I do not believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919 because without Germany and the USSR, the two largest European aggressors, the League would have been very weak. Also, I do not believe the United States should put itself in a position where it is forced to send troops into an international conflict. Even with the United States, without two of the world’s most aggressive countries the League of Nations would have been extremely weak. The League would be weak because the aggressive countries would not have to listen to the league if they were not a part of it. Also, I do not believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations because the US should not have put itself in a position where it is forced to send troops into an international conflict. Because the League was so weak there was a great chance of them not being able to stop aggression, which after following the necessary protocol would end up leading to another war. The United States had just lost many young men in World War I and I do not think the US should be forced to once again help Europe with its problems. I agree with Senator Lodge, if the clause about having send American troops overseas was changed and it became an option and not a necessity, then we should have joined the League of Nations. The United States at the time had too many domestic issues to have its primary concern be Europe’s affairs. Due to the weakness of the League and the requirement of US troops in the event of another conflict were sufficient reasons for not joining the League of Nations.
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The League of Nations was a great idea. What killed its success was a lack of effort and contribution. I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Like all things great effort must be made to accomplish the goal. Although Germany, a forceful power, and the USSR, a massive European nation, were left out of the league, who is to say that they might not join or be added after the United States approved its attendance. What angers me about this situation is the fact that we were the nation who initiated the League of Nation, yet when it actually got up and running, we said that we didn’t want to join. Comparably, this is like ordering food at a restaurant, getting the main meal, and then without eating anything, walking out without paying. I agree with Morgan that it would have been difficult to strengthen the league without the most powerful nations, however I don’t believe that giving up was the right answer. Sometimes to get something one must make sacrifices. I believe that agreeing to the terms of the bill, agreeing to the order of sending troops in any case, would be reasonable if all the other countries were willing to do so. If the United States was to say that they would “think about” sending troops in a crisis, and all the other countries did the same then when a crisis came about who is to say that anyone would show up. I could understand maybe a limit on how many soldiers could be sent, but not agreeing to the terms at all was a huge mistake. If the United States was in a crisis and the League of Nations was there I believe we would want to know that we would receive support from them. Overall I am very upset that we did not join the League of Nations for many reasons: for our disloyalty to the rest of the nations, for the inability to have faith in it, for the selfishness of not sending troops while others would, and for the missed opportunity to prevent wars.
Dan Ives Sources: Morgan Handwerker and Mr. Gulotta
I do not think the United States should have joined the League of Nations. The United States was not initially involved in the First World War, and the only reason they were included in the four powers, were because of the power the United States had in the world. Countries like Great Britain and France knew that they had to have the United States on their side. Even though the United States President, Woodrow Wilson, built the idea of the League of Nations, which is a very important organization to have, the treaty created was not well organized. The idea behind the group was phenomenal: to have an organization of countries to protect the world from wars, make civil compromises when dealing with disagreements, and promote world peace. Yet the League of Nations at the time did not even include countries such as, Russia and Germany, which could be the source of problems in the world. Overall, the league was weak. Another reason the United States should not have joined the League of Nations is because, under the treaty, member nations would be ordered to defend the territories of league members even if they were not involved in the dispute what so ever. The United States would have to participate in the conflict and support the attacked nation, without even having Congress approve it. The amount of U. S citizens, resources, and money the country would lose over useless wars that we were not directly involved in, would be countless! The U.S tried to work with President Wilson and make amendments to the treaty. For example, Henry Lodge of Massachusetts proposed that the country would not be obligated to get involved in a war without first being approved by Congress. But because President Wilson did not agree to these terms or try to compromise in anyway, the United States never did join the League of Nations. In my opinion, this was the best option at the time for our country. The United States should have gotten involved if the terms to the treaty were different.
Woodrow Wilson pushed heavily for the United States to join the League of Nations, which was after all his idea. Despite this, he could never convince congress to join it due to a few major flaws. The first flaw was that the United States was required to take military action if the United Nations decided to intervene in a conflict. With all of the wars that had occurred in Europe, the continent of many of the countries in the League of Nations, it was very likely that the United States would get dragged into another major war like World War I. Another issue was the lack of power of the League of Nations. When it was created, both Germany and the U.S.S.R. were excluded. If these two countries were to ally together, they would create a power large enough to contest the entire League of Nations. Because of this lack of power, any war that the United States would be forced to enter, would very likely be a long and deadly one. The last major issue was that all of the issues that needed to be fixed after World War I were not fixed. For example, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was disbanded, many of the major powers in Europe drew a new map of the area. This resulted in people in Czechoslovakia, as Mr. Gulotta likes to say, “Not be able to spell the name of their own country.” These countries remained loyal to their original countries, and more empires were created, allowing the Axis powers to regrow despite being disbanded. The failure of European nations to settle all of the issues that led to and were created during World War I created a situation that the United States was understandably hesitant to join. When Woodrow Wilson asked congress to join the League of Nations, congress took into consideration all of these problems, and made the right decision in not joining the League of Nations.
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization established after WWI that would promote world peace. President WIlson was a huge supporter of the organization and he pushed America to join it. I believe that the League of Nations was a great idea, yet, it was not ideal for the U.S. to join it at the time. In Article 10 of the League of Nations, each League member promised to safeguard all the other members of the league against any external aggressions (Textbook, 569). The U.S. had just suffered a traumatic loss during WWI; and by joining the League of Nations, the U.S. would be vulnerable to loosing even more men if any conflict broke out. Although Wilson believed Article 10 was essential for the League of Nations, the U.S. citizens thought otherwise (Textbook, 569). The U.S. had suffered greatly during WWI; many Americans died at war, many resources and money were lost, and the U.S. morale had weakened. If the U.S. joined the League of Nations, the Americans would suffer greatly from living with incertitude. With all the conflicts going on in Europe, the Americans would fear the next moment they had to lose a loved one to the war. I support the idea of a League of Nations without article 10. Then, there would be a healthy alliance between several countries and the U.S. would not be vulnerable to have to participate in war.
The League of Nations, an idea forged and implemented in Europe by President Woodrow Wilson, was one of the first efforts by the entire western world to create a time of peace for all. Because war is the atrocity that it is, and because the United States had so recently experienced this atrocity, it is unbelievable that congress should refuse to participate in any form of unification between nations that could lead to a lasting peace. Woodrow Wilson knew that this chance for peace was a rare, one, and did all he could before he had a stroke to convince the United States to join the league of nations. Many of my piers have mentioned the weakness of the League of Nations due to the exclusion of powerful, aggressive nations such as the USSR and Germany. This weakness could potentially lead to a dispute that the League could not mediate, or perhaps even an alliance between the excluded nations that could rival the power of the League, as Chris suggested. However if the United States had joined, who was to say that this would not have swayed the USSR and Germany to join as well (although Germany was likely purposefully excluded)? Because the United States was just about the most powerful nation in the world during this time period, due to its industrial might and its relative low losses during world war I, the simple presence of this superpower would likely strengthen the integrity of the League of Nation’s mediating and influential power. Article 10 of the proposal for the League mentioned that all nations must respond with military action to alleviate conflict if one arises after lengthy mediation, and the US senate insisted that they did not want to be forced to send troops to aid the Europeans in their quarrels. However, I feel that the gravity of the US’s joining the League is overlooked in this situation as well. If you are an aggressing nation, you would be much more likely to cooperate in the mediation process if one of the most powerful militaries in the world was behind the mediators, opposed to a smaller collection of recently weakened militaries. Overall, the United States should have joined the League of Nations, because the simple influence of the United States would have increased the power of the League exponentially, thus making the use of force less likely to be necessary and therefore saving more lives around the world.
With the end of World War One, the leaders of all the major world powers prepared for a forum to discuss ways to build lasting peace, known as the Paris Peace Conference. At this conference, President Wilson expressed his 14 points, which in his eyes would create a lasting peace among countries. The fourteenth point was thought to be the worlds best hope for peace, it was to create the League of Nations. The League of Nation’s purpose was to strengthen international relations and improve cooperation among foreign powers, ultimately creating an atmosphere raising world peace. The idea of the League of Nations is ideal; however, the United States congressed viewed it as irrational and decided to not join. I believe this was in the countries best interest because it did not include some of the world’s strongest aggressors such as, Russia and Germany; thus, it was very weak because as Chris stated, alliances between excluded nations could form against the League. Furthermore, the US army would have to serve the League of Nations. This would entail US citizen’s to risk their lives for foreign affairs; in other words, they wouldn’t even be fighting for their own country. The United States wanted to stay out of European affairs and thought America was promising to send its troops to settle every little conflict around the world. Moreover, the economic cost of joining the League would be a factor. The US would essentially be signing a blank check by promising to solve all international problems regardless of the cost. Additionally, by joining the League, they would have to deal with mostly European problems; however, they shouldn’t have to worry about other countries policies. Overall, the League of Nations would threaten sovereignty and bring the US into foreign wars. Although it was the world’s best choice for creating a foundation of lasting peace, the US Congress did not agree, but instead saw it as a threat to the nation's policies; thus, would not ratify it.
I think that the United States shouldn't have joined the League of Nations because of two reasons.
First of all, after the Great War, European countries were terribly damaged; millions of people lost their lives and families; the economies were in danger with the pressure of recovering from the horrifying war. As a result, the League of Nation basically would have had to rely on mostly the United States if she were to join. Of course the US sent supplies and money to help Europe after the war; however, it shouldn't be an obligation to "prepare for war and presumably fight to protect all the other members" of The League. The United States would have to sacrifice her own safety - safety of American citizens, the economy and the politics - for wars and conflicts that had nothing to do with America. If helping other nations became an obligation, it would come to a point where the US couldn't even support itself. Plus, the US already had her own problems within the nation: labor strikes were happening in many places after the war; women were fighting for their rights to vote, etc. Second, the United States shouldn't have joined the League of Nation because joining would mean rising the already-established tension between the United States and Germany and USSR. Germany and USSR weren't even invited to join the League. If the US had joined the League of Nation, those two countries would be totally isolated, and that would just give rise to more aggression afterwards. The fear of Communism had already exacerbated the relationship between the US and USSR; there was no point to make it even worse.
So, due to the two reason I have just stated, the United States was right not to join the League of Nation, and she shouldn't have joined the League even though it was just to lend a helping hand to nations damaged by the war. - Son Nguyen -
I believe that the Unites States should not have joined the League of Nations. President of the United States Woodrow Wilson drew up this plan in search of world peace. What he did not really pay attention to is that this League of Nations would also be a catalyst for war just as much as peace. According to Article 10 as Milton said also “Each member must promise to respect and preserve all other members of the League against external aggression”. This means that if a country is declaring war against France, it is also declaring war against the other nations in the League including the US. The US would be thrown into even more wars than they would’ve expected if they would’ve joined. Another weakness of this plan was that the two most aggressive countries in Europe were not part of the League; The Soviet Union (USSR) and Germany. How could such a league or alliance of countries exist to get rid of war and trouble without the two most dominant powers in the Eastern Hemisphere? While Woodrow was worrying about all this in Europe, he had problems of his own to worry about in the US. There were strikes, communism and terrorism scares, and political disorder all around the country. The US had just finished up in WWI and had lost a lot of troops and spent more than enough money. For the US to send more troops over to Europe to serve with the League of Nations would be stupid. The US would not be able to afford it. Even though President Woodrow Wilson had a good vision about world peace and tranquility, it was too much of a stretch to be over in Europe fighting everyone else’s wars in a League that won’t work and while their own domestic problems are expanding rapidly. I would take the side of Senator Lodge on this one.
By: Justin Donawa Citing: Powerpoints, Milton, Morgan
Although Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points sounds appealing to those who believed in world peace, I do not think that US should join the League of Nations. The lack of Germany and Russian participation alone makes the League of Nations a weak alliance. Even within the participants of the League, it failed to stop aggression in the case of Manchuria. Moreover, the fact that US has to send troops if two conflicting countries do not back down might enlarge a regional war into a world war. The hatefulness and greediness of the axis countries and the fear of war in other countries alone caused the WW2, regardless if there is a league of union or not. By the end of WW1, Germany and the Bolshevik Russia were two most aggressive countries in Europe, and neither of them joined the league of nations. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay debts that it could not afford and evacuate troops from its own territory (Rhineland). Most of all, Germany had to take all responsibility of the war, though many countries’ nationalism together started the war. Stripped of pride and prosperity, Germany was revengeful; riots and nationalism blossomed there. At the same time, Russia was going through civil unrest too. In Russia, the Great Purge started by Stalin deprived many people of life and freedom. The new regime is aggressive and unpredictable. If Germany and Russia did not join the League of Nations, it is unlikely for the league to protect peace in Europe. The Munich Pact of 1938 effectively explained this point. Although Germany wanted Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, the League could not ask Germany to back down. Tired of war, both England and France used appeasement policies and let Germany have its way. Even if US was in the League, it was impossible for Germany to stop its aggression. Indeed, US interference, if not by military force, had little impact on fascist countries. In 1931, Japan, a member of the League of Nations, invaded Manchuria. The League condemned Japanese aggression towards China, and US issued the Stimson Doctrine that refused to recognize Japanese conquest. However, Japan was not restrained by international condemnation. It withdrew from the League and continued to invade China. Moreover, it is against US constitution to go to war without Congressional approval, yet the League of Nation required US to send force if economic sanction does not work for an aggressive nation. A country’s military force should first of all be used to protect the country’s own interest. Therefore, it is reasonable for US not to join the League because it does not want to loose the right of declaring war or not. Worst of all, such measures might enlarge a regional warfare into a new world war. Once so many countries enter the war, it would be hard to negotiate peace. Instead, if some powerful countries could stay out of war and be the mediator, that would be better for solving a crisis. For the above reasons, I think it would be unwise of US to join the League of Nations in 1919, especially with the clause that force it to use military forces when two countries in conflicts do not respond to military sanction. A country’s military forces should not be compelled to join any foreign wars. Even with the military threat, the League of Nations is ineffectively without the participation of Germany and Russia, not to say that aggressive countries could withdraw from the Union at any time. Therefore, I think US should not join the League of Nations in 1919.
