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Wilson’s
League for Peace
A Documentary by
Ryan Atallah

S C R I P T v. 9
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1. INTRODUCTION

QUOTE
“The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or
one party or one nation. It must be a peace which rests on the
cooperative effort of the whole world.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1945

THESIS
Twenty seven years earlier, American President Woodrow Wilson
began his efforts to create an international coalition for
peace, forming an organization that would become his most
recognizable success as well as his most devastating failure. It
would be called the League of Nations, a revolutionary step in
the history of international politics, an innovative shift in
diplomatic philosophy, paving the way for world peace. With the
absence of major powers like the United States, and the
resurgence of nationalism in the 1930’s, however, the League was
doomed to be engulfed in the flames of World War II to have its
successor, the United Nations, rise from the ashes.

2. THE IDEA OF A LEAGUE OF NATIONS

INTRO
In 1915, the imperial powers of Europe fought in the most
devastating war the world had ever known. Because of the recent
industrial boom, improved weapons and numbers drastically
increased the destructive capacity of the major military powers.
It was a war to end all wars.

Schulzinger –– “When war broke out in 1914...”

HISTORY OF UNIFICATION
The system was so unstable because international standards were
ineffective. Beginning in the 17th Century, international laws
were developed, largely the work of Dutch scholar Hugo Grotius.
He created the legal science to regulate warfare, and suggested
the formation of collective security organizations. This fueled
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an entirely new age of diplomacy, and international legal

institutions began to form. Many of these, however, did nothing
to stop war; if anything they made the objectionable conditions
of war more bearable.

3. WILSON’S SHIFT FROM NEUTRALITY

WILSON’S NEUTRALITY
While warfare raged in Europe, President Wilson remained
steadfast in his advocacy of American neutrality in order to act
as an effective mediator at the war’s end.

Zeiler –– “There was this notion of isolationism…”

WILSON DECLARES WAR

He soon discovered the futility of neutrality. In may of 1915,
the civilian Luxury liner Lusitania was nearing its arrival in
England when it was sunk by a German submarine. To the dismay of
Republicans like Theodore Roosevelt who threatened to skin him
alive if he didn’t go to war, Wilson was unresponsive. Two years
later, however, when Germany declared all out submarine warfare
against American naval activity in the Atlantic, Wilson had no
choice but to commit himself to war. Wilson’s war policy was a
unique one. He sought not revenge, nor utter annihilation of the
enemy. Instead he aimed to achieve what he called a “Peace
without Victors,” one which would last for generations.

4. PUSHING FOR PEACE

THE INQUIRY
Always the idealist, Wilson entered the war preparing to develop
a peace when it was over. Wilson appointed an Inquiry of experts
to travel to Europe and identify the causes of war in the hopes
of making an educated plan for peace. Wilson knew he had to be
fair to all parties, and that restraining German economic and
military development too much could lead to future wars.
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THE FOURTEEN POINTS

The information provided by the Inquiry served as the basis for
his famous 14 Points Speech, where he provided a plan for a
peaceful world of self governed nations. There would be no more
secret treaties, no more restrictions on maritime navigation, no
more arms races endangering millions. Countries were to be drawn
up based on self-determination, replacing the almost arbitrary
boundaries established in the 19th century.

A GENERAL ASSOCIATION OF NATIONS

The last and perhaps most contentious of Wilson’s points was the
formation of a general association of nations. Wilson’s plan was
adopted by the allied statesmen as war objectives, and when the
Germans requested an armistice in October of 1918, it too was on
the basis of the fourteen points.

5. THE LEAGUE FIGHT

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE

Two months later, when Wilson traveled to Europe to push forward
his League of Nations, he was greeted with enormous enthusiasm.
Thousands poured into the streets to applaud him, and many even
hailed him as a savior. At the Paris Peace Conference, Wilson
was appointed the chairman of the commission designated to draft
the League’s Covenant. France and Britain objected to many of
his efforts, saying that since they had suffered the brunt of
the casualties, Germany should pay them exorbitant reparations.
Wilson found himself pitted against two diplomatic sharks:
George Clemenceau of France, and David Lloyd George of Britain,
whose national interests forced Wilson to compromise on his 14
points to the point where Germany felt entirely betrayed, having
been promised the points as the foundation for the treaty.

AMERICAN REJECTION
Wilson returned home in 1919 to a very tense legislative debate.
Wilson’s decision not to bring any Republican Senators to Paris
put him at odds with the very people he had to convince to
ratify the treaty.

Schulzinger –– “…Let Lodge Compromise!”

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APPEALING TO THE PEOPLE

When Lodge compiled a list of “reservations” objecting to
elements of the League’s covenant that might infringe on
American sovereignty, Wilson left on a 10,000 mile speaking tour
urging the necessity of the League. The Senators remained
steadfast in their opposition, saying that “the League would
destroy the Monroe Doctrine and take away control of
immigration.” On March 19, 1920, the senate made its decision to
reject the treaty of Versailles, and Wilson’s efforts to create
a lasting peace along with it.

6. SUCCESS AND FAILURE

WORKING WITHOUT THE U.S.

The Senate rejection of the treaty handicapped the League of
Nations, but it was still able to operate without its primary
sponsor. The first international court was formed. Over two
thousand treaties were signed. Numerous conflicts were settled
using arbitration. In 1920, an International Health office was
formed to fight Typhus in Poland, not to mention the other
bodies formed to advance communications and world markets. The
policy of disarmament was introduced, where members were
obligated to reduce their national stores of weapons. The
boldest of the Leagues peace efforts occurred in 1928, when 31
nations renounced war entirely by signing the multi-lateral
treaty known as the Kellogg-Briand Pact.

NATIONALISM RETURNS
In the 1930’s, the philosophy behind the League began to fade,
and the conflicts it sought to resolve become more complicated.
Attempts at disarmament failed because nations were not willing
to risk being attacked without ample defenses. When the Great
Depression devastated the world economies in 1929, the once-
fading blight of nationalism returned with a vengeance to
further hamper the League’s peace efforts.

MANCHURIAN CRISIS OF 1931

Japan found itself shut out of American markets, and invaded
Manchuria to compensate for their lost economic resources.
Economic sanctions couldn’t be agreed upon. A council resolution
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for Japanese withdrawal from China, requiring a unanimous vote,

was unceremoniously vetoed by the Japanese delegate. When the
League’s Assembly finally resolved to reprimand Japan’s
formation of a puppet state, Japan avoided a solution by
withdrawing from the League.

THE LEAGUE FADES AWAY

Months later, Hitler announced that Germany would do the same
because it was being held to unequal disarmament standards. They
immediately began increasing military expenditures and withdrew
from the League of nations, which was becoming weaker by the
day. Although at the start of the Second World War the League of
Nations was virtually ineffective, it wouldn’t be declared
dissolved until 1946, when it was replaced by its successor, the
United Nations.

Zeiler –– “The LON influenced the future of international orgs…”

UN ACHIEVEMENTS
Today, international organizations play a huge role in fighting
hunger, helping refugees, stopping regional conflicts, and
securing the rights of people all over the world. World peace
truly is a cooperative effort.

7. LASTING IMPRESSIONS

CONCLUSION
The League of Nations is often referred to as an organization
ill-equipped to deal with the challenges it faced. In the 1930s,
with economic strife, militant nationalism, splintering
cooperation, and increasingly difficult conflicts, the League
could do nothing to prevent a second world war. Although it
failed, Woodrow Wilson’s legacy lives on to this day. The change
in ideology that made the League of nations possible was an
innovation that altered international politics forever. The last
assembly was famously closed with the words “the League is dead,
long live the United Nations!”