britain

Don’t get Involved Both sides Are to blame for war Meet war with Christian Love Offer to mediate conflict

Don’t get Involved Embrace official Neutrality Offer to mediate conflict

Why Embrace Neutrality?

• It was tradition

• Segments of the American people were very interested but deeply divided by the war

Eight million Germans and Four million Irish supported Germany

WASPs favored Great Britain

• Most American were horrified at the war and relieved the U.S. wasn’t involved

Wilson’s Foreign Policy Ideas

• Not experienced in foreign policy

• His ideas shaped by his morality Wants U.S. to be a force for

good in the world

He rejected imperialism

He apologized for Panama Canal Takeover

He believed the U.S. could mediate the conflict

He spent two and a half years trying to get the belligerents to state their war aims

What did neutrality mean?

• The U.S. claimed the right of a non-combatant or neutral

Under international law, the U.S. had the right to trade with anyone they wanted, therefore they could trade with both Germany and the Allies

By 1915, both sides became unable to pay for the goods they purchased, did neutrality include loans to the belligerents?

• Bryan argued no

• House and Lansing argued yes

• Wilson sided with House and Lansing

• Bryan resigned as Secretary of State

• Lansing became Secretary of State

Economic Success of Neutrality

• The U.S. had been a debtor nation since its inception

• Even it reached the stage when its exports exceeded its import of goods, the U.S. still borrowed more money than it lent to foreigners

• With the dramatic increase in exports and loans to the belligerents, the U.S. achieved an economic watershed

US banks became the center of world finance

US businesses achieved a trade surplus

Political Success of Neutrality:

Election of 1916

Charles Hughes

Woodrow Wilson

Violations of the Rights of Neutrals

• Britain controlled the ocean surface with its conventional navy Britain seized some 400

American merchant ships destined for Germany

• Germany attempted to break British control through the use of an unconventional vessel, the U-Boat Germany sank British and

American merchant ships destined for Great Britain

Violations of Belligerents Rights

• Wilson defended the right of Americans to travel on belligerent ships

• In 1915, a British ship, the Lusitania sailed from New York with military supplies and 128 Americans on board

• Germany’s warning it would be sunk were ignored

• Its sinking lead Wilson to threaten war against Germany

• Germany suspended U-Boat operations

Trade, Loans and War

Belligerents Trade Loans

Allies $3.2 Billion $2.5 Billion

Germany $29 Million $27 Million

Germany concluded the U.S. was objectively Pro-Allied and renewed U-Boat Warfare on February 1, 1917 Between February and April, 1917, Germany sank five U.S. merchant vessels, Wilson broke diplomatic relations Wilson sought a declaration of war on April 6, 1917

Zimmermann Telegram

• Became Germany’s Foreign Minister at a crucial moment in January 1917 As the Germans prepared to renew U-

Boat warfare, with the likelihood of war with the U.S., Zimmermann devised a plot to form an alliance with Mexico

Mexico, with German help, would attack the U.S. and take back its northern provinces

The U.S. would be unable to engage in the European conflict

• British superior crytanalysis abilities intercepted the coded message and turned it over the Americans

Western Front, 1918

• Germany invaded France through Belgium at the start of the war

• After gaining considerable French territory, the war devolved into “trench warfare,” where armies fought each other from fortifications dug into the ground

• Given each sides commitment to ‘Total War,” trench warfare became a formula for military stalemate

American Expeditionary Force,

1918

• It took a little more than a year to get U.S. forces organized, trained and shipped to Europe

• AEF did not suffer loses crossing the Atlantic First actions against

Germans, June-July 1918

AEF fought its only major offensive in September, which ended in stalemate after 120K casualties

