Biographical information
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was a Democrat American statesman, lawyer, and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913. Upon the outbreak of World War I, Wilson maintained a policy of neutrality until 1917. Wilson advocated for the establishment of a multilateral international organization and peace based on his 14 points. History The 1823 Monroe doctrine that opposed European intervention in the Americas in a sense also worked the other way. When European powers ‘scrambled’ for African colonies in the 1880s the USA stood apart. As a country that had been defined by war against the British empire, anti-imperialism was a central feature of US foreign policy. The concept of ‘American exceptionalism’- that the USA as a new nation founded on liberty and democracy was different to old powers of Europe - claimed that US foreign policy was part of a wider altruistic mission to transform the world. |
American imperialism which seriously began in the 1890s in Hawaii, Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam were therefore portrayed as acts of liberation. With the outbreak of war in 1914, the United States declared neutrality and worked to broker a peace. It insisted on its neutral rights, which included allowing private corporations and banks to sell or loan money to either side.
Experience of World War I
In a ‘melting pot’ nation, neutrality was as much a practical as ideological response. Neutrality was supported by Irish Americans and by German Americans for similar reasons. But war was inevitably divisive. The German strategy of unrestricted submarine warfare, in which German U-boats sank any ships travelling between Britain and the US did much to turn public opinion and reinforced the image given by the much-publicized German atrocities committed in Belgium in 1914. The outcry after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 led to the suspension of the U-boat policy until 1917. With the continued sinking of American merchant ships in early 1917 and the Zimmerman Telegram proposing a German-Mexican alliance, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war in April 1917. The publication of Wilson’s 14 points in January 1918 was followed by arrival of 10,000 fresh American troops every day in the spring of 1918. These were important contributory factors in the decision to seek peace in November 1918. American losses in World War I were modest compared to those of other belligerents, with 116,516 deaths and approximately 320,000 sick and wounded of the 4.7 million men who served. The USA lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than to combat (53,402), largely due to the influenza epidemic of 1918.
Ambitions
Fourteen points.
Potential rivals and allies
Woodrow Wilson’s idealism will inevitably clash with the realpolitik attitude of the other Big Three, Britain, France and Italy. The Slavic states look to the USA as a powerful ally. Poland’s Paderewski is well known in the US and might be temperamentally closer to Wilson.
Experience of World War I
In a ‘melting pot’ nation, neutrality was as much a practical as ideological response. Neutrality was supported by Irish Americans and by German Americans for similar reasons. But war was inevitably divisive. The German strategy of unrestricted submarine warfare, in which German U-boats sank any ships travelling between Britain and the US did much to turn public opinion and reinforced the image given by the much-publicized German atrocities committed in Belgium in 1914. The outcry after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 led to the suspension of the U-boat policy until 1917. With the continued sinking of American merchant ships in early 1917 and the Zimmerman Telegram proposing a German-Mexican alliance, Wilson asked Congress for a declaration of war in April 1917. The publication of Wilson’s 14 points in January 1918 was followed by arrival of 10,000 fresh American troops every day in the spring of 1918. These were important contributory factors in the decision to seek peace in November 1918. American losses in World War I were modest compared to those of other belligerents, with 116,516 deaths and approximately 320,000 sick and wounded of the 4.7 million men who served. The USA lost more personnel to disease (63,114) than to combat (53,402), largely due to the influenza epidemic of 1918.
Ambitions
Fourteen points.
Potential rivals and allies
Woodrow Wilson’s idealism will inevitably clash with the realpolitik attitude of the other Big Three, Britain, France and Italy. The Slavic states look to the USA as a powerful ally. Poland’s Paderewski is well known in the US and might be temperamentally closer to Wilson.