Should the United States of American have joined the League of Nations in 1919?
I don’t think that the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919. To begin, there were only five nations that agreed to join the League. They were France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States. These are very strong countries but two of the biggest European powers didn’t join, Germany and Russia. This posed a problem because they were both influential European aggressors. Germany and Russia needed to join or the League and its entirety would end up being a failed action. Since Germany and Russia didn’t join, they were not obligated and did not feel the desire to listen or comply with the League.
After World War I, basically all of the European countries that participated in the fight were damaged to some extent. Some countries were more damaged than others. Since a large number of European countries were hurt because of the war, the United States would have to play a huge role in the League. The countries affected by the war would have to rely greatly on the United States for support. This was a problem because on top of The United States’ own problem after the war, they would also have to spend a lot of their effort and money on trying to put other countries back on their feet.
The League of Nations was a brilliant concept and was much needed after WWI but for the reasons stated above, it failed in its purpose of keeping peace throughout the world.
It would later be found out that the league was powerless to stop countries like Germany and Russia from expanding their influential roots to other countries. If only the League had fixed some of their flaws, it would have stopped the eventual outbreak of WWII. It took the failure of the League of Nations and another World War for World Power to realize that they were doing it wrong. President Wilson’s desire for World Peace was right around the corner with the root establishment of the United Nations in 1945.
- Patrick Frey - Sources: class slides, Morgan Handwerker
The League of Nations was formed by President Woodrow Wilson as part of his “Fourteen Points” in 1920, two years after WWI. Wilson, who was shocked by the disorder and destruction in Europe, felt that he had the responsibility to avoid another war of such global scale. The ideology behind forming the League of Nations was to promote international cooperation in hopes of seeking long term peace. The Congress was correct in preventing the United States from joining the league because the plan was too idealistic. Although the overarching goal of the League was noble, the details in the Covenant of the League of Nations reveal that it was unrealistic and impractical to put into action.
The first weakness of the League was the lack of army. In the Covenant, it called for disputes to be settled with discussions. If discussions failed, economic sanctions would be imposed. If sanctions failed, the League would have to introduce physical sanctions. With France and Britain in economic ruins, United States would be the only country who had a big enough army to enforce physical sanctions. This would mean that the United States would have to pay a substantial amount of money to finance an organization that would reduce United States’ ability to defend its own interest for the greater good. Such a plan would not be economically sustainable and justifiable to the electorates in the long-run.
The Second weakness of the League was that Russia, Germany and USA were not members of the League of Nations. Even if USA joined, the Treaty of Versailles dictated that Russia and Germany would still be left out of the League. This was a major problem because Germany and Russia were powerful countries; the decisions their governments make could have huge repercussions within the international community. By excluding two of the most powerful countries in the world, the League could not truly represent the global community.
The Third weakness of the League was the need for a unanimous vote among members before any sort of action can be taken. As seen in the current United Nations, each nation wants to protect its own interests and has different opinions and views on how a matter should be handled. Hence, it was highly unlikely that all voting members would come to a unanimous consensus. Even if a unanimous vote was ultimately achieved, it would take a long deliberating process and the end result might change radically from the original plan.
The combined weaknesses of the League of Nations shows how unrealistic and impractical the organization was. However, the League played an important role in shaping future peace-keeping organizations that would learn from the mistakes committed by the League of Nations.
I believe the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919 because of the potential strength the organization held in future geo-political matters. To begin with, the entire idea of the League of Nations came from the United States President Woodrow Wilson in an effort to combat international conflict. This was done to prevent another world war (World War 1 had just occurred two years prior). I believe the idea of settling conflict over a discussion table rather than a war zone is incredibly practical especially on the heels of such a bloody war. The first major reason I believe the United States should have joined the League of Nations is because with the likelihood that future nations will join, the League will become more and more powerful. Once the league became more powerful, the United States could use this League as a valuable tool in solving international discrepancies. A League of Nations provided a chance for countries to sit together in a peaceful environment and solve their differences. To me, this is a much better idea than immediately going to war. Therefore, the potential the League of Nations had made it completely worthwhile for the United States to have joined in 1919. Another way in which the League of Nations could have been helpful to the United States is if membership were immediately offered to the Germans and the Russians. If the United States were a member of the League of Nations then they could have invited Russia and Germany into the league which could have jumpstarted a positive relationship between these three countries. If the United States, the Germans, and the Russians were able to discuss their differences in a peaceful setting it is possible that war could have been prevented with Germany, and a Cold War with Russia could have been avoided. By joining the League of Nations and offering membership to the Germans and Russians, the United States could have avoided the ultimate insult to human intellect; war. The third positive that should have encouraged the United States to join the group is that if the United States was a member than they would be backed by the organization. Considering the power in the League of Nations, countries would be much less willing to attack the interests of the United States for fear of having the entire wrath of multiple nations come down on them. In summary, I believe the United States was foolish not to join the League of Nations in 1919 because of the organization's massive political potential, ability to provide a peaceful arena to settle differences, and the ability to steer potentially dangerous countries away from causing geo-political bloodshed.
I think the United States should have joined the League of Nations. League of Nations was an organization founded by President Wilson for the sake of international piece. It was supposed to give the world’s countries an opportunity to have constructive conversations, which would have brought more understanding and, consequently, helped them stay out of another war. It was also supposed to be a major power that would keep aggressors from starting a conflict. Among the reasons why the United States did not join the League of Nations is Germany and the USSR not joining it. It is understandable that without those two countries, which were considered more aggressive or likely to appear threatening, the United States might have neglected joining the League of Nations as well. But if the United States were to join the League of Nations, it might have had enough influence to be able to bring Germany in as well. And if Germany and the US would have joined it, not only the organization would have become much more powerful, it would also have given the US the right to do more than just to “recommend” an action. The USSR would have not been able to stand up to such a major power and would either have had to join it or at least be respectful to its opinions. And, most importantly, if Germany had a chance to be heard, if there was more dialogue and understanding between the major world powers, it is possible that the Second World War might have been prevented.
I think that the United States should have joined the League of Nations because they would have strengthened the League of Nations. Yes the League of Nations had many problems, but if the wealthiest nation at that time joined it would be a major step towards eliminating many of the problems. The United States president Woodrow Wilson founded the League of Nations and by congress not supporting the League, Wilson looked power less to the rest of the world. This perception made Wilson struggle to help Europe and the League of Nations. Further more, the reason for the Congress didn’t initially join the League of Nations, was because they wanted to see how effective it would be before joining. The major problem with this reasoning was that the league would only be effective if the entire major powers in the world joined. (Germany, the USSR, and the United states did not join) The League of Nations shares many characteristics of the United Nations, which has done a good job at trying to prevent wars for the last 69 years. If an organization with this kind of power had existed then a world war II could have been prevented. Wilson spent so much of his time trying to convince the U.S. to join the League of Nations by campaigning and trying to help Europe. If the U.S. had joined the League of Nations then Wilson could have focus on domestic issues like post war strikes, race riots, women’s rights, organized crime, and the revival of the KKK. I believe that if Wilson was not distracted by getting the United states to join the League of Nations then he could have done a good job fixing some of the domestic issues, and League of Nations would still existed today.
The United States was right not to join the League of Nations. There are many reasons I believe they made the right choice not to be involved in the League. The League of Nations was compiled of limited countries and did not include countries that would become problems in the future. Countries like Germany and Russia were not included in the League of Nations and that proved to be a problem. Being a part of the League was not in the interest of the United States because it brought the threat of being dragged into another war. One of the conditions of being included in the League was that if two countries could not sort things out, and one of those countries was in the League, the other nations in the council would have to send military support. The United States, coming out of WWI, had lost countless soldiers and a lot of money. If they had been dragged into a war earlier than they were to WWII, the economy and morale of the people would have been devastated. Wilson already had problems building up in the United States and being in the League of Nations would have caused him to keep ignoring the strikes, racism, and terrorism going on at the home front. Although Wilson’s plan for peace was well thought out, it was good to stay out of the League of Nations
In my opinion, the US should have joined the League of Nations. In fact, Woodrow Wilson had the idea, and he announced it as the last point of his 14 points. Since it was the first international organization for countries to prevent war, the League of Nations started off weakly. This was partially due to the fact that not all to many nations had joined. Although major countries such as Germany or Russia did not join, the US could have joined the League of Nations, perhaps inspiring other countries to join, or just in general strengthening the League. Additionally the US was already one of the permanent council members. Not being involved in the League would be like a prefect at Berkshire not going to Berkshire School. Despite all that, I do think that Henry Cabot Lodge was right about the fact that no country should be forced to go to war. However Wilson wanted to keep the League of Nations how it was, so there was not a compromise, which was not a smart move on Wilson’s part. Nonetheless, one of Wilson’s three reasons why the US joined WWI was in order to make the world “safe for democracy.” This goal could have been continued with the League of Nations, if the US had joined. Also the war was not nearly as bad for the US as it was for most European countries, since the US did not lose as many troops, and none of the battles were fought on American soil. Resulting, I think that the US should have aspired to help the rest of the world, by joining and strengthening an international organization to prevent war. If the League of Nations would have become more powerful and influential by the US joining it, WWII might have been avoided, since the nations in the League could have collectively gone against Germany instead of single nations appeasing to it.
Although it failed, the League of Nations was a great thing and it laid the foundation for the United Nations.
Sources: Adv. US History class The Heritage of World Civilizations (Adv. Modern World History textbook)
I do not think the United States should have joined the League of Nations. Initially, the United States wasn't involved in the First World War. However, because United States had an extreme amount of power in the world, Great Britain and France wanted U.S support. Despite Woodrow Wilson forming the idea of the League, it wasn't developed properly. The idea itself was incredible; the goal was to work toward negotiations and establish world peace. Conversely, the League had several faults. For example, power nations such as Germany and Russia weren't included. Additionally, the League required countries to defend one another. Furthermore, the United States would have to be involved in other countries without any say from Congress. This would have caused huge problems in the government. Although President Wilson felt strongly about the League, U.S citizens simply were not. This was mainly because Americans didn't want to be required to take military action. Moreover, Senator Henry Lodge of Massachusetts suggested that the mandate should be made voluntary. President Wilson declined his proposal. The decision to steer clear from the League of Nations was a good one for America. If the treaty had more plausable terms, it could have been a different story.
The United States of America should have joined the League of Nations for a number of reasons. The first reason is that the League of Nation’s creator needed to be a part of it. Woodrow Wilson handicapped the League by not having the United States be a part of it. He designed the League to keep peace and help resolve issues around the world, but did not carryout and oversee the early years of the League through not bringing the US into it. Because Wilson was the creator of the League of Nations, but did not bring the United States into the League, it was at a severe disadvantage. In addition to Woodrow Wilson not being a part of the League of Nations, the United States should have been part of the League because it needed a strong country to back up its authority. The League had been designed to keep peace throughout the world, but in the event of a conflict, it did not have a backbone to enforce its views. The United States would have been this backbone and elevated the League from a organization that could give its opinion to an organization that had to be respected and could impact situations. Also, the League of Nations was the first organization of its kind to be created and should have been given a chance. The League of Nations had the opportunity to act as a peacekeeper over the entire world and help countries in numerous ways. Because of this potential, the United States should have joined and helped make the League the best it could be. Lastly, the United State had just gotten out of a war and had a large amount of unresolved issues that accumulated over the duration of the war. If the League of Nations was running smoothly with the help of the United States, then the American government could have turned more attention to issues at home such as strikes and the lack of civil rights. Overall, the United States should have joined the League of Nations because Woodrow Wilson was its creator, the League needed a strong country to help, it had a large amount of potential, and the US could have directed more attention to issues in America.
I believe that the U.S. should have joined the League of Nations in 1919. The United States made the League weak the moment that they decided not to join it, because our president, Woodrow Wilson was the man who created the League. The U.S. was also the most powerful country at the time and would have made it much harder to defy the League if the most powerful country was enforcing what they said. Since the U.S. did not join it other countries did not take it serious because even the country that started it wanted nothing to do with it. Had the U.S. joined I believe countries such as the U.S.S.R. and Germany would have seen that the League of Nations was something to be taken seriously and joined it. If they and the other major powers at the time had joined it would have been much easier to prevent the Second World War. If Germany and the U.S.S.R not joined, but America had then Germany would have noticed that the League was not something to mess with when they first started to annex other countries and WWII could have been prevented. Milton and Justin bring up a good point that article 10 requires all countries who are members of the League of Nations to defend any other member that is attacked, but I do not believe that that would gave caused the U.S. to enter into more conflicts, I think it would have discouraged countries from attacking League members and effectively maintained peace. The League of Nations had the potential to be great, but by the most powerful country and founder refusing to enter, that sent a message to the rest of the world that it was weak, which is why it failed.
Cite: John Leasure, Chis Kreke, Milton Martinez, and Justin Donawa
I believe that the United States should not have joined the League of Nations. It was a good idea at the time, but it was weak and disorganized. Many of these problems included the lack of German and Russian involvement, the unanimous decision of the council required to take action, the unacceptable redrawing of the map of Europe, and economic problems which were not addressed. Although it was Woodrow Wilson's plan to unite the world, it failed miserably. Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts led the opposition of the League. Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points sounded appealing, but all of the points were not reached. I believe it was a huge problem that Germany and Russia did not join the League. These were two major international powers and without them being in the League, they did not feel the need to abide by the League's rules. With all of the communism, strikes, and terrorism, every global power must be represented in the League. If the League of Nations was better organized and incorporated Germany and Russia, the League of Nations would have succeeded.