German sued for peace November 11, 1918

Moral Man/Immoral World

• Wilson’s war aims: The Fourteen Points End Secret Diplomacy

Freedom of the High Seas

End economic barriers to trade and investment

Reduce armaments

Adjust colonial claims

Restore Russia to family of nations

Various self-determination principles (7-13) affecting Eastern Europe

A League of Nations

Impact of the 14 Points

• Wilson lifted hopes everywhere of Europeans sick of war Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany

was toppled and replaced by a new German Republic in an early diplomatic success for Wilson

Pro-Tsar and liberal forces in Russia begin a civil war against the Bolshevik regime, Wilson supported intervention

The U.S. had the advantage of asking nothing for itself

This forced the Allies to accept the 14 points, at least officially

U.S. and Allied Intervention in Russian

Revolution, 1918-1920

Critical Thinking Question

• Were the Fourteen Points practical? They were highly idealistic

But not impractical

They were popular

Wilson went to Europe to negotiate them himself, the first president to travel abroad during his presidency

He was very prepared thanks to a team of over 200 experts he took along

14 Points and the Versailles Treaty

Fourteen Points Versailles Treaty Evaluation

End Secret Diplomacy League of Nations No end secret diplomacy, at Versailles secret closed-door sessions occurred among victors!

Freedom of the Seas League of Nations Rejected by Great Britain

End Trade Barriers League of Nations Rejected by all major trading nations, even U.S.

Reduction of Armaments Treaty disarmed Germany Germany secretly re-armed

Adjust Colonial Claims Addressed by League thru a surrogate colonial system

Colonial system persists until post-WWII era

Restore Russian Government Not Addressed in Treaty Justified Allied intervention in Russian Civil War

Self-Determination Principles Treaty recognizes Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Estonia

Did not acknowledge mixing of populations; fostered nationalism; secret treaties self-determination

League of Nations Accepted by Allies Germany, Russia and US out

Europe After Versailles

• With Russia going communist, the Allies believed it important to create a “cordon sanitaire” to separate Europe from the red infection

• Germany, Hungary, and Bulgaria had aborted communist revolts

Key Problem and Achievement of the

Versailles Treaty

• German War Guilt Clause

An act of Vindictiveness

Germany slapped with bill for war: $33 Billion

Germany stripped of colonies

German population shifted west in order to establish Poland and Czechoslovakia

• League of Nations

First formal commitment by nation states to an international organization designed to achieve collective security

Why didn’t the US join the League?

• Wilson’s initial mistakes He spent too much time in Paris, lost touch with

domestic politics

He politicized the treaty by making it a Democratic Party document

• No Republicans accompanied him to Paris

• He assumed a Democratic Congress would ratify the treaty, but the Republicans took control of both houses of Congress in November 1918

He failed to explain why it was necessary to end non-alignment and join an international security organization

Why didn’t the US join the League?

• Wilson’s mistake upon returning home in July 1919 Republicans control Senate 49 to 47

• Fourteen GOP Senators are “irreconcilably” to treaty

• Ten GOP Senators accept treaty with slight modifications

• Twenty-Four Senators accept treaty with major modifications Reject Article X of treaty requiring U.S. to uphold independence

of other states

Republicans see this as an infringement on Congressional Power: only Congress has the power to declare war

Wilson and Democrats are strong internationalists, who favor collective security

Wilson refused to compromise on the issue

Why didn’t the US join the League?

• Wilson attempted to arouse the public in support of the treaty with a series of speeches he would give around the country He suffered a stroke in September 1919, effectively removing him from

politicking

• Wilson ordered the Democratic Party in the Senate to vote against any modifications to the treaty The vote on an unmodified treaty was defeated 38 to 53

The vote on a slightly modified treaty was defeated 39 to 55

A final vote in March 1920, again with modifications was defeated 49 to 35

• Thus, Wilson defeated his own treaty: Why? Two reasons

• Wilson’s personality was rigidly self-righteous

• Wilson’s stroke rendered him incompetent

Conclusion: It’s the same old

Unstable Imperial World

Except Germany, Soviet Russia, or the U.S., are outsiders