Woodrow Wilson World War I
In foreign policy Woodrow Wilson faced greater challenges than any president since Abraham Lincoln. Determining whether to involve the US in World War I tested his leadership severely.
President Wilson before Congress, announcing the break in the official relations with Germany. February 3, 1917.He kept the United States neutral in the early years of World War I, which contributed to his popular re-election in 1916. However, with increased pressure, the United States entered the conflict with a formal declaration of war against Germany on Friday, April 6, 1917.
After World War 1, Woodrow Wilson worked with mixed success to assure statehood for formerly oppressed nations and an equitable peace. On Tuesday, January 8, 1918, Wilson made his famous "Fourteen Points" address, introducing the idea of a League of Nations, an organization that would strive to help preserve territorial integrity and political independence among large and small nations alike.
Woodrow Wilson World War I- After the war
Wilson intended the Fourteen Points as a means toward ending the war and achieving an equitable peace for all the nations. He worked tirelessly to promote his plan at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The charter of the proposed League of Nations was incorporated into the conference's Treaty of Versailles, but most of the other Fourteen Points fell by the wayside.
For his peacemaking efforts, Wilson was awarded the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize. Receiving the award was bittersweet, however, because he was unable to convince congressional opponents, such as Henry Cabot Lodge, to support the resolution endorsing US entry into the league. United States membership, Wilson believed, was essential to ensuring lasting world peace.
Thank you for reading the Woodrow Wilson World War I article. Learn more about people from the war including, Robert Lansing and others like Kaiser Wilhelm II.
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