Even though President Wilson came with the idea of the League of Nations, I believe that the United States of America made the right choice on not getting involved in such association. The League of Nations was a fantastic idea: it helped to make civil arrangements and compromises between countries when dealing with disagreements and promoted worldwide peace. However, mainly for two reasons, such association did not agree with the American mentality. The first one is that only the Great Powers of the World at that time were members of it, i.e. Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States. Yet, countries like Russia and Germany were not taken into account. This made the League of Nations look weak and bias to the advantage of the members, simply because the peace that it was willing to provide was ruled only by the countries that won WWI and not all of the ones that were involved. Therefore such thing did not involve the democracy that the United States strongly believed in. The second reason is that the terms to avoid war, again, did not agree with the freedom and democracy that the USA powerfully stated. In the treaty, members of the league “would be ordered to defend the territories of other members even if they were not involved in whatsoever” (Kennedy). This means that the USA would have to risk its own people’s lives to defend others, and face the consequences that they were not responsible of. Therefore, the terms of the treaty were illogical for the United States. Even Henry Lodge, Senator of Massachusetts, showed to the Americans that the US should not be obligated to do something that its own country did not want to be part of. Even though President Woodrow Wilson tried hardly to persuade the American people to join the League, which was something completely irrational, I believe that the United States made the right decision on not joining the League of Nations.
Clementina Davila Credits to Reilly Kennedy and Mr. Gulotta’s Lecture.
When President Woodrow Wilson released his 14 points before congress he thought he had “The American program for the future of the world.” With these points Wilson thought that he would be able to spread democracy and peace throughout the world, which was his primary goal during and after the war. One of his plans for peace was “A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial independence of all states,” (Trueman). A plan to form a common group of nations was vital to keeping peace within Europe. Tension would remain high after World War I and in order for the League to be successful every nation within Europe must be a part of the group. However, both Germany and Russia were left out, which only created more animosity between the League members and Germany and Russia. Although, the plan to form the League was Wilson’s Idea I still believe it was best for the United States to stay out of the League of Nations. After World War I, much of Europe was left in ruins. Countries were devastated both economically and physically. Even though both sides were thrilled that the war came to a conclusion, the hatred among one another was still present. Peace was still not completely in place. Even though the Armistice had been signed to stop shooting, the Treaty of Versailles had done everything but create peace among the nations. “The big four,” of David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson had formed the treaty, which greatly hurt Germany. Although Wilson had tried to preach democracy he was overpowered and the other three had agreed to punish Germany. The Treaty of Versailles made Germany pay for the war, take full blame for starting it and decrease the size of their army as well as evacuate their troops from the Rhineland. Within Germany after the war, nationalism was weak and the country was struggling greatly. The diminishment of their nation angered Germany. Because Germany was so down for the count their only savior was Hitler in order to get them out of the ditch the Treaty of Versailles had put them in. The downfall of Germany was one of the leading reasons for WWII. If Germany had been a part of the League of Nations there could have been a solution. The other nation that was still left out was Russia. A Russian revolution was taking place towards the conclusion of World War I, which created uncertainty. Joseph Stalin eventually took over and preached communism throughout. With the Great Purge many people were mistreated and harmed. If Russia had been included in the League of Nations a solution to the crippling government could have been found. On top of Germany and Russia being left out, there was more good reason for the United States to stay out of the League of Nations. If someone did attack on one of the League members the United States would be forced to send troops in order to help. This was unfair to the American people who would volunteer their lives for their country. That is something that president Wilson didn’t take for granted. Within the United States there were problems as well. With the conclusion of the war not only came the roaring 20’s but racial riots and prejudice groups stormed the country. The KKK was at its strongest within the United States and Lynching’s were also a common occurrence. A communist Party also arose and the “reds” were not a threat but scared many. If the United States were to enter the League of Nations they may have been more concerned with affairs overseas then within America itself. In the end the United States made the correct decision in not joining the League of Nations because with Germany and Russia not involved a second war was bound to occur. All of Europe must have been involved in order for it to work. Also it should be the militaries decision whether to join or not, not the League’s. And finally there was enough trouble going on in the United States at the time, so it was best to worry about our own affairs rather than Europe’s.
President Woodrow Wilson was a very intelligent man who wanted to help America achieve its full potential and carry out its duty to the rest of the world. In January 1918, he went before Congress to outline his reasons for democracy or the American way for the rest of the world. These reasons listed became known as the fourteen points. Wilson fought for and argued for things like freedom of the seas to be restored, secret diplomacy to be abolished and most importantly a League of Nations. The League of Nations would focus primarily on maintaining world peace and ensuring a fair international justice system. Although the League of Nations was a genius idea by the President, the timing was off and the powers of the League needed to be carefully outlined and considered. Henry Cabot Lodge was right to dissuade Congress from approving the United States entry into the League of Nations. Some of the terms laid out for the League didn’t fit in with the best interests of the United States and there were many weaknesses of the League that could ultimately hurt the United States. These weaknesses include the countries that hadn’t joined, the unanimous decision of the Council required to take any action and that no economic problems were addressed. For example countries like Russia and Germany were not included in the League. These are the countries that would be most likely to take aggressive action against another country, leaving them out did nothing to solve world peace. The unanimous decision also would make it impossible to get anything done, especially when most countries don’t agree. The weaknesses of the League of Nations just didn’t make it the right moment for the United States to join in 1919.Wilson had a great idea that just needed to be perfected for the United States to join in the future.
I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations. The concept of having a League of Nations was a brilliant idea thought up of by United States President Woodrow Wilson. President Wilson believed deeply in what the League of Nations stood for, democracy and peace, and traveled around Europe to convince others of its importance. While the concept of the League of Nations was ingenious, the execution of it was less than desirable. The League of Nations was the first worldwide organization whose purpose was to improve relationships between nations and prevent war. However, the League was not nearly as effective as it could have been. One of its main weaknesses was that many countries did not join the League of Nations such as the USSR and Germany. I believe that if the United States had joined the League it might have motivated countries such as the USSR to join as well. At the time, the United States was most likely the single most powerful country in the world. If the United States had joined the League of Nations, our vast resources and power could have had a massive impact on the outcome of the League of Nations. The US could have served as an inspiration for other countries to join because it would have made the League of Nations more legitimate. I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations because of the inspiration and support it would have provided for other countries to join, which would have eliminated one of the main weaknesses of the League of Nations, allowing it to succeed and create a safe, democratic, and peaceful world.
The United States should not have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Even though President Wilson had the idea to form a league of nations it was not the right time for America to join. The league had the right intentions: world peace. However, the league was not made up of all the nations and could not achieve peace. It was missing the people and countries that needed to make peace such as Russia and Germany. If America gave into this league that was not a good league, it would be accepting the way they were doing things. Some people think that because America’s president came up with the idea that the United States would be the first to join. I think that they should have been the last to join and to say, “Okay now this is good and we accept.” Being a part of this league, at the time, would have forced America into world war one. At the time president Wilson wanted nothing to do with war and I believe he was right for it. If the league had been created in a time of limited war and chaos it would have been more realistic for America to join. Once countries get involved they start to pick sides and when countries start to pick sides, troops are sent into battle and people are killed. Keeping the U.S. out of European affairs was important for the people of America.
The United States should not have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Even though President Wilson had the idea to form a league of nations it was not the right time for America to join. The league had the right intentions: world peace. However, the league was not made up of all the nations and could not achieve peace. It was missing the people and countries that needed to make peace such as Russia and Germany. If America gave into this league that was not a good league, it would be accepting the way they were doing things. Some people think that because America’s president came up with the idea that the United States would be the first to join. I think that they should have been the last to join and to say, “Okay now this is good and we accept.” Being a part of this league, at the time, would have forced America into world war one. At the time president Wilson wanted nothing to do with war and I believe he was right for it. If the league had been created in a time of limited war and chaos it would have been more realistic for America to join. Once countries get involved they start to pick sides and when countries start to pick sides, troops are sent into battle and people are killed. Keeping the U.S. out of European affairs was important for the people of America.
I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations. The League of Nations was created to keep the world at peace and safe for democracy by resolving conflicts through negotiation instead of war. There were however many problems with the League of Nations, all of which could have been fixed by the United States joining. One of the biggest issues was Russia and Germany had not joined the League. Without these two countries, whom the members of the League still had political tension with, there would not be much accomplished. Had the United States joined, other countries may have felt swayed to join, but by the United States not joined the League of Nations looked weak and disorganized. The League also did not address economic problems and redrew a map of Europe, both of which seemed unattractive to the United States, but had the US joined, those problems would have certainly been addressed. The final problem with the League of Nations is that it could only recommend action. This lack of power would have surely been fixed had the US joined the League, as the US was one of the most powerful countries at the time.
The United States of America was correct in their decision to decline joining the League of Nations, for more reasons than one. One such reason was, while the League was a great idea in hindsight, the biggest of its flaws was that it did not include all of the world’s greatest powers, specifically Russia and Germany. Coming out of a war where Russia was a valuable ally, and Germany was the main aggressor, it only makes sense to include the two countries in the League, considering that one of the League’s main goals was to prevent future wars and to pursue a future filled with peace. It would not make sense for the United States to join an organization that excluded two of the world’s greatest powers, especially one who was the primary aggressor in the most recent war. A second reason supporting the United States decision not to join the league is that, had they done so, they would have been forced to send their troops at the request of the league. By staying out of the League, the United States was able to send their troops only when they felt necessary, and were not forced to do so when other countries believed it to be necessary. Had the United States joined, they could have been forced to risk their own soldier’s lives in fighting for a cause which they didn’t even believe in. In the end, the United States was right in its decision to stay out of the league, for these reasons and more.
As World War I came to an end, I believe the United States should have joined the League of Nations in order to bring peace and democracy. In President Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, he addressed that a League of Nations would necessary for international peace. With the idea coming from the US president, the United States should have been the first to join, and yet it did not even join the League of Nations. Great Britain, France, and Italy needed the United States’ support in order to be a strong organization. The United States held power economically and politically which combined with the other nations would have made the League of Nations stronger as a whole. If the United States had joined, Germany and the USSR could be invited to join and might join just because of the sheer power with the addition of the US. Though the League of Nations did not guarantee peace, like any other peace agreement, it promoted longer lasting peace. Though the League of Nations had its flaws with a mandate to war, the primary purpose of the League was to prevent war, so if the US had joined the League, the League would be less likely to use force because it was stronger as a unit. The League of Nations was structured in collaboration and discussion to end disputes, which would help settle geo-political arguments constructively and create stronger bonds for peace. I believe if the United States to join the League of Nations, the organization would have been stronger and peace would have lasted longer. President Woodrow Wilson knew that for the better good of the world, the United States need to join the League to support peace and democracy. If the United States had joined the League in 1919, geo-political war would have been far less likely to erupt.
Alyssa Cass
Sources: Jake Diamond, Vaughan Kavanaugh, Anna Kravtsova Mr. Gulotta’s Adv. US History Presentation
The United States should not have entered the League of Nations. Although Wilson was very confident he wanted to form the committee, Americans were not so positive that they wanted to be a part of something so high risk. Wilson traveled across the country, attempting to persuade Americans with the Fourteen Points he had come up with, trying to get them to support this new idea. The people of this country at the time were nervous and didn't think it was a good idea. Although it was a good effort and an appealing concept, there were flaws within it that some could not look past. For example, high powered countries like Russia and Germany were not included in this League and would not be able to participate in the decisions that were being made. This doesn't make sense seeing as how those two countries were partially the cause of WWI, but wouldn't be included in trying to keep the peace and prevent that from happening again. Another weakness of the league can be seen when looking at the big picture. Although the League of Nations could "suggest" for countries to act certain ways and special alliances to be made, they couldn't actually enforce anything, making it difficult to manifest any legitimate power in the League itself. The lack of army within the League supported this flaw and took credibility away from the idea.
On a broader note, it just didn't seem necessary for Wilson to create this League in the first place. There wasn't much of a threat coming from Germany or Russia on the defensive side because both countries had recently been significantly weakened by World War One. I appreciate Wilson's generosity towards other countries and his unique ability to prepare for the future, but I believe that without a threat of another war looming, Wilson's efforts should have been spent inside of his own country (literally and figuratively) on recuperating from the recent war.
Two years after World War 1 Woodrow Wilson created the League of Nations. He was concerned with the post war negotiations in Europe. The Allies left Germany with a bad taste in their mouth after the treaty of Versailles. He figured that Germany might want revenge on the Allies and the rest of Europe. He felt he could ease this tension by introducing the League of Nations to the rest of the world. This league was an effort to keep the world out of another world war. Wilson envisioned a world were there would be cooperation between all countries. Although this was a great idea by President Wilson there were a few major flaws that kept the U.S. out of the league, which was the right move by the U.S.
The first flaw in the League of Nations was that Germany and Russia were not invited to join the league. As President Wilson envisioned a world free of war the league did not include two very important countries and powerful armies. Including Russia and Germany would have brought Europe together and potentially could have avoided World War 2.
The second flaw was redrawing the map of Europe. The League of Nations should not have come up with multiple new countries in Europe. This frustrated many Europeans; this was counterproductive to the League of Nations goal. It separated Europe even more. This was a major flaw that had a role in starting World War 2.
In conclusion, the League of Nations was a great idea but was to far out of reach. It was smart for the U.S. not to join. As George Washington said, 'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent Alliances, with any portion of the foreign world.” The U.S. needed to focus on our own problems.
