An evaluation of President Woodrow Wilson presidency with particular emphasis on his policies in WW1.

1. ‘To End All Wars’
Woodrow Wilson and his legacy
Dr Daryl Le Cornu, HTAA Conference, Brisbane 2014

2. djlecornu@hotmail.com

8. With the centenary of America’s
entry into the First World War how
should we remember President
Woodrow Wilson?

9. Will the real Woodrow Wilson stand up?
1. Introduction

10. WW1 Centenary
Renewed interest in Woodrow Wilson
April 1917 – American Entry into WW1
January 1918 – 14 Points Speech
1919 – Treaty of Versailles
1919 – the ‘League Fight’
1920 – League of Nations begins

11. WW1 Centenary
Will the following also be commemorated?
May 1916 - League to Enforce Peace
speech
November 1916 Election – Wilson
committed USA to a ‘league of nations’
18 December 1916 American Peace Note
22 January 1917 – ‘Peace Without Victory’
speech

12. Who was Woodrow Wilson?
28th president of the United States
of America
Led the USA into World War 1
Founded the League of Nations
One of the most well-known
presidents
BUT
Also one of the most controversial
US presidents

15. Reputation roller-coaster
MESSIAH – a way out of
WW1 that gave hope to the
future
FAILURE – sacrificed
everything to achieve his
main objective (a League)
then failed to convince the
US to join
PROPHET – reputation
revived in WW2 – Wilson was
now seen as being right
about the League

16. Best and worst presidents
Does not appear near the top of the many
lists of best US presidents
Yet Wilson does not appear near the
bottom of any of the lists
So, what was Bob Carr on about?

17. Carr’s concerns about Wilson
 Segregation policies
 Civil rights abuses in WW1
 Wartime strategy
 Harsh Treaty of Versailles and post-war
settlement
 League had no chance of succeeding
Was Carr right
about Woodrow
Wilson?

18. Woodrow Wilson’s legacy
We will consider…
historians’ views
contemporary supporters
research on the views of British and
American peace activists

20. 2. Historians’ views

21. Laurence Martin
 Peace Without Victory 1958
 relationship between British
Radicals and President
Wilson
 influence went both ways
 similar views on liberal
internationalism
 Agreed on most points of
detail and method
 BUT
 Serious misgivings since
US entry in 1917
 Harsh critics of Treaty of
Versailles

22. Thomas Knock
 To End All Wars 1992
 centrality of the League to
Wilson’s foreign policy
 a statesman ahead of his
times
BUT
 made crucial mistakes of
strategy
 Alienated most of his
supporters by 1919
 STILL
 The enduring relevance of
his vision

23. James Blight & Robert McNamara
 Wilson’s Ghost 2001
 Wilson – only world statesman
who sensed that the human race
might destroy itself and that
radical changes were needed to
the international system
 Advocated multilateral approach
via the League
 Wilson’s predictions about the
20th Century were tragically
correct
BUT
 Failed - and Wilson was wrong
on self-determination

24. Thomas Fleming
 The Illusion of Victory 2003
 British and French duped Wilson into
entering WW1 on their side by use of
propaganda – Wellington House
 Wilson’s ‘tragically flawed’ intervention
into WW1 which showed the limitations
of power
 Illusion of idealism – the expectation
that noble words could be translated
into meaningful realities
 Wilson corrupted the peace process by
claiming principles that he failed to
support
 Wilson betrayed the moderates in
Germany who created the Weimar
Republic

25. David S Paterson
 The Search for a Negotiated Peace
2008
 Wilson failed to work with others
with similar beliefs
 Wilson wanted to mediate an end to
the war on his own not with other
neutrals
 ignored conference of neutrals idea
in 1915 and 1916
BUT
 failed in his own mediation attempts
from Dec 1916 to Feb 1917
 After US entry attacked the
‘stupidity’ of pacifists
 lost opportunities with negotiated
peace

26. John Milton Cooper
 Breaking the Heart of the World
2001
 The League Fight
 Wilson’s inflexibility and refusal to
compromise
 Illness the biggest obstacle to a
more constructive outcome
 BUT
 ‘for all their decency and
intelligence, Wilson’s opponents
were wrong. For all his flaws and
missteps, Wilson was right. He
should have won the League
fight. His defeat did break the
heart of the world.’

27. John Milton Cooper
 Woodrow Wilson 2009
 ‘In the end, much about Wilson
remains troubling.’
 Do his sins of omission and
commission outweigh the good
he did, or do his words and
deeds overshadow his
transgressions?’
 ‘..one of the deepest and most
daring souls ever to inhabit the
White House. His was also a
flawed soul rendered worse by
the failing of his body, which
consigned his presidency to an
inglorious end.’

