Isolationism Dbq Essay

What arguments were made in favor of isolationism, and how and why did America’s isolationist stance erode entering into the 1940s? How did American foreign policy goals shape the American approach to the war?

After the end of World War I the United States entered into a period of isolationist foreign policy. On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson announced the United States’ objectives through his Fourteen Points. His fourteenth point proposed a league of nations to protect international security and stability. After the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the Treaty

In the aftermath of World War I, during the years 1917-1921, President Wilson advocated the Treaty of Versailles, which called for the principle of self-determination, the formation of a League of Nations, and general amnesty towards Germany, as the solution for peace. However, his unwillingness to compromise led to widespread disagreement. The opposition forces in the U.S. senate consisted of the reservationists, who were willing to ratify the Treaty of Versailles with amendments, and the irreconcilables, who refused to join the League of Nations under any circumstances. If President Wilson was only willing to modify the language of the treaty, ratification may have occurred.

Advantages of Internationalism and Isolationism: Some of the advantages between Internationalism and Isolationism can be the same or the can be different it just all depends of the topic you use.

They agreed with most of the treaty that was presented to them, after the negotiations with Britain and France; however, they had an issue with the League of Nations. They did not want the United States to have to answer to the League or be tied to other countries. They believed that by joining the League, the United States would no longer be in control of its own foreign policy, jeopardizing its independence (Document A). They further believed that the American people, who up to this point had historically been isolationists (not wanting to be involved in foreign affairs), were not ready to support American participation in the League of Nations. Furthermore, they believed that collective security was unlikely to work - it would help with large scale issues like World War, but it would be counterproductive when it came to minute disputes, and they did not want the United States to be tied down by foreign entanglements and alliances (Document E). Wilson, however, was uncompromising, he realized that if the League was created without the United States in the it, Britain and France would take control and punish Germany economically for the war, which they did, and it led to another world

The Treaty of Versailles was a formal peace treaty between the Word War I Allies and Germany. The leaders of Britain, France, Italy and the United States met in Paris in early 1919 to draft the treaty. President Woodrow Wilson presented his Fourteen Points, a series of measures intended to ensure future peace. The points included the formation of an international organization known as the League of Nation, which was adopted in the treaty. Representatives of each country signed the treaty in June 1919.

The League of Nations was an organization created following the year after the concession of World War I in 1918. The purpose of this union was to maintain world stability and peace. The League of Nations was proposed by President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points and was considered relatively controversial. Congress had to vote upon whether the United States would join or not. Two of the Senators gave speeches, Senator Gilbert Hitchcock and Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, advocating their parties’ views.

World War I started on June 28, 1914 when Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was assassinated by a Serbian Patriot. The United States of America stayed neutral at the beginning of World War I because the US was a weak country with a weak military. Austria-Hungary was a part of the Central Powers and Serbia was a part of the Allied Powers.Some people thought that the US should not enter World War I because the US would lose more people in the war than the US would if the US stayed neutral but, others thought that the US should enter the war because the US needed to defend themselves. It was necessary for the US to enter World War I because of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and The Zimmerman Note.

After the Revolutionary War that was from 1776 to 1783, Great Britain's thirteen colonies began a period of unfortunate circumstances. They were finally free from the “motherland’ and the Founding Fathers of the United States were facing the challenges of of a small populated land with low resources and an unstable core. At the time it was unclear for the colonies to see how they would create New World order, most of the leaders agreed on a single thought- they needed a balance of power in their new government. In the time the writing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the Spanish-American War in 1898 had been happening, the nation has rejected all of the balance it had agreed on. It focused on its objectives and growth as a new government. At the end of the 19th century the country had a turning point with foreign relations, which had gradually gained strength on the international stage. Europe began to accept the “balance of power” politics, the United States spent their first century as a country they slowly began to develop themselves as a global strength.

