AP US History Essay Research Paper March
AP US History Essay, Research Paper
March 1, 1997
Period 4
Treaty of Versailles: Who was at mistake for its denial?
The Treaty of Versailles, which was a peace pact that called for the terminal of World
War 1 ( between Germany and the Allies ) , was defeated in the Senate by an unknown
confederation of two forces. The two forces were President Wilson? s? all or nil? attitude
and the strong oppositions of the Treaty in the Senate.
William Borah ( Sen, Idaho ) , one of the? irreconcilables? , brings out a clear
failing in the Covenant of the League of Nations in his address to the Senate. The
failing is that will any state truly experience comfy, or O.K. of, another state? s
authorities covering with their domestic personal businesss and concerns, particularly if they have an
ground forces to back up whatever they decide. He besides brings up a point that no 1 would
approve of a tribunal, with 41 other states in it, to settle a job that might originate
between members of the state because what one state sees a vital, another state may
see as wasteful, which might merely take to another World War. The League as he describes
it is contradictorial in all that it is to carry through ( ? force to destruct force, struggle to
prevent struggle, militarism to destruct militarism, war to forestall war? ) and it can? t work
like that because it has no authorization to endorse up its ain judgement. This goes against
Wilson? s thought of the League because he helped make it and it is a really of import and large
measure to him in making a world-wide authorities ( Doc A )
The Treaty as portrayed in The New Republic is useless, which is a strong ground it
shouldn? T be passed. It wasn? t useless in the sense that it would officially stop the war, but
in a sense that it would non? moralise patriotism? . The moralizing of patriotism could
be achieved by stoping the separation of categories and aspirations that could merely be enjoyed
by some, non all, people in the state. Harmonizing to the journalist the Treaty doesn? T
do even a bland effort to work out these jobs, and that it, in fact, promotes and
heightens those differences of sentiment between the states. ( Doc B )
In a general address given by Wilson, he provides that Article X, which morally
bound the U.S. to help any member of the League victimized by external aggression, is the
? inevitable, logical centre to the whole system of the Covenant of the League of Nations? .
Although he supports it, he feels he is non at mistake if the Covenant International Relations and Security Network? t correct. On
another separate juncture, Wilson defended that Article X morally, non lawfully, bound the
U.S. to helping other exploited states, ergo the U.S. didn? Ts have to assist who they didn? T
privation to assist. Article X angered Congress because they wanted to reserve their
constitutional right of declaring war to themselves. Article X besides enraged the great-
grandson of George Cabot, Henry Cabot Lodge ( R, Idaho ) . He so disliked Article X that
he made his ain reserve to it, which provided that the U.S. has no duty to acquire
involved with the personal businesss of any other state. His reserve would subsequently be turned down
by Congress. ( Doc C )
Herbert Hoover right advises President Wilson to, in so many words, to travel rapidly
up and make something to O.K. the pact in the Senate or it will ne’er acquire passed. He
gives this advice to President Wilson because he knows that Lodge is efficaciously utilizing
hold tactics, such as reading the whole 264- page pact aloud to the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, to split and rock public sentiment about the Treaty to his favour.
Although he is pleased with the concern the authorities is giving to the pact, he feels
their could be betterments and if these betterments aren? T quick in go oning, so
the really necessary public sentiment of the Americans will get down to travel against the pact
because of the many? wrongs imposed in the Treaty? and Lodge? s active lobbyism. When
popular public sentiment goes, in most instances, so does the measure. ( Doc D )
The sketch ( Doc E ) shows how the Republicans felt about non being involved in
the peace proceedings in Paris. When Wilson went to Paris, his deputation included non a
individual Republican which greatly infuriated them. He did non even confer with the Republican
leading in the Senate about the peace dialogues, which was besides an abuse to the
Republicans. Among the taking Republicans was Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts,
who was besides the president of the Senate Committee on foreign dealingss.
Lodge and Wilson were the two great heads of U.S. political relations at the clip so they were
of course against each other because of their different partizan roots. Wilson? s determination
would turn out to be fatal to his cause because the Senate bulk belonged to the
Republicans, which meant that the Treaty would non likely base on balls without a batch of their
support.
In his Economic Consequences of the Peace, John Maynard Keyes argues that
Germany should hold to refund the United States and other Allies for the amendss they
caused to them during the war. This was necessary, economically, for the U.S. and the
remainder of the Allies because the Allies needed the money from Germany to pay off their
wartime debts to America and America needed the money so they wouldn? Ts have to utilize
taxpayer? s dollars to pay for the debt. This would really travel against the Wilson
supported thought of Article X because America would morally hold to assist Germany out
because they did damage to Germany and Germany was damaged the most by the war!
( Doc G ) ( This issue would subsequently be solved by the Dawes Plan of 1924, in which
American money was cycled around the universe as loans, back to the U.S. Treasury as debt
payments )
W.E.B. DuBois, editor of Crisis magazine, blamed both Wilson and his oppositions
as the chief grounds that the U.S. is non in the League of Nations, in his article? The
League of Nations? . He compares the U.S. authorities to the other authoritiess of the
League and the U.S. authorities comes out looking really silly. He makes an interesting,
but all excessively true point, that one state can? t control the universe or merely remain out of it, which
the twin tower forces are doing to go on. ( Doc H )
Jane Addams? position of the League of Nations calamity is really rather similar
to DuBois? , but in a different manner. She has found that the connection of the League by subscribing
the Treaty is a really hard inquiry to reply because of the multiverse of sentiment. The
members of the Women? s Peace Party knew there was a batch more attempt needed to force
Forth for a sufficient international organisation, but what type of attempt would everyone
O.K. ? The inquiry of the Treaty was an answerless thought among her group and among
the authorities besides, which had replies but different 1s that they couldn? t agree upon.
( Doc I )
Although Wilson and his opposing forces were clearly against each other on their
positions of the whole Treaty of Versailles issue, they ended up being the chief ground for the
failure of it in America. They both wanted to go through the Treaty but merely with their ain
certain reserves or without reserves. Either manner they could ne’er hold upon it in
America. The strong division of the public sentiment and the twin towers proved to be excessively
much for the Treaty to be approved in the United States.