28. A Scott Berg
 Wilson 2014
 ‘a century after Wilson's
inauguration, and .. he still
remains the most successful,
extremely progressive figure
we've had in American politics.’
 ‘loomed larger than any other
president in the 20th Century’
 BUT
 A progressive thinker but the
biggest strike against him
personally was that he was a
racist

29. Richard Striner
 Wilson’s strategic incompetence
gave a good cause a bad name
 ‘The most striking thing to me about
his wartime record was his failure to
engage in sufficient contingency
planning when it came to the politics
of the war.’
 ‘Wilson set back his own cause
through his miserable judgement,
his naïve suppositions, his
petulance, his rhetorical excess – all
of it!’
 ‘To put it harshly, he was a disaster.
He was not the right leader for
American during World War 1.’

30. Historians’ wisdom of hindsight
Historians have the benefit of hindsight
What about the views of Wilson’s
contemporaries at the time?
We will examine the views of some of his
supporters from August to November 1917

31. Who were Wilson’s
supporters?
American peace activists
American progressives and socialists
British Radicals
British Left
Peace groups – eg Union of Democratic
Control (UDC), NCF, feminists etc

33. 3. Wilson and World War 1

34. Outbreak of War
Wilson’s attitude to the War – like most
Americans he was puzzled about causes
Not persuaded by atrocity stories
Early offers to mediate

35. Wilson and WW1 to 1917
Woodrow Wilson (Democratic Party) – opposed
to entering WW1. Pursued neutrality while
offering to mediate.
The Left – opposed involvement in War.
Instead, they advocated that the US should
mediate.
Feminist groups – dropped suffrage campaign
to advocate a mediated peace. Most notable -
Jane Addams and the Womens’ Peace Party
35

36. 36
American
delegation to
the Hague
Congress

37. American delegation to the
International Womens’ Congress
The Hague 1915

38. WW1 - ‘peace groups’ mobilise
ON THE CONTINENT
Women’s Hague Congress
April/May 1915
 1800 women
 Jane Addams
 Julia Grace Wales
 19 point plan to end the war and create a just
and lasting peace
 Advocated a Neutral Conference of Continual
Mediation to operate while the war continues
to develop a peace plan
 Took the plan to national leaders of
belligerent and neutral nations
 Origin of Women's International League for
Peace and Freedom (WILPF)

40. Links to ‘league’ organisations
League of
Free Nations
July 1918
League of
Nations
Society
May 1915
League of
Nations Union
Oct 1918
LEP
League to Enforce
Peace
USA
1915
President Wilson
From May 1916

41. House-Grey Memorandum Feb 1916

42. League to Enforce Peace speech
May 1916
Promised to support the creation of a
‘league of nations’ once the War was over

43. Presidential election
Nov 1916
Made the ‘league’ a major plank of his
foreign policy platform in the November
1916 Elections.

44. The German Peace Note
12 December 1916
Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg had favoured a
possible US mediation since September.
Bethmann-Hollweg wanted to achieve a
negotiated peace to thwart the High
Command’s (Hindenburg & Ludendorff) plan to
escalate the War by initiating unrestricted
submarine warfare.
44

45. The American Peace Note
18 December 1916
Wilson had delayed an attempt at public
mediation until after the November 1916
election. With a second term secured Wilson
felt free to mediate peace.
Received high praise from British and American
‘peace movements’. eg UDC
Allied leaders were shocked and felt betrayed.
The King of England ‘wept’

46. The Reaction of Allied Governments to
the Peace Notes
Allied governments were outraged. Note: Britain now
had a right-wing coalition government under ex-
Liberal Lloyd George dedicated to a fight to the finish
with Germany – a ‘Knock-Out Blow’.
Allied Replies: -
 Dismissed German peace offer as arrogant
 But, a polite rejection of US Note - 10th Jan 1917 –due to
financial dependence on US loans.
46

47. Peace Without Victory Speech
22 January 1917

48. ‘Peace Without Victory’ speech
President Wilson’s speech 22 January 1917
Criticized secret diplomacy, imperialism and
militarism of both sides.
Reflected the UDC prescription for a just and
lasting peace
Supported the creation of a ‘league of nations’
An attempt to keep mediation alive.
Wilson’s most significant speech.
48

49. Significance of
‘Peace Without Victory’ Speech
A world statesman appeared to have reacted to
the pressure of British and American ‘peace
groups’ by adopting a left-wing liberal-internationalist
prescription for world order.
Wilson’s gave hope to a war-weary public
49