Fresh out of one of the most deadly wars this whole earth has come to see at this time, came a peacemaker. His name was Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States. Wilson believed that peace could be achieved for all countries in Europe just two short years after the ending of World War I. In 1918 Wilson gave one of his most famous statements, this was called the fourteen points. The fourteen points were designed to create peace throughout not just the US but also the whole world, especially Europe. The last point made by Wilson was to create a league of nations, joining forces around the globe to focus on keeping peace. The US president was the founder of the League of Nations but the US stayed out of the league and it was the right thing to do.
The first main reason why it was smart move for the US to stay out of the League of Nations was because of how weak it was. The league was a new idea and some countries were hesitant to join and help the cause, it lacked involvement that it needed to be a strong organization and to help the world it needed the worlds participation. Also, there was no army of the League of Nations and for this it had to rely on the Great Power countries, such as France and Great Britain. Another problem that showed was that organizations such as this can only offer and recommend peace offerings and ideas to two conflicted countries. For this the US wasn’t exactly ready to offer advice to countries especially since they are thousands miles away. Another main problem was how Germany and Russia were not involved in the formation of the League of Nations immediately. Germany and Russia have two of the largest armies in Europe and Asia, and coming out of WWI these were two problematic countries, so it makes no sense why they weren’t included cause out of all the countries they needed peace the most.
The League of Nations was the right idea by President Wilson, hoping to make peace throughout the world. War is the greatest insult to all of mankind and Wilson believed that an organization like this would rid of that hell. It was the correct and overall smart move by the US to not join the League of Nations though, it was not a well-established organization that was ready for a country that was not close by like the rest. It was weak and disorganized and only lasted up to twenty-seven years and eventfully ended with the start of World War II, its sole purpose was to stop wars and it failed.
Dan Driscoll
sources: Jake Diamond, Jimmy Mckee, Max Way Mr. Gulotta's Powerpoint Presentation
All good ideas are successful in theory, however, a good idea doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful result. The League of Nations was a good idea in theory, and it had potential to be successful. US President Woodrow Wilson had good intentions of ending the violence and bringing peace to the nations, however, that is not how it played out. In my opinion, congress made the right decision by not joining the League of Nations. There are several reasons why it was wise not to. One reason is simply that the people of the United States did not want to go to war again and shouldn't. Under the rules of the League of Nations, any member would have to protect another member if one of the nations were to be attacked. This would mean another war is inevitable. World War I took too many lives itself; the US could not afford to send out more soldiers to die in a war that didn't pertain to them. Along with that is the absence of two aggressive European powers: Soviet Union and Germany. Both countries had extreme views that frightened other nations. It would not make sense for the US to join a league that two of the biggest threats were not in. There are several other reasons why it was smart not to join. The main point, though, is that the US had to prioritize and protect its own citizens first.
The United States was should have joined the League of Nations which was an organization which was aimed to keep word piece after the world war. The by then president of the United states Woodrow Wilson came up with the idea of forming this organization and he came up with 14 points to keep world peace. Although Woodrow Wilson had built the ground for the League of Nations the United States didn't join the League of Nations. The United States had created an unbalance of power when it supported the allied power and this forced Germany and its counterparts to surrender. For this reason the United States was supposed to join the League of Nations, the United States had to act as a balancing for in League of Nations since it was the most powerful and less damaged country post world war. Forming the League of Nations was a great idea but the lack of forgiveness and leniency that Abraham Lincoln showed when he accepted the south back into the union instead the English and French wanted to punish Germany for starting the war and they were very harsh in the Versailles treaty. This lack of leniency drove the world into World War 2 since Germany wanted revenge to get its borders back. The United States of America had to join the League of Nations because the U.S. could settle their disputes with other countries of the world without having to go to war. By keeping out of war several thousands of Americans would be able to keep their lives. Another reason that the U.S. should have joined the League of Nations is for collective security. If one country was to attack the U.S. then all of the other countries in the League would be bound to the U.S. to assist them. Separating itself from world politics by not joining the league was not going to work because they had already participated in one of the world’s greatest conflicts hence it was impossible for them to stay out of world politics as we will see in World War 2. One last reason the U.S. should join the League of Nations is that its goal is to improve the international standard of living and that was the dream of the forefathers that had formed the United States. Another Kushaina
After World War I, the United States, and its president, Woodrow Wilson, were horrified by the war’s destruction. Nearly 8.5 million soldiers were killed, with 21 million wounded, and areas surrounding the fronts in Europe were reduced to rubble. President Wilson asked for the creation of an international body whose sole purpose was to maintain world peace. This became the League of Nations. The League of Nations was created to prevent future wars by solving disputes peacefully. Although the League was a great idea, it had many flaws when it was first created. First, the League of Nations worked in a series of steps, starting by addressing the issue and compromising, followed by economic sanctions against the aggressor country (if the solution was not accepted), and finally finished with military enforcement, if the economic sanctions did not stop the aggressor. The final step, military enforcement, was crucial to the power of the League, but, by the end of World War I, the countries involved in the League of Nations did not want to go to war, neither did they have the financial ability to. This made the League very weak. Secondly, the League did not allow Germany to join, as part of the Treaty of Versailles, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 barred the country from joining as well. This was a huge loss to the League of Nations as Germany and Russia were two very powerful countries that could have contributed to the League’s power. Furthermore, Germany and Russia were two of the most aggressive countries in Europe. Germany would seek revenge for the strict rules set by the Treaty of Versailles (this treaty forced Germany to pay for the war debts of other countries and take the blame for the start of the war), and Russia was becoming a communist nation, threatening democratic governments in Europe. Eventually war would break out, and without Germany and Russia in the League, it would be much harder to solve these conflicts. Finally, The League of Nations, if economic sanctions did not work, would require its countries to send military support, but this was against the United States Constitution, which says that Congress has to agree in order to send troops. Agreeing to join the League of Nations would be against the U.S.’s laws and interests, as many United States citizens believed at the time that the military should be used to protect the United States only, not other countries. Although the League was a great idea formed by President Wilson, the United States was better off not joining it in 1919. The League of Nations was comprised of financially weak countries, unwilling to go to war. This lessened the League’s power. The League was also missing two key members: Germany and Russia, and without them, it would be nearly impossible to protect peace in Europe. Finally, the United States’ Constitution or its population did not support the League of Nations. The League was too weak and unpopular at the time.
Sarah Kinney
Sources: Christine Qi, class notes, slideshows, textbook, historylearningsite.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1112551.stm
There are many reasons on which I believe it was a smart idea for Wilson to keep the United States out of the League of Nations. The first reason being that the League of Nations was lacking the major counties in which it would require to obtain peace, democracy, and freedom of the seas. Germany and Russia were not invited to the League of Nations, causing major problems in the long run. Wilsons over all plan for the League of Nations was to avoid war between all the countries, however not including two major counties, which have very powerful armies I might add, was a huge mistake. Another reason it was a good idea for the United States not to join the League of Nations was because it was a weak idea. Being a new idea through out the world, all the countries were hesitant to join, making it an unstable idea. Because it was so weak, no one country, not even the U.S. could enforce the rules and the whole concept of peace, democracy, and freedom of the seas; which made another good reason to support why the U.S. shouldn’t have join the League of Nations.
I believe it would have been in the best interest that the United States joined the League of Nations in 1919. In preparation for a conference with the world powers, President Woodrow Wilson created the Fourteen Points, in hopes that his fellow world leaders would view them as a step towards world peace. Although they did not completely agree with Wilson’s views on his fourteen points, they did attempt to create Wilsons view on peace, the League of Nations. This ideal view on peace could have become a reality with America’s participation. The goal of the League of Nations was to settle international arguments through words; without having to go to war. America could have settled their disputes with other countries, saving thousands of US citizen’s lives, by avoiding confrontation on the battlefield. We could have also benefited from the joint security that would have been put into place. Shown in the United Nations today, if one country was to attack the United States, other League members would come to our aid.
Henry Manley Credit: Molly Crabtree, Mr. Gulotta, Slide Shows
After WWI Europe was left in shambles, president Woodrow Wilson took it upon himself being the leader of one of the only global powers that was stable, to try and prevent another war like the one that had just ended. The way the Wilson planned to restore peace was through the “Fourteen Points” of which the creation of the League of Nations was a part. “The ideology behind forming the League of Nations was to promote international cooperation in hopes of seeking long term peace”(William Pang). Though the goal of the League of Nations was a noble one it’s goals were unrealistic. Despite Wilson’s attempts to convince Congress to join the League of Nation the Congress did not let the United States join, which I believe was the correct choice. The first weakness of the League of Nations was that it does not have an army, the League calls for conflicts to be settled through discussions. If discussions failed then the League would impose economic sanctions, and then if those failed, physical sanctions would be imposed. Being that Britain and France are in economic ruin, the US would be the only country that would have the capabilities of imposing such sanctions. This would mean that the US would have to spend substantial amounts of money on sanctioning nations instead of investing in further progression of the US. This plan would not be economically suitable for the members of the League over a longer time span. Another weakness of the League was Russia and Germany were not part of the League. Not allowing Russia and Germany in the League of Nations was a mistake because. Britain, France, and the US were deciding what to do with post war Germany, not including Germany in affairs that are going to effect its future is wrong. Because Russia and Germany are two of Europe’s powerhouses, not having them in the League of Nations greatly damages power that the League has. Also not having these two huge countries in the League is not truly representing the global community. The last weakness of the League of Nations was that for any action to be carried out a voting is held among all of the members and the decision must be unanimous. Members of the League of Nations will look out for their countries own interest and will in turn make decisions for their countries benefits; hence the chances that all members will agree are very slim. This slows down the reaction time that the League of Nations has, this means that the League of Nation will not be able to act fast enough to prevent sudden outbreaks of problems in the world. The combination of these three weaknesses and the unrealistic views of the League of Nations is the reason that the League of Nations was unsuccessful. However it did pave the way for future peace keeping organizations.
I think the United States should not have joined the League of Nations. President Woodrow Wilson dreamed of establishing peace for the United States. Wilson had previously attempted to carry out his 14-point plan to prevent America from entering World War I, which was unsuccessful. Therefore, after World War I had ended, Wilson was determined to pursue his hope for peace to create a lasting stability and prevent the United States from becoming involved in any further wars. He had high hopes for entering the League of Nations with France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and many other countries. The League of Nations claimed to keep peace by sorting out any conflict through debate and compromise. This would prevent the LON’s countries from starting any wars. Because this is exactly what Wilson had dreamed of, he jumped towards the chance of entering the LON, however, the USA ended up not entering, which many debated whether to good or bad. In theory, the League of Nations was a perfect idea, but it had many flaws that were overseen by Wilson. For example, Wilson relied on the LON to correct any issues in the Treaty of Versailles. He figured that the LON would be able to subside any tension between Germany and the United States, and therefore prevent the Allies and Central Powers from entering another World War. However, this had an opposite effect and led to many problems such as the rise of Hitler. Germany was growing in power and they were extremely opposed to the components on the Treaty of Versailles. Not only was Germany in opposition, but they weren’t even a part of the League of Nations. Because of these two reasons, it was very unlikely that Germany would be willing to compromise whatsoever. To fix this, the Treaty of Versailles should have been altered at the end of World War I, rather than relying on the League of Nations to make amends. In addition to Germany not joining, the USSR made the decision not to join as well, which strongly weakened the LON. After World War I had ended, Germany and the USSR were progressively growing in power and economic standing. All this power created a strong potential for conflict between nations. If Germany and the USSR were members of the LON, there would be greater chances to appease potential issues. However, because these countries were not part of the LON, it would be very difficult to solve any problems. All the nations who took part in the LON were weak and had strong economic problems. Therefore, having Germany and the USSR independent made the LON much more useless. The League of Nations was a very weak concept filled with false hope and empty promises, therefore it was probably better that United States did not join.
I believe President Wilson should not have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Although the idea of the League of Nations was great, the league itself was flawed. If it is supposed to prevent war why were Germany and the USSR excluded from the nation? The one nation that needed to be involved which was the United States wasn't in the league. If the worlds superpower was not in it it was totally irrelevant whoever else joined. Had the United States joined nothing would have been achieved. The Nation required a unanimous vote for any sanctions or actions to be taken. It also required all nations to send troops if the nation voted it necessary. World War I had just ended and now the League of Nations is suggesting another world war. Clearly the league is a flawed idea, threatening to bring the world to another war. Even though the idea was perfect, due to the exclusion of important nations and the lack of effectiveness in passing sanctions and other actions, the United States should not have joined the League of Nations due the its inevitable failure and inability to properly accomplish its goal in preventing conflict.
I do not believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919 because without Germany and the USSR, the two largest European aggressors, the League would have been very weak. Also, I do not believe the United States should put itself in a position where it is forced to send troops into an international conflict. Even with the United States, without two of the world’s most aggressive countries the League of Nations would have been extremely weak. The League would be weak because the aggressive countries would not have to listen to the league if they were not a part of it. Also, I do not believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations because the US should not have put itself in a position where it is forced to send troops into an international conflict. Because the League was so weak there was a great chance of them not being able to stop aggression, which after following the necessary protocol would end up leading to another war. The United States had just lost many young men in World War I and I do not think the US should be forced to once again help Europe with its problems. I agree with Senator Lodge, if the clause about having send American troops overseas was changed and it became an option and not a necessity, then we should have joined the League of Nations. The United States at the time had too many domestic issues to have its primary concern be Europe’s affairs. Due to the weakness of the League and the requirement of US troops in the event of another conflict were sufficient reasons for not joining the League of Nations.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Handwerker
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DeleteThe League of Nations was a great idea. What killed its success was a lack of effort and contribution. I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Like all things great effort must be made to accomplish the goal. Although Germany, a forceful power, and the USSR, a massive European nation, were left out of the league, who is to say that they might not join or be added after the United States approved its attendance. What angers me about this situation is the fact that we were the nation who initiated the League of Nation, yet when it actually got up and running, we said that we didn’t want to join. Comparably, this is like ordering food at a restaurant, getting the main meal, and then without eating anything, walking out without paying. I agree with Morgan that it would have been difficult to strengthen the league without the most powerful nations, however I don’t believe that giving up was the right answer. Sometimes to get something one must make sacrifices. I believe that agreeing to the terms of the bill, agreeing to the order of sending troops in any case, would be reasonable if all the other countries were willing to do so. If the United States was to say that they would “think about” sending troops in a crisis, and all the other countries did the same then when a crisis came about who is to say that anyone would show up. I could understand maybe a limit on how many soldiers could be sent, but not agreeing to the terms at all was a huge mistake. If the United States was in a crisis and the League of Nations was there I believe we would want to know that we would receive support from them. Overall I am very upset that we did not join the League of Nations for many reasons: for our disloyalty to the rest of the nations, for the inability to have faith in it, for the selfishness of not sending troops while others would, and for the missed opportunity to prevent wars.
