In “Wilson’s War Message to Congress” written by Woodrow Wilson, it occurs in the time period before Congress enters the United States into World War I, 1917. Considering that in this document it explains how Woodrow Wilson says, “It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars… we shall fight… for democracy… for a universal dominion of right… shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free”(Wilson, “Wilson’s War Message to Congress”). All through Wilson’s speech, he explains how the Imperial Government went against their word/promise to not harm, sink or destroy American ships and warn other vessels if submarines were sought to be destroyed.
As an alternative, he considered methods of protecting American freight without actually arriving at the conclusion of a war. He addressed the situation with a positive attitude and was hopeful that the Germans would reassess the submarine campaign. Ships asked for the naval guard or at least protective weapons for firing at submarines on the surface. The senate never ended up acting on the issue and President Wilson armed the vessels without congressional authorization (Fordham, 301-302). These statements given to the American people add to the credibility of Wilson as a president considering he is still trying to stay neutral in World War I.
Wilson’s image as an anti-war president helped him win the 1916 election, but he did take some action against the German sinking. In the first of three notes, President Woodrow Wilson declared the right of the United States, as a neutral country, could send citizens on any vessel. He also encouraged Germany to stop their unhampered submarine warfare. Wilson said that German acts are “so absolutely contrary to the rules, the practices, and the spirit of modern warfare…
K). His war message was passionate and four days later the war commenced. The Germans were not kidding they threatened to skink any vessels heeding to Great Britain or France. Wilson greatly wanted an, “international law… [that] would be respected and observed upon the seas, where no nation had the right of dominion where lay the free highways of the world” (Doc. K).
The man in the picture above is Woodrow Wilson. He is creator of the fourteen points, which is the topic for my assignment. The fourteen points were created during the first world war. They called for a peaceful end to world war 1. Woodrow Wilson received the 1919 Nobel Peace Prize, as the fourteen points were successful in peacefully ending the war.
After reading “President Woodrow Wilson Asks Congress to Declare War, 1917” and “W.E.B Du Bois, Returning Soldiers, 1919” I was able how different they viewed the war and the people involved. When it came to President Woodrow he tried to show Congress how going to war would be a good choice. One the other hand Du Bois showed the public how we may be fighting this war to help other countries but when it comes to our own nations and soldiers were not doing anything to help them. When it came to both documents I believe that they have different views and feelings about war.
America was still hoped to avoid war by arming vessels. Germany began sinking American ships immediately. In February 1917, British gave the United States government a decoded telegram from Germany's foreign minister, a man by the name of Zimmerman that had been intercepted on route to the ambassador to Mexico. The Telegram offered Mexico the portions of the Southwest it had lost to the United States if it only joined the Central Power. Wilson tried his best to not join the war but he felt as if he couldn’t find any other option so on April 2nd 1917
After the end of World War One, President Woodrow Wilson traveled to Paris to partake in peace talks to end the war. Wilson came prepared with his Fourteen Points, a list of fourteen objectives that he wished to put into the Treaty of Versailles to achieve a world peace. He believed his Fourteen Points could create a new, better world. Unfortunately, Wilson was unable to have all fourteen of his points included in the treaty.
On what point was Wilson absolutely unwilling to compromise on? 698 On January 8, 1918, President Wilson presented his fourteen points about the peace and aftermath of the war. He wanted the treaty to be “absolutely open,” and strived for the “self-determination” of nations. Wilson was unwilling
In his eyes, they were terms for a better world. It in he entails the need for the “League of Nations” as a way of keeping anything like World War One from happening in the future, but again here we see a “good try worth a Nobel”. Wilson tried to make a form of a peaceful “kum ba yah” communion, but in politics there's nothing is resolved by just talking, there needs to be an incentive for someone to do something, or fear to stop someone from doing something. The League had none of these so eventually, it was just another try and by never even joining the League of Nations there was no solid ground of what had to be done. When the war finally ended with the Treaty of Versailles Wilson's attempt to sign the treaty was unsuccessful since it was deemed unconstitutional by congress.
This point would benefit the United States and its allies because of the ability to keep a close eye on the German submarines who caused much havok during world war 1. Another one of Wilson’s points states that all colonial claims will be adjusted based on the interests of the population and valid claims from the government. This point eventually would cause Germany to lose land and become unstable. This source shows how peace can lead to war because these points were meant to bring peace to everyone but since the ideas were biased towards some countries more than others they didn’t bring much peace and caused some problems. In this source it can be seen that Woodrow Wilson made a great effort to achieve peace with their old opponents and fix what was wrong with them.
To display his advocacy for democracy, we can see him being sympathetic to smaller states during the Treaty of Versailles, we can see that in his 14 points he advocated for smaller states to be “equally heard out, regardless of their size or power” and for everyone to “respect everyone as a whole” as well. Wilson arrived in Paris in December 1919 and advocated for smaller countries to be able to speak of peace during the signing process, despite being unsuccessful his 14 points show that he continued to help smaller nations to be recognized, we can see this in his third point, he states the “establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace”. We can see here that he aims to make peace, regardless of the size of the nation, and wants to give every country the opportunity to trade with bigger countries or smaller countries. This is confirmed when he states his 14th point that “political independence and territorial integrity [of] great and small states alike (History Channel
Wilson first tries to trade with no other individuals because he wanted to stay out of the war economically and militarily by banning
War Message Try putting yourself in someone else’s shoes that could risk the lives of millions. On April 2, in 1917, Woodrow Wilson delivered his speech, “War Message.” Woodrow Wilson delivered this speech four days before he made a life changing decision to enter into WWI. Woodrow Wilson urged for neutrality, but the United States was preparing for their involvement in the war by strengthening the Navy. Woodrow Wilson was the 28th president of the United States during this moment of major decision making.
In Woodrow Wilson’s 1917 War Message, he announces the German Naval forces have controlled the waters that surround Great Britain and Ireland. Wilson first attacks German Naval forces by appealing to the laws of humanity, and argues that the Germans are breaking these universal laws, and he concludes with fear by informing that the German’s have cut their supplies, and are sinking any ship that sails near the isles. His purpose is to appeal to fear and emotion in order to conclude to war. Wilson has a strict, powerful audience in mind because he presents his speech to Congress. Wilson opens with a mere seriousness, by stating the dangers the German forces have brought to the enemy forces of Germany by closing their ports.
