How Did Woodrow Wilson's Idealism Affect American Foreign Policy

682 Words3 Pages
Prior to US entry into the First World War President Woodrow Wilson’s idealism affected American foreign policy; he urged for neutrality. It was not until factors like the sinking of the Lusitania and the Zimmerman Telegram that led Americans to get involved in the war. Wilson was more idealistic than realistic and this becomes apparent in the peace treaty ending the war. Some of Wilson’s Fourteen Points like self-determination, the League of Nations, and peace without victory established the agenda for the peace conference that followed the war. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist started the chain of events that led to the First World War. When Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, interlocking military