ReplyDeleteDan Ives
Sources:
Morgan Handwerker and Mr. Gulotta
I do not think the United States should have joined the League of Nations. The United States was not initially involved in the First World War, and the only reason they were included in the four powers, were because of the power the United States had in the world. Countries like Great Britain and France knew that they had to have the United States on their side. Even though the United States President, Woodrow Wilson, built the idea of the League of Nations, which is a very important organization to have, the treaty created was not well organized. The idea behind the group was phenomenal: to have an organization of countries to protect the world from wars, make civil compromises when dealing with disagreements, and promote world peace. Yet the League of Nations at the time did not even include countries such as, Russia and Germany, which could be the source of problems in the world. Overall, the league was weak. Another reason the United States should not have joined the League of Nations is because, under the treaty, member nations would be ordered to defend the territories of league members even if they were not involved in the dispute what so ever. The United States would have to participate in the conflict and support the attacked nation, without even having Congress approve it. The amount of U. S citizens, resources, and money the country would lose over useless wars that we were not directly involved in, would be countless! The U.S tried to work with President Wilson and make amendments to the treaty. For example, Henry Lodge of Massachusetts proposed that the country would not be obligated to get involved in a war without first being approved by Congress. But because President Wilson did not agree to these terms or try to compromise in anyway, the United States never did join the League of Nations. In my opinion, this was the best option at the time for our country. The United States should have gotten involved if the terms to the treaty were different.
ReplyDeleteReilly Kennedy
Woodrow Wilson pushed heavily for the United States to join the League of Nations, which was after all his idea. Despite this, he could never convince congress to join it due to a few major flaws. The first flaw was that the United States was required to take military action if the United Nations decided to intervene in a conflict. With all of the wars that had occurred in Europe, the continent of many of the countries in the League of Nations, it was very likely that the United States would get dragged into another major war like World War I. Another issue was the lack of power of the League of Nations. When it was created, both Germany and the U.S.S.R. were excluded. If these two countries were to ally together, they would create a power large enough to contest the entire League of Nations. Because of this lack of power, any war that the United States would be forced to enter, would very likely be a long and deadly one. The last major issue was that all of the issues that needed to be fixed after World War I were not fixed. For example, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was disbanded, many of the major powers in Europe drew a new map of the area. This resulted in people in Czechoslovakia, as Mr. Gulotta likes to say, “Not be able to spell the name of their own country.” These countries remained loyal to their original countries, and more empires were created, allowing the Axis powers to regrow despite being disbanded. The failure of European nations to settle all of the issues that led to and were created during World War I created a situation that the United States was understandably hesitant to join. When Woodrow Wilson asked congress to join the League of Nations, congress took into consideration all of these problems, and made the right decision in not joining the League of Nations.
ReplyDeleteChris Bower
Sources: Morgan and Mr. Gulotta
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization established after WWI that would promote world peace. President WIlson was a huge supporter of the organization and he pushed America to join it. I believe that the League of Nations was a great idea, yet, it was not ideal for the U.S. to join it at the time. In Article 10 of the League of Nations, each League member promised to safeguard all the other members of the league against any external aggressions (Textbook, 569). The U.S. had just suffered a traumatic loss during WWI; and by joining the League of Nations, the U.S. would be vulnerable to loosing even more men if any conflict broke out. Although Wilson believed Article 10 was essential for the League of Nations, the U.S. citizens thought otherwise (Textbook, 569). The U.S. had suffered greatly during WWI; many Americans died at war, many resources and money were lost, and the U.S. morale had weakened. If the U.S. joined the League of Nations, the Americans would suffer greatly from living with incertitude. With all the conflicts going on in Europe, the Americans would fear the next moment they had to lose a loved one to the war. I support the idea of a League of Nations without article 10. Then, there would be a healthy alliance between several countries and the U.S. would not be vulnerable to have to participate in war.
ReplyDeleteThe League of Nations, an idea forged and implemented in Europe by President Woodrow Wilson, was one of the first efforts by the entire western world to create a time of peace for all. Because war is the atrocity that it is, and because the United States had so recently experienced this atrocity, it is unbelievable that congress should refuse to participate in any form of unification between nations that could lead to a lasting peace. Woodrow Wilson knew that this chance for peace was a rare, one, and did all he could before he had a stroke to convince the United States to join the league of nations. Many of my piers have mentioned the weakness of the League of Nations due to the exclusion of powerful, aggressive nations such as the USSR and Germany. This weakness could potentially lead to a dispute that the League could not mediate, or perhaps even an alliance between the excluded nations that could rival the power of the League, as Chris suggested. However if the United States had joined, who was to say that this would not have swayed the USSR and Germany to join as well (although Germany was likely purposefully excluded)? Because the United States was just about the most powerful nation in the world during this time period, due to its industrial might and its relative low losses during world war I, the simple presence of this superpower would likely strengthen the integrity of the League of Nation’s mediating and influential power. Article 10 of the proposal for the League mentioned that all nations must respond with military action to alleviate conflict if one arises after lengthy mediation, and the US senate insisted that they did not want to be forced to send troops to aid the Europeans in their quarrels. However, I feel that the gravity of the US’s joining the League is overlooked in this situation as well. If you are an aggressing nation, you would be much more likely to cooperate in the mediation process if one of the most powerful militaries in the world was behind the mediators, opposed to a smaller collection of recently weakened militaries. Overall, the United States should have joined the League of Nations, because the simple influence of the United States would have increased the power of the League exponentially, thus making the use of force less likely to be necessary and therefore saving more lives around the world.
ReplyDelete-Jake Diamond
With the end of World War One, the leaders of all the major world powers prepared for a forum to discuss ways to build lasting peace, known as the Paris Peace Conference. At this conference, President Wilson expressed his 14 points, which in his eyes would create a lasting peace among countries. The fourteenth point was thought to be the worlds best hope for peace, it was to create the League of Nations. The League of Nation’s purpose was to strengthen international relations and improve cooperation among foreign powers, ultimately creating an atmosphere raising world peace. The idea of the League of Nations is ideal; however, the United States congressed viewed it as irrational and decided to not join. I believe this was in the countries best interest because it did not include some of the world’s strongest aggressors such as, Russia and Germany; thus, it was very weak because as Chris stated, alliances between excluded nations could form against the League. Furthermore, the US army would have to serve the League of Nations. This would entail US citizen’s to risk their lives for foreign affairs; in other words, they wouldn’t even be fighting for their own country. The United States wanted to stay out of European affairs and thought America was promising to send its troops to settle every little conflict around the world. Moreover, the economic cost of joining the League would be a factor. The US would essentially be signing a blank check by promising to solve all international problems regardless of the cost. Additionally, by joining the League, they would have to deal with mostly European problems; however, they shouldn’t have to worry about other countries policies. Overall, the League of Nations would threaten sovereignty and bring the US into foreign wars. Although it was the world’s best choice for creating a foundation of lasting peace, the US Congress did not agree, but instead saw it as a threat to the nation's policies; thus, would not ratify it.
ReplyDeleteMolly Crabtree
BULLLLLLLL SHITTTT
DeleteI think that the United States shouldn't have joined the League of Nations because of two reasons.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, after the Great War, European countries were terribly damaged; millions of people lost their lives and families; the economies were in danger with the pressure of recovering from the horrifying war. As a result, the League of Nation basically would have had to rely on mostly the United States if she were to join. Of course the US sent supplies and money to help Europe after the war; however, it shouldn't be an obligation to "prepare for war and presumably fight to protect all the other members" of The League. The United States would have to sacrifice her own safety - safety of American citizens, the economy and the politics - for wars and conflicts that had nothing to do with America. If helping other nations became an obligation, it would come to a point where the US couldn't even support itself. Plus, the US already had her own problems within the nation: labor strikes were happening in many places after the war; women were fighting for their rights to vote, etc.
Second, the United States shouldn't have joined the League of Nation because joining would mean rising the already-established tension between the United States and Germany and USSR. Germany and USSR weren't even invited to join the League. If the US had joined the League of Nation, those two countries would be totally isolated, and that would just give rise to more aggression afterwards. The fear of Communism had already exacerbated the relationship between the US and USSR; there was no point to make it even worse.
So, due to the two reason I have just stated, the United States was right not to join the League of Nation, and she shouldn't have joined the League even though it was just to lend a helping hand to nations damaged by the war.
- Son Nguyen -
I believe that the Unites States should not have joined the League of Nations. President of the United States Woodrow Wilson drew up this plan in search of world peace. What he did not really pay attention to is that this League of Nations would also be a catalyst for war just as much as peace. According to Article 10 as Milton said also “Each member must promise to respect and preserve all other members of the League against external aggression”. This means that if a country is declaring war against France, it is also declaring war against the other nations in the League including the US. The US would be thrown into even more wars than they would’ve expected if they would’ve joined. Another weakness of this plan was that the two most aggressive countries in Europe were not part of the League; The Soviet Union (USSR) and Germany. How could such a league or alliance of countries exist to get rid of war and trouble without the two most dominant powers in the Eastern Hemisphere? While Woodrow was worrying about all this in Europe, he had problems of his own to worry about in the US. There were strikes, communism and terrorism scares, and political disorder all around the country. The US had just finished up in WWI and had lost a lot of troops and spent more than enough money. For the US to send more troops over to Europe to serve with the League of Nations would be stupid. The US would not be able to afford it. Even though President Woodrow Wilson had a good vision about world peace and tranquility, it was too much of a stretch to be over in
ReplyDeleteEurope fighting everyone else’s wars in a League that won’t work and while their own domestic problems are expanding rapidly. I would take the side of Senator Lodge on this one.
By: Justin Donawa
Citing: Powerpoints, Milton, Morgan
Although Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points sounds appealing to those who believed in world peace, I do not think that US should join the League of Nations. The lack of Germany and Russian participation alone makes the League of Nations a weak alliance. Even within the participants of the League, it failed to stop aggression in the case of Manchuria. Moreover, the fact that US has to send troops if two conflicting countries do not back down might enlarge a regional war into a world war. The hatefulness and greediness of the axis countries and the fear of war in other countries alone caused the WW2, regardless if there is a league of union or not.
ReplyDeleteBy the end of WW1, Germany and the Bolshevik Russia were two most aggressive countries in Europe, and neither of them joined the league of nations. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to pay debts that it could not afford and evacuate troops from its own territory (Rhineland). Most of all, Germany had to take all responsibility of the war, though many countries’ nationalism together started the war. Stripped of pride and prosperity, Germany was revengeful; riots and nationalism blossomed there. At the same time, Russia was going through civil unrest too. In Russia, the Great Purge started by Stalin deprived many people of life and freedom. The new regime is aggressive and unpredictable. If Germany and Russia did not join the League of Nations, it is unlikely for the league to protect peace in Europe. The Munich Pact of 1938 effectively explained this point. Although Germany wanted Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia, the League could not ask Germany to back down. Tired of war, both England and France used appeasement policies and let Germany have its way. Even if US was in the League, it was impossible for Germany to stop its aggression.
Indeed, US interference, if not by military force, had little impact on fascist countries. In 1931, Japan, a member of the League of Nations, invaded Manchuria. The League condemned Japanese aggression towards China, and US issued the Stimson Doctrine that refused to recognize Japanese conquest. However, Japan was not restrained by international condemnation. It withdrew from the League and continued to invade China.
Moreover, it is against US constitution to go to war without Congressional approval, yet the League of Nation required US to send force if economic sanction does not work for an aggressive nation. A country’s military force should first of all be used to protect the country’s own interest. Therefore, it is reasonable for US not to join the League because it does not want to loose the right of declaring war or not. Worst of all, such measures might enlarge a regional warfare into a new world war. Once so many countries enter the war, it would be hard to negotiate peace. Instead, if some powerful countries could stay out of war and be the mediator, that would be better for solving a crisis.
For the above reasons, I think it would be unwise of US to join the League of Nations in 1919, especially with the clause that force it to use military forces when two countries in conflicts do not respond to military sanction. A country’s military forces should not be compelled to join any foreign wars. Even with the military threat, the League of Nations is ineffectively without the participation of Germany and Russia, not to say that aggressive countries could withdraw from the Union at any time. Therefore, I think US should not join the League of Nations in 1919.
Should the United States of American have joined the League of Nations in 1919?
ReplyDeleteI don’t think that the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919.
To begin, there were only five nations that agreed to join the League. They were France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States. These are very strong countries but two of the biggest European powers didn’t join, Germany and Russia. This posed a problem because they were both influential European aggressors. Germany and Russia needed to join or the League and its entirety would end up being a failed action. Since Germany and Russia didn’t join, they were not obligated and did not feel the desire to listen or comply with the League.
