Online
resources to accompany the
Teacher's Guide for
The Fog of War, A
Project of
The Choices Program and Critical Oral History Project,
Watson
Insititute for International Studies — Brown University
World War I
"I do not hesitate to say that the war we have just been through, though it was
shot through with terror of every kind, is not to be compared with the war
we would have to face next time."
-Woodrow Wilson
When World War I broke out in Europe in August 1914, the overwhelming majority of
Americans agreed that the United States should stay out of the fighting. President
Woodrow Wilson established a policy of strict neutrality to avoid U.S. involvement.
Like most Americans of his era, Wilson distrusted the great powers of Europe.
He believed that the United States occupied a unique place in the world as a
beacon of democracy, freedom, and justice and that we should lead by example
not intervention. In 1914, this belief lay at the foundation of Wilson's policy
on neutrality. By April 1917, however, Wilson evoked the same ideals of democracy,
freedom and justice in calling on Congress to declare war against Germany.
World War I was a military success for the United States. Fresh American troops helped
tip the balance of power in Europe against Germany, leading to an Allied victory
in 1918. After the war, Americans were left with vital questions about their
country's role in the world.
President Wilson was at the center of the debate that ensued and lasted from 1918 to 1920.
In seeking to define his country's role in the post-war world, Wilson called
for international cooperation to maintain world peace. In his peace proposal,
known as the Fourteen Points, Wilson envisioned an association of nations that
would permit all peoples to exercise self-rule. He imagined that the United
States would join the proposed League of Nations and play a prominent part in
safeguarding the peace of the new international order. This did not play out
as the president had hoped.
Wilson underestimated the long-standing reluctance of Americans to commit their country
abroad. At the heart of the debate was the proposed structure of the League
of Nations that required all league members to come to the defense of any member
nation under attack. Republican senators, the leading opponents of Wilson, argued
that the United States might be obligated to fight to preserve the borders of
a French colony in Africa or protect British imperial interests in India. They
were unwilling to have the United States join an organization that required
this commitment.
Rather than negotiate with his opponents in the Senate, Wilson decided to try to rally
public support for his vision for U.S. foreign policy. In 1919, he traveled
8,000 miles by rail, giving forty speeches in twenty-nine cities during the
course of a three-week speaking tour. Wilson's voice, however, was silenced
by a crippling stroke. Partially paralyzed, the President watched as the Senate
in 1920 rejected U.S. membership in the League of Nations by a vote of 38-53,
far short of the two-thirds majority needed to approve the treaty. One of the
treaty's foes, Republican Warren G. Harding, went on to win the 1920 presidential
election by pledging to return the country to "normalcy."
Wilson's hope that the United States would lead the League of Nations in establishing
world peace was squelched before it ever got off the ground. Not only did the
Senate vote against American membership in the League, but the bitter contest
between Wilson and Republican senators turned many Americans against any level
of participation in international affairs. The establishment of communism in
the Soviet Union and the emergence of fascism in Europe added to American distaste
for foreign policy. As the prosperity of the 1920s gave way to the depression
of the 1930s, many Americans sought ways to shield their country from the turmoil
that was building in Europe. In the mid-1930s, Congress passed a series of laws
to prevent the United States from becoming caught up in another war.
The League of Nations proved weak and largely ineffective without U.S. involvement. In the 1930s, the
League failed to stop Japanese, Italian, and German aggression. The overseas conflicts
from which the United States hoped to isolate itself were becoming a mounting
threat to world peace.
See
To End All Wars: World War I and the League of Nations Debate.