In Henry Cabot Lodge’s speech, (Document B) presented on August 12, 1919, he emphasizes the idea that the League of Nation will be a bad thing for the United States. In his speech, he states “The United States is the world's best hope, but if you fetter her in the interest and quarrel of other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues of Europe, you will destroy her power for good and endanger her very existence. Leave her to march freely through the centuries to come as in the years that

World War I was raging and despite his desire and efforts to maintain America’s neutrality, German naval actions against American ships forced Wilson to ask Congress to declare war. In his capacity as Commander in Chief, Wilson chose General John Pershing to lead the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) that deployed to Europe to fight the Germans. At the conclusion of World War I, Wilson devised his infamous Fourteen Points, which included the formation of an international League of Nations, that he envisioned would be "a general association of nations...affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike”(Wilson) and would serve as a mechanism to prevent future conflicts. His Fourteen Points were meant to be a template for world peace and clearly demonstrated the influence and important role the president of the United States has over international relations. However, Congress rejected the Treaty of Versailles discouraging European involvement; an action that revealed the power struggle between the executive and legislative branches and demonstrated that while influencing and making important decisions, the president may not always have the power to enforce them. Due to Wilson’s involvement in foreign affairs the United States emerged as a major international power and presidents

World War II was a tremendously impactful war which was fought during the forties. It had many turning points and great changes that turned not only the United States but the world. One of the first events that occurred was the rise of Communism. With the rise of communism it caused panic in the country of the United States. The panic was inevitable because anyone could be suspected of being a communist. Also, with communism rapidly spreading in Europe it was hard for the United States to stay in a state of isolationism. Therefore, a key factor of the United States abandoning isolationism and joining the war was the incidence of Pearl Harbor. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was sent by Japan. As a result, the United States declared war on Japan and World War II started. After the war, the impact continued. After World War II, the Cold War began; which was a start to a race in technology, space, and power. The Cold War lasted several decades and was a reaction to World War II.

On April 2, 1917, President Wilson wrote and spoke one of his famous speech: War Message. President Wilson wants to ensure the people 's hope and faith from the war. As President Wilson (1917) stated in his speech "Each nation must decide for itself how it will meet it... Our motive will not be revenge or the victorious assertion of the physical might of the nation, but only the vindication of right, of human right, of which we are only a single champion."was to fix the issue the nation was in. President Wilson wants to show the people that we need to get involved war for the loss of many American lives that Germany took. Wilson persuades to Congress to go to war. President Wilson shows his persuasion effectively by using rhetorical strategies. Each strategy he used gave more persuasion to Congress to declare war on Germany. All the persuasion he used to convince Congress was put in his famous speech War Message.

Hi Heather, I do not agree with your argument. The political dispute between Wilson and Lodge was not the only reason that the United States did not join the League of Nations. Some of the inhabitants of America, like the Irish people, were against the League of Nations. You said that "the League of Nations would have kept global peace for everyone", but I contend to this because not all of the nations in the world were included in the League of Nations. This League was not favorable to all Americans' native countries. Also, I do not believe that the League of Nations would have prevented the U.S. from going into World War II, I only think it would have delayed us going into WWII. Since the League of Nations was a newfounded idea, it most likely

World War I was a devastating war that had a long-lasting effect on every European country. After the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife by the hands of a Serbian terrorist group known as the Black Hand. Germany urged Austria-Hungary to attack Serbia, but Russia stepped up to protect the country. Germany ambushed Belgium, and proceeded to Russia, throwing Great Britain into the war due to their alliance with Belgium. As a result, the continent of Europe, including Great Britain, Italy, Russia, Austria-Hungary, and France, was plunged into a great World War. The war lasted from 1914 to 1918, and it left Germany singled out as the catalyst. In November 1918, Germany finally agreed to an Armistice, a halt in the fighting, but they did not consider themselves to be surrendering. At the time, the Germans believed that they would play a role in constructing the treaty that would end the war, but when the time came, they were not allowed to participate. Germany was greatly angered by this, but there was nothing that they could do for their army had been disarmed. They had two choices: sign the Treaty or be invaded by the Allies. With no other option, the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France. Although the Treaty of Versailles did bring an end to World War I,