After World War I, basically all of the European countries that participated in the fight were damaged to some extent. Some countries were more damaged than others. Since a large number of European countries were hurt because of the war, the United States would have to play a huge role in the League. The countries affected by the war would have to rely greatly on the United States for support. This was a problem because on top of The United States’ own problem after the war, they would also have to spend a lot of their effort and money on trying to put other countries back on their feet.
The League of Nations was a brilliant concept and was much needed after WWI but for the reasons stated above, it failed in its purpose of keeping peace throughout the world.
It would later be found out that the league was powerless to stop countries like Germany and Russia from expanding their influential roots to other countries. If only the League had fixed some of their flaws, it would have stopped the eventual outbreak of WWII. It took the failure of the League of Nations and another World War for World Power to realize that they were doing it wrong. President Wilson’s desire for World Peace was right around the corner with the root establishment of the United Nations in 1945.
- Patrick Frey
- Sources: class slides, Morgan Handwerker
The League of Nations was formed by President Woodrow Wilson as part of his “Fourteen Points” in 1920, two years after WWI. Wilson, who was shocked by the disorder and destruction in Europe, felt that he had the responsibility to avoid another war of such global scale. The ideology behind forming the League of Nations was to promote international cooperation in hopes of seeking long term peace. The Congress was correct in preventing the United States from joining the league because the plan was too idealistic. Although the overarching goal of the League was noble, the details in the Covenant of the League of Nations reveal that it was unrealistic and impractical to put into action.
ReplyDeleteThe first weakness of the League was the lack of army. In the Covenant, it called for disputes to be settled with discussions. If discussions failed, economic sanctions would be imposed. If sanctions failed, the League would have to introduce physical sanctions. With France and Britain in economic ruins, United States would be the only country who had a big enough army to enforce physical sanctions. This would mean that the United States would have to pay a substantial amount of money to finance an organization that would reduce United States’ ability to defend its own interest for the greater good. Such a plan would not be economically sustainable and justifiable to the electorates in the long-run.
The Second weakness of the League was that Russia, Germany and USA were not members of the League of Nations. Even if USA joined, the Treaty of Versailles dictated that Russia and Germany would still be left out of the League. This was a major problem because Germany and Russia were powerful countries; the decisions their governments make could have huge repercussions within the international community. By excluding two of the most powerful countries in the world, the League could not truly represent the global community.
The Third weakness of the League was the need for a unanimous vote among members before any sort of action can be taken. As seen in the current United Nations, each nation wants to protect its own interests and has different opinions and views on how a matter should be handled. Hence, it was highly unlikely that all voting members would come to a unanimous consensus. Even if a unanimous vote was ultimately achieved, it would take a long deliberating process and the end result might change radically from the original plan.
The combined weaknesses of the League of Nations shows how unrealistic and impractical the organization was. However, the League played an important role in shaping future peace-keeping organizations that would learn from the mistakes committed by the League of Nations.
-William Pang
I believe the United States should have joined the League of Nations in 1919 because of the potential strength the organization held in future geo-political matters. To begin with, the entire idea of the League of Nations came from the United States President Woodrow Wilson in an effort to combat international conflict. This was done to prevent another world war (World War 1 had just occurred two years prior). I believe the idea of settling conflict over a discussion table rather than a war zone is incredibly practical especially on the heels of such a bloody war. The first major reason I believe the United States should have joined the League of Nations is because with the likelihood that future nations will join, the League will become more and more powerful. Once the league became more powerful, the United States could use this League as a valuable tool in solving international discrepancies. A League of Nations provided a chance for countries to sit together in a peaceful environment and solve their differences. To me, this is a much better idea than immediately going to war. Therefore, the potential the League of Nations had made it completely worthwhile for the United States to have joined in 1919. Another way in which the League of Nations could have been helpful to the United States is if membership were immediately offered to the Germans and the Russians. If the United States were a member of the League of Nations then they could have invited Russia and Germany into the league which could have jumpstarted a positive relationship between these three countries. If the United States, the Germans, and the Russians were able to discuss their differences in a peaceful setting it is possible that war could have been prevented with Germany, and a Cold War with Russia could have been avoided. By joining the League of Nations and offering membership to the Germans and Russians, the United States could have avoided the ultimate insult to human intellect; war. The third positive that should have encouraged the United States to join the group is that if the United States was a member than they would be backed by the organization. Considering the power in the League of Nations, countries would be much less willing to attack the interests of the United States for fear of having the entire wrath of multiple nations come down on them. In summary, I believe the United States was foolish not to join the League of Nations in 1919 because of the organization's massive political potential, ability to provide a peaceful arena to settle differences, and the ability to steer potentially dangerous countries away from causing geo-political bloodshed.
ReplyDeleteVaughan Kavanaugh
Source Mr. Gulotta
I think the United States should have joined the League of Nations. League of Nations was an organization founded by President Wilson for the sake of international piece. It was supposed to give the world’s countries an opportunity to have constructive conversations, which would have brought more understanding and, consequently, helped them stay out of another war. It was also supposed to be a major power that would keep aggressors from starting a conflict.
ReplyDeleteAmong the reasons why the United States did not join the League of Nations is Germany and the USSR not joining it. It is understandable that without those two countries, which were considered more aggressive or likely to appear threatening, the United States might have neglected joining the League of Nations as well. But if the United States were to join the League of Nations, it might have had enough influence to be able to bring Germany in as well. And if Germany and the US would have joined it, not only the organization would have become much more powerful, it would also have given the US the right to do more than just to “recommend” an action. The USSR would have not been able to stand up to such a major power and would either have had to join it or at least be respectful to its opinions. And, most importantly, if Germany had a chance to be heard, if there was more dialogue and understanding between the major world powers, it is possible that the Second World War might have been prevented.
Anna Kravtsova
Source: Mr. Gulotta
I think that the United States should have joined the League of Nations because they would have strengthened the League of Nations. Yes the League of Nations had many problems, but if the wealthiest nation at that time joined it would be a major step towards eliminating many of the problems. The United States president Woodrow Wilson founded the League of Nations and by congress not supporting the League, Wilson looked power less to the rest of the world. This perception made Wilson struggle to help Europe and the League of Nations. Further more, the reason for the Congress didn’t initially join the League of Nations, was because they wanted to see how effective it would be before joining. The major problem with this reasoning was that the league would only be effective if the entire major powers in the world joined. (Germany, the USSR, and the United states did not join) The League of Nations shares many characteristics of the United Nations, which has done a good job at trying to prevent wars for the last 69 years. If an organization with this kind of power had existed then a world war II could have been prevented. Wilson spent so much of his time trying to convince the U.S. to join the League of Nations by campaigning and trying to help Europe. If the U.S. had joined the League of Nations then Wilson could have focus on domestic issues like post war strikes, race riots, women’s rights, organized crime, and the revival of the KKK. I believe that if Wilson was not distracted by getting the United states to join the League of Nations then he could have done a good job fixing some of the domestic issues, and League of Nations would still existed today.
ReplyDeleteColin Fuss
The United States was right not to join the League of Nations. There are many reasons I believe they made the right choice not to be involved in the League. The League of Nations was compiled of limited countries and did not include countries that would become problems in the future. Countries like Germany and Russia were not included in the League of Nations and that proved to be a problem. Being a part of the League was not in the interest of the United States because it brought the threat of being dragged into another war. One of the conditions of being included in the League was that if two countries could not sort things out, and one of those countries was in the League, the other nations in the council would have to send military support. The United States, coming out of WWI, had lost countless soldiers and a lot of money. If they had been dragged into a war earlier than they were to WWII, the economy and morale of the people would have been devastated. Wilson already had problems building up in the United States and being in the League of Nations would have caused him to keep ignoring the strikes, racism, and terrorism going on at the home front. Although Wilson’s plan for peace was well thought out, it was good to stay out of the League of Nations
ReplyDeleteCite: Justin Donawa, Power Point
Brooks Kiley
In my opinion, the US should have joined the League of Nations. In fact, Woodrow Wilson had the idea, and he announced it as the last point of his 14 points. Since it was the first international organization for countries to prevent war, the League of Nations started off weakly. This was partially due to the fact that not all to many nations had joined. Although major countries such as Germany or Russia did not join, the US could have joined the League of Nations, perhaps inspiring other countries to join, or just in general strengthening the League. Additionally the US was already one of the permanent council members. Not being involved in the League would be like a prefect at Berkshire not going to Berkshire School. Despite all that, I do think that Henry Cabot Lodge was right about the fact that no country should be forced to go to war. However Wilson wanted to keep the League of Nations how it was, so there was not a compromise, which was not a smart move on Wilson’s part. Nonetheless, one of Wilson’s three reasons why the US joined WWI was in order to make the world “safe for democracy.” This goal could have been continued with the League of Nations, if the US had joined. Also the war was not nearly as bad for the US as it was for most European countries, since the US did not lose as many troops, and none of the battles were fought on American soil. Resulting, I think that the US should have aspired to help the rest of the world, by joining and strengthening an international organization to prevent war. If the League of Nations would have become more powerful and influential by the US joining it, WWII might have been avoided, since the nations in the League could have collectively gone against Germany instead of single nations appeasing to it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it failed, the League of Nations was a great thing and it laid the foundation for the United Nations.
Sources:
Adv. US History class
The Heritage of World Civilizations (Adv. Modern World History textbook)
-Christopher Kreke
I do not think the United States should have joined the League of Nations. Initially, the United States wasn't involved in the First World War. However, because United States had an extreme amount of power in the world, Great Britain and France wanted U.S support. Despite Woodrow Wilson forming the idea of the League, it wasn't developed properly. The idea itself was incredible; the goal was to work toward negotiations and establish world peace. Conversely, the League had several faults. For example, power nations such as Germany and Russia weren't included. Additionally, the League required countries to defend one another. Furthermore, the United States would have to be involved in other countries without any say from Congress. This would have caused huge problems in the government. Although President Wilson felt strongly about the League, U.S citizens simply were not. This was mainly because Americans didn't want to be required to take military action. Moreover, Senator Henry Lodge of Massachusetts suggested that the mandate should be made voluntary. President Wilson declined his proposal. The decision to steer clear from the League of Nations was a good one for America. If the treaty had more plausable terms, it could have been a different story.
ReplyDeletePJ Webb
The United States of America should have joined the League of Nations for a number of reasons. The first reason is that the League of Nation’s creator needed to be a part of it. Woodrow Wilson handicapped the League by not having the United States be a part of it. He designed the League to keep peace and help resolve issues around the world, but did not carryout and oversee the early years of the League through not bringing the US into it. Because Wilson was the creator of the League of Nations, but did not bring the United States into the League, it was at a severe disadvantage. In addition to Woodrow Wilson not being a part of the League of Nations, the United States should have been part of the League because it needed a strong country to back up its authority. The League had been designed to keep peace throughout the world, but in the event of a conflict, it did not have a backbone to enforce its views. The United States would have been this backbone and elevated the League from a organization that could give its opinion to an organization that had to be respected and could impact situations. Also, the League of Nations was the first organization of its kind to be created and should have been given a chance. The League of Nations had the opportunity to act as a peacekeeper over the entire world and help countries in numerous ways. Because of this potential, the United States should have joined and helped make the League the best it could be. Lastly, the United State had just gotten out of a war and had a large amount of unresolved issues that accumulated over the duration of the war. If the League of Nations was running smoothly with the help of the United States, then the American government could have turned more attention to issues at home such as strikes and the lack of civil rights. Overall, the United States should have joined the League of Nations because Woodrow Wilson was its creator, the League needed a strong country to help, it had a large amount of potential, and the US could have directed more attention to issues in America.
ReplyDeleteCite: Christopher Kreke, Brooks Kiley
~John Leasure
I believe that the U.S. should have joined the League of Nations in 1919. The United States made the League weak the moment that they decided not to join it, because our president, Woodrow Wilson was the man who created the League. The U.S. was also the most powerful country at the time and would have made it much harder to defy the League if the most powerful country was enforcing what they said. Since the U.S. did not join it other countries did not take it serious because even the country that started it wanted nothing to do with it. Had the U.S. joined I believe countries such as the U.S.S.R. and Germany would have seen that the League of Nations was something to be taken seriously and joined it. If they and the other major powers at the time had joined it would have been much easier to prevent the Second World War. If Germany and the U.S.S.R not joined, but America had then Germany would have noticed that the League was not something to mess with when they first started to annex other countries and WWII could have been prevented. Milton and Justin bring up a good point that article 10 requires all countries who are members of the League of Nations to defend any other member that is attacked, but I do not believe that that would gave caused the U.S. to enter into more conflicts, I think it would have discouraged countries from attacking League members and effectively maintained peace. The League of Nations had the potential to be great, but by the most powerful country and founder refusing to enter, that sent a message to the rest of the world that it was weak, which is why it failed.
ReplyDeleteCite: John Leasure, Chis Kreke, Milton Martinez, and Justin Donawa
- Will MacClarence
I believe that the United States should not have joined the League of Nations. It was a good idea at the time, but it was weak and disorganized. Many of these problems included the lack of German and Russian involvement, the unanimous decision of the council required to take action, the unacceptable redrawing of the map of Europe, and economic problems which were not addressed. Although it was Woodrow Wilson's plan to unite the world, it failed miserably. Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts led the opposition of the League. Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points sounded appealing, but all of the points were not reached. I believe it was a huge problem that Germany and Russia did not join the League. These were two major international powers and without them being in the League, they did not feel the need to abide by the League's rules. With all of the communism, strikes, and terrorism, every global power must be represented in the League. If the League of Nations was better organized and incorporated Germany and Russia, the League of Nations would have succeeded.
