Furthermore, Congress was disappointed in the fact that Wilson left some important things in order to compromise with the other countries. Many people believed the League of Nations was completely unnecessary for the US, since it mostly dealt with issues not concerning the US. They did not want to get involved with future European affairs. However, Wilson believed that the only way to prevent future wars was to establish the League of Nations. Wilson’s rock solid position on the League of Nations was one of the most significant reasons why the treaty was never passed.
It was often the cases of self interest that these two nations resorted too. In Manchuria, Britain and France were unwilling to send their armies nor fleets, in Abyssinia, they did not close the Suez Canal , which could have stopped Mussolini's invasion and they did not ban important war materials such as coal, oil and steel. The USSR was the only country powerful enough to send troops to force the aggressors into accepting the League's wishes, but they weren't in the League. Without the USA, the League was permanently weakened. Had the USA been in the league, Japan wouldn't have conquered Manchuria and Mussolini would have backed off Abyssinia.
Some may argue that no one wanted war. Winston Churchill stated that the Great Powers slid over the brink into a war nobody wanted. (Doc I). Russia and France were forced into war because Germany declared war on Russia 1 August 1914 and war on France 3 August 1914. Therefore, it may be true that countries that did not want war were forced into it, however, “nobody” is inaccurate due to the fact that Germany wanted war.
Even after the Germans declared war, France did not wish to engage in war. In 1114 the Germans cut through neutral Belgium on the way to attack France. Eventually Germany made it through the boarder of France, and that’s when it all went down. The British joined the allies after went through and killed the Belgiums. Finally, France did not want to go to war at all.
The treaty of Versailles greatly humiliated Germany forcing it to accept soul responsibility for the war. Another fault in this treaty was that it did not work as intended. The idea that Germany could ever afford to pay the reparations to full amount was ludicrous as it was already suffering from the defeat of war. These reparations caused runaway inflation throughout Germany. But perhaps the biggest problem of all was that those who created it themselves did not enforce
the “bad guys” (Germany and their allies). This has officially removed every obstacle in front of President Wilson’s way to join the war because as he had said before, he did not want to be sided with a tyrant, Russia. All he has to do is say the words and in a second we would be in the War, helping not only our own country, but our long good friends Britain as well. It is not difficult to realize that we don’t have the best army and navy, and that we mobilize slowly, but this is yet another reason for why we should start right here, right now. If we are successful to mobilizing quickly and having a military draft, our army would be almost unstoppable to other nations.
Frederick William shared this view and was unwilling to potentially cause a war with such a powerful state. This caused the Frankfurt Parliament to fail because Prussia did not grasp the opportunity to unite and neither did the King, therefore Germany remained divided. Although he desired power, William IV was not willing to put himself and Prussia under control of the Frankfurt Parliament as he distrusted ‘the gentlemen of Frankfurt’. This meant that the Parliament had no real leader, and so lost support because people distrusted the parliament as an influential figure stated he would not be associated with them. This aided in causing the failure of the Parliament because with no real leader, no one could influence the masses or help to make decisions.
Even Lloyd George, who took a much tougher political approach towards the reparations, received criticism. Also, at the beginning of the period, Keynes was unsuccessful and his view of the Treaty of Versailles had very little influence at all. However, there was an acceptance during the 1920s that the Weimar Republic, a new democratic Germany, had emerged. There was perhaps, a realisation that the permanent peace of Europe should be based on mutually accepted agreements. In addition, the British governments under Prime Ministers such as Lloyd George, Bonar Law, Baldwin and
After many deaths Germany finally agreed not to sink unarmed ships without warning anymore. The Germans however broke this agreement by sinking another unarmed ship. So the United States agreed with that Germany that they wouldn’t sink any ships any more as long as they could break the British blockade. But the United States didn’t manage to do this. Because of this, this victory is a dubious
As well, the only way that the Wilson plan would have survived the political intrigue of the Europeans was either through a league that had real teeth, or a super power willing to intervene as a worldwide police officer. Neither of which existed in 1918. Clemenceau’s views represented the average sentiment of the European Allies after the war. In the closing days of the war, a war weary European population must have tried to make sense of the carnage, of the loss. Clemenceau casts a pale light on the German population, blaming the war on the aims of “the intolerable German Aristocracy.” (Clemenceau, p. 73) The entire argument for the French and nay, European view, was the perceived threat that Europeans felt of German arrogance.