50. Steps to US entry into WW1
Unrestricted Submarine Warfare – Feb. 1917 &
Zimmerman Telegram.
Wilson still hoped for mediation during February
and March but failed to engage Germany in peace
discussions
Lloyd George suggested the only way he could
influence the peace settlement was join the War
on the side of the Allies
War Speech – 2 April 1917
USA at War 6 April 1917
50

51. Reasons for US Entry into WW1
To make the world ‘safe for democracy’
not for selfish gain
To have a seat at the peace conference
and shape the peace settlement
To get a League of Nations – the major
aim of US foreign policy since May 1916
51

52. War Speech – 2 April 1917

53. War Speech – 2 April 1917
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xh0IRgr-lI

54. Conditions for US Entry?
No collusion on Allied secret treaties
An ‘Associated Power’ NOT an ally
Why? – to reserve the right for a separate
peace
BUT
Did not set conditions on US assistance to
Allies
54

55. Long-term strategy
 AEF will win the war
(by 1919 or 1920)
 Allies will be financially
indebted to the USA
 So, the USA will dominate
at the peace conference &
secure a league of nations
and just peace

56. Long-term strategy
The Allies will
be financially
in our hands.

57. Long-term strategy
The Allies will
be financially
in our hands.
BUT
 Wilson did not set
conditions with the Allies
for US joining the war
 US mobilisation was
painfully slow
 US soldiers in France not
allowed to fight until
whole US Army formed

58. Wilson’s diplomacy 1917
SILENT for months – said nothing about
revising war aims
ignored Russian request for a revision of
war aims

59. Russian Revolution
March 1917
Liberal-Socialist government adopted moderate
war aims. Known as the Petrograd Formula – ‘no
annexations, no indemnities’
Requests for Allies to redefine war aims to make
a Germany more likely to accept a negotiated
peace.
59

60. Benedict XV – Papal Peace Note
THE VATICAN
- Pope Benedict XV
Sought to mediate peace since
1914
Proposed Christmas Truce in 1914
 Approved of Wilson’s previous
proposals for a negotiated peace
with Germany, a just peace and
‘freedom of the seas’
August 1917 – Issued his PAPAL
PEACE NOTE – with a simple 8-
point plan for ending the war

61. Benedict XV – Papal Peace Note
Bright Hope, p. 143

62. 4. The New Wilsonian Vision:
Sept-Nov 1917

63. Wilson’s Reply
to the Papal Peace Note – 27 Aug 1917
 Rejected negotiated peace based
on Pope’s seven-point plan.
 No return to the ‘status quo ante
bellum’
 Targeted the German rulers, not
the German people
WHY?
1. German government is a
menace to the world
2. Russia would be doomed if
German rulers were left in power
3. Germans would use a
negotiated peace to recuperate
and strike again at some future
date

64. Henry W Massingham
Nation
 Wilson’s Reply was
impractical and short-sighted
 Making a German
revolution a pre-condition
for peace
would prolong the War
 Despaired of Wilson’s
strategy

65. Phillip Snowden
Labour Leader
What about the Allied war aims
and secret treaties?
 Wilson’s demand for democracy
in Germany was ‘objectionable’
 Hypocritical – are the
constitutions of Allied nations
any more democratic?
Suggested there should be a
revolution for democracy in
Great Britain and America too

66. Henry Brailsford
Herald
 ‘Mr Wilson has ruined the
Pope’s intervention.’
 Wilson’s Reply cannot be
reconciled with Wilson’s
‘Peace Without Victory’
speech
 If America helps the Allies to
crush Germany will Wilson
be able to restrain the Allies’
‘plans of dismemberment and
vengeance?’
 Wilson’s Reply will retard
German democracy

67. John Nevin Sayre
brother of Wilson’s son-in-law
 Wilson’s Reply starkly
different to his Dec
1916 Peace Note
 Will strengthen
German reactionaries
 Will lengthen the War
 Will end up with a
‘peace of exhaustion’
which will not be a
good basis for a just
and lasting peace

68. Randolph Bourne
‘The Collapse of American Strategy’ Aug 1917
 Armed Neutrality had
been the USA’s best
option
 Will prolong the War
and encourage
reactionaries
US strategy now the
same as the Allies
The pacifists were right
when they predicted
this when the US
entered the War

69. Randolph Bourne
‘The Collapse of American Strategy’ Aug 1917
‘The liberals …trusted him to use a war-technique
which should consist of an olive branch in one hand
and a sword in the other. They have had to see their
strategy collapse under the very weight of that war-technique.
Guarding neutrality, we might have
countered toward a speedy and democratic peace. In
the war, we are a rudderless nation, as the Allies
wish, politically and materially, and towed to their
aggrandizement, in any direction which they may
desire.’
Randolph S Bourne, ‘The Collapse of American Strategy’, pp. 34-
35.