ReplyDeleteMax Way
Even though President Wilson came with the idea of the League of Nations, I believe that the United States of America made the right choice on not getting involved in such association. The League of Nations was a fantastic idea: it helped to make civil arrangements and compromises between countries when dealing with disagreements and promoted worldwide peace. However, mainly for two reasons, such association did not agree with the American mentality. The first one is that only the Great Powers of the World at that time were members of it, i.e. Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan and the United States. Yet, countries like Russia and Germany were not taken into account. This made the League of Nations look weak and bias to the advantage of the members, simply because the peace that it was willing to provide was ruled only by the countries that won WWI and not all of the ones that were involved. Therefore such thing did not involve the democracy that the United States strongly believed in. The second reason is that the terms to avoid war, again, did not agree with the freedom and democracy that the USA powerfully stated. In the treaty, members of the league “would be ordered to defend the territories of other members even if they were not involved in whatsoever” (Kennedy). This means that the USA would have to risk its own people’s lives to defend others, and face the consequences that they were not responsible of. Therefore, the terms of the treaty were illogical for the United States. Even Henry Lodge, Senator of Massachusetts, showed to the Americans that the US should not be obligated to do something that its own country did not want to be part of. Even though President Woodrow Wilson tried hardly to persuade the American people to join the League, which was something completely irrational, I believe that the United States made the right decision on not joining the League of Nations.
ReplyDeleteClementina Davila
Credits to Reilly Kennedy and Mr. Gulotta’s Lecture.
When President Woodrow Wilson released his 14 points before congress he thought he had “The American program for the future of the world.” With these points Wilson thought that he would be able to spread democracy and peace throughout the world, which was his primary goal during and after the war. One of his plans for peace was “A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial independence of all states,” (Trueman). A plan to form a common group of nations was vital to keeping peace within Europe. Tension would remain high after World War I and in order for the League to be successful every nation within Europe must be a part of the group. However, both Germany and Russia were left out, which only created more animosity between the League members and Germany and Russia. Although, the plan to form the League was Wilson’s Idea I still believe it was best for the United States to stay out of the League of Nations.
ReplyDeleteAfter World War I, much of Europe was left in ruins. Countries were devastated both economically and physically. Even though both sides were thrilled that the war came to a conclusion, the hatred among one another was still present. Peace was still not completely in place. Even though the Armistice had been signed to stop shooting, the Treaty of Versailles had done everything but create peace among the nations. “The big four,” of David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau, and Woodrow Wilson had formed the treaty, which greatly hurt Germany. Although Wilson had tried to preach democracy he was overpowered and the other three had agreed to punish Germany. The Treaty of Versailles made Germany pay for the war, take full blame for starting it and decrease the size of their army as well as evacuate their troops from the Rhineland. Within Germany after the war, nationalism was weak and the country was struggling greatly. The diminishment of their nation angered Germany. Because Germany was so down for the count their only savior was Hitler in order to get them out of the ditch the Treaty of Versailles had put them in. The downfall of Germany was one of the leading reasons for WWII. If Germany had been a part of the League of Nations there could have been a solution.
The other nation that was still left out was Russia. A Russian revolution was taking place towards the conclusion of World War I, which created uncertainty. Joseph Stalin eventually took over and preached communism throughout. With the Great Purge many people were mistreated and harmed. If Russia had been included in the League of Nations a solution to the crippling government could have been found.
On top of Germany and Russia being left out, there was more good reason for the United States to stay out of the League of Nations. If someone did attack on one of the League members the United States would be forced to send troops in order to help. This was unfair to the American people who would volunteer their lives for their country. That is something that president Wilson didn’t take for granted.
Within the United States there were problems as well. With the conclusion of the war not only came the roaring 20’s but racial riots and prejudice groups stormed the country. The KKK was at its strongest within the United States and Lynching’s were also a common occurrence. A communist Party also arose and the “reds” were not a threat but scared many. If the United States were to enter the League of Nations they may have been more concerned with affairs overseas then within America itself.
In the end the United States made the correct decision in not joining the League of Nations because with Germany and Russia not involved a second war was bound to occur. All of Europe must have been involved in order for it to work. Also it should be the militaries decision whether to join or not, not the League’s. And finally there was enough trouble going on in the United States at the time, so it was best to worry about our own affairs rather than Europe’s.
Jimmy McKee SOURCES: Christine Qi and Mr. Gulotta
President Woodrow Wilson was a very intelligent man who wanted to help America achieve its full potential and carry out its duty to the rest of the world. In January 1918, he went before Congress to outline his reasons for democracy or the American way for the rest of the world. These reasons listed became known as the fourteen points. Wilson fought for and argued for things like freedom of the seas to be restored, secret diplomacy to be abolished and most importantly a League of Nations. The League of Nations would focus primarily on maintaining world peace and ensuring a fair international justice system. Although the League of Nations was a genius idea by the President, the timing was off and the powers of the League needed to be carefully outlined and considered. Henry Cabot Lodge was right to dissuade Congress from approving the United States entry into the League of Nations. Some of the terms laid out for the League didn’t fit in with the best interests of the United States and there were many weaknesses of the League that could ultimately hurt the United States. These weaknesses include the countries that hadn’t joined, the unanimous decision of the Council required to take any action and that no economic problems were addressed. For example countries like Russia and Germany were not included in the League. These are the countries that would be most likely to take aggressive action against another country, leaving them out did nothing to solve world peace. The unanimous decision also would make it impossible to get anything done, especially when most countries don’t agree. The weaknesses of the League of Nations just didn’t make it the right moment for the United States to join in 1919.Wilson had a great idea that just needed to be perfected for the United States to join in the future.
ReplyDeleteAly Hall
Cite: Powerpoint and book
I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations. The concept of having a League of Nations was a brilliant idea thought up of by United States President Woodrow Wilson. President Wilson believed deeply in what the League of Nations stood for, democracy and peace, and traveled around Europe to convince others of its importance. While the concept of the League of Nations was ingenious, the execution of it was less than desirable. The League of Nations was the first worldwide organization whose purpose was to improve relationships between nations and prevent war. However, the League was not nearly as effective as it could have been. One of its main weaknesses was that many countries did not join the League of Nations such as the USSR and Germany. I believe that if the United States had joined the League it might have motivated countries such as the USSR to join as well. At the time, the United States was most likely the single most powerful country in the world. If the United States had joined the League of Nations, our vast resources and power could have had a massive impact on the outcome of the League of Nations. The US could have served as an inspiration for other countries to join because it would have made the League of Nations more legitimate. I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations because of the inspiration and support it would have provided for other countries to join, which would have eliminated one of the main weaknesses of the League of Nations, allowing it to succeed and create a safe, democratic, and peaceful world.
ReplyDeleteSources: Class notes and Jake Diamond
-Katie Soper
The United States should not have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Even though President Wilson had the idea to form a league of nations it was not the right time for America to join. The league had the right intentions: world peace. However, the league was not made up of all the nations and could not achieve peace. It was missing the people and countries that needed to make peace such as Russia and Germany. If America gave into this league that was not a good league, it would be accepting the way they were doing things. Some people think that because America’s president came up with the idea that the United States would be the first to join. I think that they should have been the last to join and to say, “Okay now this is good and we accept.” Being a part of this league, at the time, would have forced America into world war one. At the time president Wilson wanted nothing to do with war and I believe he was right for it. If the league had been created in a time of limited war and chaos it would have been more realistic for America to join. Once countries get involved they start to pick sides and when countries start to pick sides, troops are sent into battle and people are killed. Keeping the U.S. out of European affairs was important for the people of America.
ReplyDeleteKenzie Lancaster
Sources: Mr.Gulotta and Brooks
The United States should not have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Even though President Wilson had the idea to form a league of nations it was not the right time for America to join. The league had the right intentions: world peace. However, the league was not made up of all the nations and could not achieve peace. It was missing the people and countries that needed to make peace such as Russia and Germany. If America gave into this league that was not a good league, it would be accepting the way they were doing things. Some people think that because America’s president came up with the idea that the United States would be the first to join. I think that they should have been the last to join and to say, “Okay now this is good and we accept.” Being a part of this league, at the time, would have forced America into world war one. At the time president Wilson wanted nothing to do with war and I believe he was right for it. If the league had been created in a time of limited war and chaos it would have been more realistic for America to join. Once countries get involved they start to pick sides and when countries start to pick sides, troops are sent into battle and people are killed. Keeping the U.S. out of European affairs was important for the people of America.
ReplyDeleteKenzie Lancaster
Sources: Mr.Gulotta and Brooks
I believe that the United States should have joined the League of Nations. The League of Nations was created to keep the world at peace and safe for democracy by resolving conflicts through negotiation instead of war. There were however many problems with the League of Nations, all of which could have been fixed by the United States joining. One of the biggest issues was Russia and Germany had not joined the League. Without these two countries, whom the members of the League still had political tension with, there would not be much accomplished. Had the United States joined, other countries may have felt swayed to join, but by the United States not joined the League of Nations looked weak and disorganized. The League also did not address economic problems and redrew a map of Europe, both of which seemed unattractive to the United States, but had the US joined, those problems would have certainly been addressed. The final problem with the League of Nations is that it could only recommend action. This lack of power would have surely been fixed had the US joined the League, as the US was one of the most powerful countries at the time.
ReplyDeleteSources: John Leisure, Class notes
-Sam Mogul
Sources: John Leasure, Class notes
DeleteThe United States of America was correct in their decision to decline joining the League of Nations, for more reasons than one. One such reason was, while the League was a great idea in hindsight, the biggest of its flaws was that it did not include all of the world’s greatest powers, specifically Russia and Germany. Coming out of a war where Russia was a valuable ally, and Germany was the main aggressor, it only makes sense to include the two countries in the League, considering that one of the League’s main goals was to prevent future wars and to pursue a future filled with peace. It would not make sense for the United States to join an organization that excluded two of the world’s greatest powers, especially one who was the primary aggressor in the most recent war.
ReplyDeleteA second reason supporting the United States decision not to join the league is that, had they done so, they would have been forced to send their troops at the request of the league. By staying out of the League, the United States was able to send their troops only when they felt necessary, and were not forced to do so when other countries believed it to be necessary. Had the United States joined, they could have been forced to risk their own soldier’s lives in fighting for a cause which they didn’t even believe in. In the end, the United States was right in its decision to stay out of the league, for these reasons and more.
- Evan Liddy
Sources: The Slideshow, The Textbook
As World War I came to an end, I believe the United States should have joined the League of Nations in order to bring peace and democracy. In President Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, he addressed that a League of Nations would necessary for international peace. With the idea coming from the US president, the United States should have been the first to join, and yet it did not even join the League of Nations. Great Britain, France, and Italy needed the United States’ support in order to be a strong organization. The United States held power economically and politically which combined with the other nations would have made the League of Nations stronger as a whole. If the United States had joined, Germany and the USSR could be invited to join and might join just because of the sheer power with the addition of the US. Though the League of Nations did not guarantee peace, like any other peace agreement, it promoted longer lasting peace. Though the League of Nations had its flaws with a mandate to war, the primary purpose of the League was to prevent war, so if the US had joined the League, the League would be less likely to use force because it was stronger as a unit. The League of Nations was structured in collaboration and discussion to end disputes, which would help settle geo-political arguments constructively and create stronger bonds for peace. I believe if the United States to join the League of Nations, the organization would have been stronger and peace would have lasted longer. President Woodrow Wilson knew that for the better good of the world, the United States need to join the League to support peace and democracy. If the United States had joined the League in 1919, geo-political war would have been far less likely to erupt.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa Cass
Sources: Jake Diamond, Vaughan Kavanaugh, Anna Kravtsova
Mr. Gulotta’s Adv. US History Presentation
Liza Jane
ReplyDeleteThe United States should not have entered the League of Nations. Although Wilson was very confident he wanted to form the committee, Americans were not so positive that they wanted to be a part of something so high risk. Wilson traveled across the country, attempting to persuade Americans with the Fourteen Points he had come up with, trying to get them to support this new idea. The people of this country at the time were nervous and didn't think it was a good idea. Although it was a good effort and an appealing concept, there were flaws within it that some could not look past. For example, high powered countries like Russia and Germany were not included in this League and would not be able to participate in the decisions that were being made. This doesn't make sense seeing as how those two countries were partially the cause of WWI, but wouldn't be included in trying to keep the peace and prevent that from happening again. Another weakness of the league can be seen when looking at the big picture. Although the League of Nations could "suggest" for countries to act certain ways and special alliances to be made, they couldn't actually enforce anything, making it difficult to manifest any legitimate power in the League itself. The lack of army within the League supported this flaw and took credibility away from the idea.
On a broader note, it just didn't seem necessary for Wilson to create this League in the first place. There wasn't much of a threat coming from Germany or Russia on the defensive side because both countries had recently been significantly weakened by World War One. I appreciate Wilson's generosity towards other countries and his unique ability to prepare for the future, but I believe that without a threat of another war looming, Wilson's efforts should have been spent inside of his own country (literally and figuratively) on recuperating from the recent war.
Two years after World War 1 Woodrow Wilson created the League of Nations. He was concerned with the post war negotiations in Europe. The Allies left Germany with a bad taste in their mouth after the treaty of Versailles. He figured that Germany might want revenge on the Allies and the rest of Europe. He felt he could ease this tension by introducing the League of Nations to the rest of the world. This league was an effort to keep the world out of another world war. Wilson envisioned a world were there would be cooperation between all countries. Although this was a great idea by President Wilson there were a few major flaws that kept the U.S. out of the league, which was the right move by the U.S.
ReplyDeleteThe first flaw in the League of Nations was that Germany and Russia were not invited to join the league. As President Wilson envisioned a world free of war the league did not include two very important countries and powerful armies. Including Russia and Germany would have brought Europe together and potentially could have avoided World War 2.
