Self determination: the idea that minorities within empire conglomerates (of the Central Powers, only) should be allowed to choose their own forms of government and their own way of living. This was primarily seen as a method of punishment of the Central Powers that had international colonial holdings.
League of Nations: the 14th of Wilson’s 14 points: the League of Nations was somewhat of an evolution of the Concert of Europe, except that it was on the international level. Basically, a bunch of the great powers in the world meet in a certain location and discuss things and decide on them. This is a precursor to the United Nations.
Sedition Act of 1918: an act passed by Congress before the end of World War I which claimed that if anybody spoke out against the government, they would be imprisoned indefinitely. Eugene V. Debs, a socialist spokesman, was imprisoned for opposing the war on moral grounds. Luckily, at the end of the war, many pardons were issued for arrests under the Sedition Act.
The Big Four: Vittorio Orlando (Italy), Georges Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (Britain) and Woodrow Wilson (US) did most of the negotiating at the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference: held in Paris in 1919 where many of the conditions of the Treaty of Versailles were negotiated by the Big Four. Russia (recently experiencing a communist revolution) was not invited to the conference. Wilson lost some of his leverage at the conference because he was the only Big Four leader who did not command a congressional majority back home. The PPC ended with the issuing of the Treaty of Versailles.
The Treaty of Versailles: (1) mandates: colonial holdings were taken from former Central Power empires and were then nationalized and given to the League of Nations. Over due time, the League of Nations would call for self-determination of these mandated regions and they would become independent nations [this includes modern nations like Iran, Iraq and Israel] (2) Germany takes responsibility for the war and agrees to pay reparations for all countries involved [of course, it is unable to do that, and this causes the German economy to topple] (3) Italy wants Yugoslavian holdings but is denied (4) Japan wants German holdings in China but is denied; it is given control of certain island colonies in the Pacific, though (5) Rhineland occupied (6) Alsace and Lorraine returned to France
Senate Foreign Relations Committee: Remember, Wilson negotiated the treaty, but he cannot ratify it… only Congress can ratify a treaty. When Wilson returns to America, many people are dissatisfied with the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and so they try and stall its passing.
Lodge Reservations: When Congress received the Treaty of Versailles, Lodge came up with fourteen “reservations” of the Treaty, one of which nullified Article X (which would morally oblige the US to respond when a foreign power is under attack). Wilson, hating Lodge and his provisions, ordered the Democratic party to vote against the Treaty of Versailles that included the Lodge provisos → this all culminates with the US NOT ratifying the Treaty of Versailles and rendering it (somewhat) powerless.
Zach, great post! Thanks for summarizing the key points regarding Wilson and World War I. I think I recalled Mr. Stewart also saying something about paying attention to Eugene W. Debs when we were watching part of the Wilson documentary. I think that it was hint saying that Debs will be on the DBQ in one of the documents.
ReplyDeleteThank you Zach for this it was very insightful. What I finding interesting about Wilson's point of view in all honestly is that he really was an international thinker. Unlike other presidents he felt that America would be better if not only national issues were solved but also international issues. This is why Wilson was a great president, he understood that we could not survive by ourselves even though isolation was a big thought during this time period. He knew that we would have to work with other nations to make the world better for everyone including America. This is why I Believe Wilson was a very strong leader.
ReplyDeleteThanks Zach! Thanks for posting down the main points and events during the postwar era! This would be a great post to look back to for review. I never knew that Lodge proposed a 14 "reservations". Haha
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