ISOLATIONISM AND THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

WILSON’S PLAN

In the beginning of the 1920’s, the United States had a difficult time bringing World War I to an official end. Even when the physical fighting was over in November 1918, the U.S. Senate had not ratified the Treaty of Versailles, which was a peace agreement the Allies forced upon Germany. The U.S.’s decision not to ratify the treaty caused controversy over the peace agreement. President Woodrow Wilson, who was paralyzed at the time, negotiated the treaty but was unable to sponsor a campaign for the treaty’s passage. The decisions of the treaty were decided upon the divided Senate, who could not reach a two-thirds majority needed for ratification. Wilson approved of the entry of U.S. into the European war in hopes of creating long lasting peace. In January 1919, Wilson met up with his allies – the Prime Ministers of Italy, Great Britain, and France – he realized that they all had conflicting ideas about peace. The European leaders wanted to punish Germany. Wilson wanted to “implement national self-determination, a principle asserted in the president’s well-known Fourteen Points, his list of postwar goals.” The treaty punished Germany as the “villain” of the war and made them pay an indemnity for all the money they lost in the war. Wilson agreed because he did not want to lose his most prized goal, the League of Nations. He accepted a “less-than-perfect peace,” thinking that the League of Nations would counteract the problems of the treaty. In 1918, President Wilson was given two Republican-controlled houses of Congress. The power of Republican house created serious trouble for Wilson and his beloved League of Nations, because the Republican Party wanted to counteract American’s participation in the League of Nations, which Wilson worked so hard to create. However, Republicans were not united it their decision to destroy the League of Nations. They were divided into 3 separate groups: “irreconcilables,” “mild reservationists,” or “strong reservationists.” Irreconcilables were completely opposed to any international involvement, while mild reservationists stood close to Wilson’s position. The strong reservationists mediated the other two groups; they were either determined to have the League of Nations on their terms or completely demolish it. Supporters of the treaty looked for ways to have one agreeable treaty. The final vote on the treaty included Lodge’s amendments. Lodge was Wilson’s biggest critic who was strongly opposed to him, but had a great passion for defending American freedom in foreign affairs. After the final vote on March 19, 1920, Wilson lost the support of twenty-one Democrats, when they voted in favor of the new version of the treaty. Forty-nine senators voted for the treaty, which would have declared a majority, but they were seven votes short. Wilson’s perfect dream of postwar peace never came true when the United States never signed the Treaty of Versailles, while also not joining the League of Nations.

DAWES PLAN

For the postwar economic recovery, Germany was dubbed the “villain” of the war and was forced to repay heavy reparations. However, Germany decided to stop paying reparation in 1923 due to inflation and the high debt burden. Without Germany repaying France, Great Britain, or Italy, those nations were not able to repay the United States for their own debts. The economic crisis led to the highest protective tariff in history, the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922. This tax made it very difficult for European nations to build up enough capital to payoff their wartime loans. Charles G. Dawes was a Chicago banker, who was the head of the international “Committee of Experts.” This committee was created to scrutinize Europe’s economic instability and generate a solution to the international economic crisis. It reduced German reparation payments and made American bankers make loans to Germany in order to even out its currency and meet its obligations to the Allied nations. The plan worked for five years and Dawes won the Nobel Peace Prize for his contribution to the plan and being the “savior of civilization.”