The second flaw was redrawing the map of Europe. The League of Nations should not have come up with multiple new countries in Europe. This frustrated many Europeans; this was counterproductive to the League of Nations goal. It separated Europe even more. This was a major flaw that had a role in starting World War 2.
In conclusion, the League of Nations was a great idea but was to far out of reach. It was smart for the U.S. not to join. As George Washington said, 'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent Alliances, with any portion of the foreign world.” The U.S. needed to focus on our own problems.
Spencer Cookson
Sources: PowerPoint, Will Pang
Fresh out of one of the most deadly wars this whole earth has come to see at this time, came a peacemaker. His name was Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States. Wilson believed that peace could be achieved for all countries in Europe just two short years after the ending of World War I. In 1918 Wilson gave one of his most famous statements, this was called the fourteen points. The fourteen points were designed to create peace throughout not just the US but also the whole world, especially Europe. The last point made by Wilson was to create a league of nations, joining forces around the globe to focus on keeping peace. The US president was the founder of the League of Nations but the US stayed out of the league and it was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteThe first main reason why it was smart move for the US to stay out of the League of Nations was because of how weak it was. The league was a new idea and some countries were hesitant to join and help the cause, it lacked involvement that it needed to be a strong organization and to help the world it needed the worlds participation. Also, there was no army of the League of Nations and for this it had to rely on the Great Power countries, such as France and Great Britain. Another problem that showed was that organizations such as this can only offer and recommend peace offerings and ideas to two conflicted countries. For this the US wasn’t exactly ready to offer advice to countries especially since they are thousands miles away. Another main problem was how Germany and Russia were not involved in the formation of the League of Nations immediately. Germany and Russia have two of the largest armies in Europe and Asia, and coming out of WWI these were two problematic countries, so it makes no sense why they weren’t included cause out of all the countries they needed peace the most.
The League of Nations was the right idea by President Wilson, hoping to make peace throughout the world. War is the greatest insult to all of mankind and Wilson believed that an organization like this would rid of that hell. It was the correct and overall smart move by the US to not join the League of Nations though, it was not a well-established organization that was ready for a country that was not close by like the rest. It was weak and disorganized and only lasted up to twenty-seven years and eventfully ended with the start of World War II, its sole purpose was to stop wars and it failed.
Dan Driscoll
sources: Jake Diamond, Jimmy Mckee, Max Way
Mr. Gulotta's Powerpoint Presentation
All good ideas are successful in theory, however, a good idea doesn't necessarily guarantee a successful result. The League of Nations was a good idea in theory, and it had potential to be successful. US President Woodrow Wilson had good intentions of ending the violence and bringing peace to the nations, however, that is not how it played out. In my opinion, congress made the right decision by not joining the League of Nations. There are several reasons why it was wise not to.
ReplyDeleteOne reason is simply that the people of the United States did not want to go to war again and shouldn't. Under the rules of the League of Nations, any member would have to protect another member if one of the nations were to be attacked. This would mean another war is inevitable. World War I took too many lives itself; the US could not afford to send out more soldiers to die in a war that didn't pertain to them.
Along with that is the absence of two aggressive European powers: Soviet Union and Germany. Both countries had extreme views that frightened other nations. It would not make sense for the US to join a league that two of the biggest threats were not in. There are several other reasons why it was smart not to join. The main point, though, is that the US had to prioritize and protect its own citizens first.
Andre Bogdanovics
Credit: Evan Liddy, Slides
The United States was should have joined the League of Nations which was an organization which was aimed to keep word piece after the world war. The by then president of the United states Woodrow Wilson came up with the idea of forming this organization and he came up with 14 points to keep world peace. Although Woodrow Wilson had built the ground for the League of Nations the United States didn't join the League of Nations. The United States had created an unbalance of power when it supported the allied power and this forced Germany and its counterparts to surrender. For this reason the United States was supposed to join the League of Nations, the United States had to act as a balancing for in League of Nations since it was the most powerful and less damaged country post world war. Forming the League of Nations was a great idea but the lack of forgiveness and leniency that Abraham Lincoln showed when he accepted the south back into the union instead the English and French wanted to punish Germany for starting the war and they were very harsh in the Versailles treaty. This lack of leniency drove the world into World War 2 since Germany wanted revenge to get its borders back. The United States of America had to join the League of Nations because the U.S. could settle their disputes with other countries of the world without having to go to war. By keeping out of war several thousands of Americans would be able to keep their lives. Another reason that the U.S. should have joined the League of Nations is for collective security. If one country was to attack the U.S. then all of the other countries in the League would be bound to the U.S. to assist them. Separating itself from world politics by not joining the league was not going to work because they had already participated in one of the world’s greatest conflicts hence it was impossible for them to stay out of world politics as we will see in World War 2. One last reason the U.S. should join the League of Nations is that its goal is to improve the international standard of living and that was the dream of the forefathers that had formed the United States.
ReplyDeleteAnother Kushaina
After World War I, the United States, and its president, Woodrow Wilson, were horrified by the war’s destruction. Nearly 8.5 million soldiers were killed, with 21 million wounded, and areas surrounding the fronts in Europe were reduced to rubble. President Wilson asked for the creation of an international body whose sole purpose was to maintain world peace. This became the League of Nations.
ReplyDeleteThe League of Nations was created to prevent future wars by solving disputes peacefully. Although the League was a great idea, it had many flaws when it was first created.
First, the League of Nations worked in a series of steps, starting by addressing the issue and compromising, followed by economic sanctions against the aggressor country (if the solution was not accepted), and finally finished with military enforcement, if the economic sanctions did not stop the aggressor. The final step, military enforcement, was crucial to the power of the League, but, by the end of World War I, the countries involved in the League of Nations did not want to go to war, neither did they have the financial ability to. This made the League very weak.
Secondly, the League did not allow Germany to join, as part of the Treaty of Versailles, and the Russian Revolution of 1917 barred the country from joining as well. This was a huge loss to the League of Nations as Germany and Russia were two very powerful countries that could have contributed to the League’s power. Furthermore, Germany and Russia were two of the most aggressive countries in Europe. Germany would seek revenge for the strict rules set by the Treaty of Versailles (this treaty forced Germany to pay for the war debts of other countries and take the blame for the start of the war), and Russia was becoming a communist nation, threatening democratic governments in Europe. Eventually war would break out, and without Germany and Russia in the League, it would be much harder to solve these conflicts.
Finally, The League of Nations, if economic sanctions did not work, would require its countries to send military support, but this was against the United States Constitution, which says that Congress has to agree in order to send troops. Agreeing to join the League of Nations would be against the U.S.’s laws and interests, as many United States citizens believed at the time that the military should be used to protect the United States only, not other countries.
Although the League was a great idea formed by President Wilson, the United States was better off not joining it in 1919. The League of Nations was comprised of financially weak countries, unwilling to go to war. This lessened the League’s power. The League was also missing two key members: Germany and Russia, and without them, it would be nearly impossible to protect peace in Europe. Finally, the United States’ Constitution or its population did not support the League of Nations. The League was too weak and unpopular at the time.
Sarah Kinney
Sources:
Christine Qi, class notes, slideshows, textbook, historylearningsite.co.uk, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1112551.stm
There are many reasons on which I believe it was a smart idea for Wilson to keep the United States out of the League of Nations. The first reason being that the League of Nations was lacking the major counties in which it would require to obtain peace, democracy, and freedom of the seas. Germany and Russia were not invited to the League of Nations, causing major problems in the long run. Wilsons over all plan for the League of Nations was to avoid war between all the countries, however not including two major counties, which have very powerful armies I might add, was a huge mistake. Another reason it was a good idea for the United States not to join the League of Nations was because it was a weak idea. Being a new idea through out the world, all the countries were hesitant to join, making it an unstable idea. Because it was so weak, no one country, not even the U.S. could enforce the rules and the whole concept of peace, democracy, and freedom of the seas; which made another good reason to support why the U.S. shouldn’t have join the League of Nations.
ReplyDeleteHaleigh Sullivan
Credit: Dan Driscoll, Evan Libby, LJ, Spencer Cookson, Mr.Gulotta, Slide Shows
I believe it would have been in the best interest that the United States joined the League of Nations in 1919. In preparation for a conference with the world powers, President Woodrow Wilson created the Fourteen Points, in hopes that his fellow world leaders would view them as a step towards world peace. Although they did not completely agree with Wilson’s views on his fourteen points, they did attempt to create Wilsons view on peace, the League of Nations. This ideal view on peace could have become a reality with America’s participation.
ReplyDeleteThe goal of the League of Nations was to settle international arguments through words; without having to go to war. America could have settled their disputes with other countries, saving thousands of US citizen’s lives, by avoiding confrontation on the battlefield. We could have also benefited from the joint security that would have been put into place. Shown in the United Nations today, if one country was to attack the United States, other League members would come to our aid.
Henry Manley
Credit: Molly Crabtree, Mr. Gulotta, Slide Shows
After WWI Europe was left in shambles, president Woodrow Wilson took it upon himself being the leader of one of the only global powers that was stable, to try and prevent another war like the one that had just ended. The way the Wilson planned to restore peace was through the “Fourteen Points” of which the creation of the League of Nations was a part. “The ideology behind forming the League of Nations was to promote international cooperation in hopes of seeking long term peace”(William Pang). Though the goal of the League of Nations was a noble one it’s goals were unrealistic. Despite Wilson’s attempts to convince Congress to join the League of Nation the Congress did not let the United States join, which I believe was the correct choice.
ReplyDeleteThe first weakness of the League of Nations was that it does not have an army, the League calls for conflicts to be settled through discussions. If discussions failed then the League would impose economic sanctions, and then if those failed, physical sanctions would be imposed. Being that Britain and France are in economic ruin, the US would be the only country that would have the capabilities of imposing such sanctions. This would mean that the US would have to spend substantial amounts of money on sanctioning nations instead of investing in further progression of the US. This plan would not be economically suitable for the members of the League over a longer time span.
Another weakness of the League was Russia and Germany were not part of the League. Not allowing Russia and Germany in the League of Nations was a mistake because. Britain, France, and the US were deciding what to do with post war Germany, not including Germany in affairs that are going to effect its future is wrong. Because Russia and Germany are two of Europe’s powerhouses, not having them in the League of Nations greatly damages power that the League has. Also not having these two huge countries in the League is not truly representing the global community.
The last weakness of the League of Nations was that for any action to be carried out a voting is held among all of the members and the decision must be unanimous. Members of the League of Nations will look out for their countries own interest and will in turn make decisions for their countries benefits; hence the chances that all members will agree are very slim. This slows down the reaction time that the League of Nations has, this means that the League of Nation will not be able to act fast enough to prevent sudden outbreaks of problems in the world.
The combination of these three weaknesses and the unrealistic views of the League of Nations is the reason that the League of Nations was unsuccessful. However it did pave the way for future peace keeping organizations.
-Hayden Graham
Sources: William Pang, Slide Show
I think the United States should not have joined the League of Nations.
ReplyDeletePresident Woodrow Wilson dreamed of establishing peace for the United States. Wilson had previously attempted to carry out his 14-point plan to prevent America from entering World War I, which was unsuccessful. Therefore, after World War I had ended, Wilson was determined to pursue his hope for peace to create a lasting stability and prevent the United States from becoming involved in any further wars. He had high hopes for entering the League of Nations with France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and many other countries.
The League of Nations claimed to keep peace by sorting out any conflict through debate and compromise. This would prevent the LON’s countries from starting any wars. Because this is exactly what Wilson had dreamed of, he jumped towards the chance of entering the LON, however, the USA ended up not entering, which many debated whether to good or bad.
In theory, the League of Nations was a perfect idea, but it had many flaws that were overseen by Wilson. For example, Wilson relied on the LON to correct any issues in the Treaty of Versailles. He figured that the LON would be able to subside any tension between Germany and the United States, and therefore prevent the Allies and Central Powers from entering another World War. However, this had an opposite effect and led to many problems such as the rise of Hitler. Germany was growing in power and they were extremely opposed to the components on the Treaty of Versailles. Not only was Germany in opposition, but they weren’t even a part of the League of Nations. Because of these two reasons, it was very unlikely that Germany would be willing to compromise whatsoever. To fix this, the Treaty of Versailles should have been altered at the end of World War I, rather than relying on the League of Nations to make amends. In addition to Germany not joining, the USSR made the decision not to join as well, which strongly weakened the LON.
After World War I had ended, Germany and the USSR were progressively growing in power and economic standing. All this power created a strong potential for conflict between nations. If Germany and the USSR were members of the LON, there would be greater chances to appease potential issues. However, because these countries were not part of the LON, it would be very difficult to solve any problems. All the nations who took part in the LON were weak and had strong economic problems. Therefore, having Germany and the USSR independent made the LON much more useless.
The League of Nations was a very weak concept filled with false hope and empty promises, therefore it was probably better that United States did not join.
Amy Rowland
Source:
A History of the United States Textbook
I believe President Wilson should not have joined the League of Nations in 1919. Although the idea of the League of Nations was great, the league itself was flawed. If it is supposed to prevent war why were Germany and the USSR excluded from the nation? The one nation that needed to be involved which was the United States wasn't in the league. If the worlds superpower was not in it it was totally irrelevant whoever else joined. Had the United States joined nothing would have been achieved. The Nation required a unanimous vote for any sanctions or actions to be taken. It also required all nations to send troops if the nation voted it necessary. World War I had just ended and now the League of Nations is suggesting another world war. Clearly the league is a flawed idea, threatening to bring the world to another war. Even though the idea was perfect, due to the exclusion of important nations and the lack of effectiveness in passing sanctions and other actions, the United States should not have joined the League of Nations due the its inevitable failure and inability to properly accomplish its goal in preventing conflict.
ReplyDelete-Luke Amero
Source:
Amy & Textbook
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