Woodrow Wilson Research Paper

“Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind” (Albert Einstein). Around the time of the World Wars, different leaders used nationalism as a persuasive tool to gain absolute power. Many leaders were able to obtain power in America, China, and Germany and help the citizens restore pride and confidence in one's country. For example, President Woodrow Wilson of the United States used his vision for a democratic legislation and world peace to unite the Americans. In China, Mao, a former peasant, united the peasants through the new ideology of communism. Adversely, Hitler who upstaged the Prime Minister and the Reichstag, used nationalism to unite Germany and reinstall pride and eliminate the sense of humiliation after World

Woodrow Wilson’s main belief of self-determination, the process which a nation determines its own form of government, evolved as a by-product of nationalism. Wilson uses nationalism as a driving force to spread self-determination by uniting the country before determining the style of government. Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, and Vittorio Orlando considered self-determination and Wilson’s Fourteen Points when writing the treaty of versailles. From these considerations, they adopted ideas from the Fourteen Points and implemented the League of Nations to attempt obtaining world peace. The main ideas within the Fourteen Points were to forbid secret alliances, allow free trade, create freedom of the seas, address new nations, and create a general association of nations called the League of Nations. Each point addressed a specific topic to ensure harmony. The League of Nations demonstrated the democratic principles that Wilson promoted. Although Wilson supported the League of Nations, the United States isolated itself, refusing to join this association. This isolation was caused from the horrors of World War I and lead the Americans to focus inward on nationalism. President Wilson believed his ideologies had the potential to be effective, but due to his focus on democracy, other nations immediately disregarded

After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles strictly demanded Germany to pay in gold, land, resources, and reduction in military. Because the terms of the treaty were not feasible and very harsh, Hitler refused to pay the reparations. Most Germans found it difficult to pay and follow the treaty’s terms, ultimately leading them to support Hitler. Hitler used the punishments within the Treaty of Versailles to unite the Germans and gain power as their dictator. He enforced the ideology of Nazism to lead Germany. Nazism is a form of fascism that used biological racism and antisemitism. Hitler also believed that the Aryan race is superior to all other races and that the government must promote it. Hitler used the loss of World War I to his advantage to gain power of Germany and abused the nationalism within the Germans for negative reasons like the