70. Randolph Bourne
‘The Collapse of American Strategy’ Aug 1917
‘The liberals …trusted him to use a war-technique
which should consist of an olive branch in one hand
and a sword in the other. They have had to see their
strategy collapse under the very weight of that war-technique.
Guarding neutrality, we might have
countered toward a speedy and democratic peace. In
the war, we are a rudderless nation, as the Allies
wish, politically and materially, and towed to their
aggrandizement, in any direction which they may
desire.’
Randolph S Bourne, ‘The Collapse of American Strategy’, pp. 34-
35.

71. 5. From the Fourteen Points
to the League

72. The Fourteen Points Speech
8 January 1918
 Influenced by UDC and progressive ideas.
Wilson’s Aims
 to counter Bolshevik appeal
 to rally public opinion behind his vision for
peace.
 to pressure Allied leaders to accept his
terms.
To cause dissent in Germany

73. The ‘Fourteen Points’ to the Armistice
Wilson’s League proposal was part of the
‘14 Points’
Oct 1918 – Germany asks for Armistice on
basis on ‘14 Points’
BUT - Allied leaders (British, French and
Italian) had not signed up to the ’14 Points
6 Nov 1918 - Allied leaders agreed to
Armistice with Germany on the basis of the
‘14 Points’ – though a conditional
acceptance

74. Constructing the League
Wilson did not consult or attempt
to build bipartisan consensus
Political and organic vision for
the League
Discouraged public discussion
on plans for a League until the
war was over
LEP’s vision of a judicial law-based
League - rejected

75. Peace Conference

76. Peace Conference – fighting for the League
Feb 1919 - Wilson fought against
Allied leaders to get the League
 British government influence on draft
League Covenant via Robert Cecil
and Jan Smuts
 League accepted as part of the Treaty

77. Peace Conference – fighting for the League
 Feb 1919 - Wilson fought against Allied
leaders to get the League
 British government influence on draft
League Covenant via Robert Cecil and
Jan Smuts
 League accepted as part of the Treaty
PROBLEM
 Wilson had to agree to a harsh peace
treaty in return for acceptance of his
League by Allied leaders
 Both the League and Treaty of Versailles
were rejected by the US Senate
USA did not join the League

78. The ‘League Fight’ back home
Lodge led Senate opposition to
League ratification by the US.
Opposition to multilateral
commitment by USA.
Now, as a great power the USA
should act unilaterally in world
affairs and avoid entangling
obligations.
78
Senator Lodge

79. Why did Wilson lose the ‘League Fight’?
Wilson’s alienation of his support base
Wilson’s poor judgment
October – Wilson fell victim to a massive stroke
after an exhausting tour of the nation in
September.
Wilson hardened and refused any watering
down of the League.
March 1920 – League ratification fails for the
second time
USA never joined the League
79

81. 6. Wilson’s failure as a
neutral and at war

82. Wilson’s failure in WW1 – to April
1917
Shunned other neutral nations who wanted US
leadership of neutral mediation attempts
 Failed to engage with other plans to end the war
via mediation
 Wilson followed official neutrality but refused to
stop munitions trade, Allied loans, or curtail the
right of Americans to sail on belligerent ships
 Played a ‘lone hand’ on mediation. If there was to
be mediation it was to be himself as mediator.

83. Wilson’s failure in WW1
– after US Entry
 Wilson was the lone ‘Wilsonian’ in his government
 Incapable of defending civil liberties domestically
Appeared to abandon his policy of achieving a
lasting peace via a negotiated end to the War
 Wilson’s entry into the War on the side of the Allies
was unconditional
 Wilson killed off possibilities of a negotiated peace
during 1917
Declared no definite peace terms until Jan 1918
Kept the Allied leaders at arms length and put
them under no pressure to revise their war aims

84. 7. Wilson’s legacy

88. Wilson’s Legacy
The only world statesman to promote the idea
of a League of Nations to guarantee the future
peace of the world
Succeeded in creating a League of Nations
League was the forerunner of the United
Nations and post WW2 settlement which has
created the legal (and moral) foundation for the
world today.
.

89. Wilson’s Legacy
The only world statesman to promote the idea
of a League of Nations to guarantee the future
peace of the world
Succeeded in creating a League of Nations
League was the forerunner of the United
Nations and post WW2 settlement which has
created the legal (and moral) foundation for the
world today..
And the only hope for the future