Woodrow Wilson’s Vision for Postwar Peace (Essay Sample)

Essay Question #10
In his war address to Congress on April 2, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson spoke of the need for the United States to enter the war in part to “make the world safe for democracy.” Almost a year later, this sentiment remained strong, articulated in a speech to Congress on January 8, 1918, where he introduced his Fourteen Points. Designed as guidelines for the rebuilding of the postwar world, the points included Wilson’s ideas regarding nations’ conduct of foreign policy, including freedom of the seas and free trade and the concept of national self-determination, with the achievement of this through the dismantling of European empires and the creation of new states. Most importantly, however, was Point 14, which called for a “general association of nations” that would offer “mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike.” When Wilson left for Paris in December 1918, he was determined that the Fourteen Points, and his League of Nations (as the association of nations was known), be incorporated into the peace settlements. (the worldwar.org)
Based upon your instructor’s lecture on YouTube and readings in your textbook, write the following essay:
Describe Woodrow Wilson’s vision for postwar peace, the Fourteen Points. Did he succeed when he journeyed to Europe to personally attend the Paris Peace Conference in 1919? How well did the final version of the Treaty of Versailles match up with Wilson’s goals for achieving a lasting postwar peace?
Hint: You are not required to write about the actual fighting in the war, just begin your essay with President Wilson’s trip to the Paris Peace Conference after the war ended. Just be sure to understand the following background information: Congress declared war in April 1917, and the American Expeditionary Force under the command of General Pershing arrived in France just in the nick of time. The Allies (Great Britain and France) were exhausted and on the brink of total collapse, so it must have seemed like a miracle when into the muck and mire dashed fresh-faced American soldiers. So desperate were the Allies in 1917 that America rushed its youthful army across the Atlantic before a lot of our guys had a chance to figure out which end of a rifle was supposed to face outward. But their courage was ready and, suffering heavy casualties, they helped push back German attacks at Château-Thierry and Belleau Wood in May and June of 1918, and through the rest of the summer and into the fall, they led the final Allied counter thrust at St. Mihiel and the Argonne Forest. The Germans were just as battered as the French and the British, but no counterweight to the well-fed eager Americans arrived to prop them up. As they were pushed out of their trenches and back toward their own country, most German military leaders could read the handwriting on the wall, and on November 11, 1918, Germany signed an armistice (peace agreement) and the news rang out “All Quiet On The Western Front.”
Link to your instructor’s video lecture on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mBtDX2oyz4M
Each essay should be around one to two typed pages (double-spaced/12 pt. font) containing two paragraphs or more. You are trying to show me what you learned, so the more detail and explanation you provide the better. Writing does count, so look over your work for clarity, spelling, and grammar. Also be sure to use capital letters properly for names, places, and institutions.
The only materials you are allowed to use must come ONLY from sources I provide, whether they be online lectures, readings in your textbook, assigned documentaries, or PowerPoint presentations. Those that plagiarize will fail the course and be reported, while those using materials from outside the lectures, but have not plagiarized, will receive a zero on any question in which any outside material is used. In other words, do not copy anything from the internet, paste it into your essay, and try to pass it off as your work. Just don’t do it. All of your submissions are run through “SafeAssign,” a program that searches the internet and reports plagiarism.