World War I

The point of the Treaty of Versailles was to finally end the Great War, which was supposedly the "war to end all wars". Wilson wanted this treaty to pass because it created what was called "The League of Nations", something the President really favored. Yet this idea is what caused the most criticism in the country. Although President Wilson's stubbornness and ineptitude of wanting it to pass were major contributors to the defeat of the Treaty of Versailles, the strength of the opposition forces, both the liberals and the conservatives, was what ultimately lead to the complete defeat of the treaty.

President Wilson was so motivated to get this Treaty to pass that he was willing to go to such an extent to share his ideas with the country. He went on a tour around America, lecturing to large groups about why the Treaty of Versailles was the best thing for the country. Because of this busy schedule and such high intensity, President Wilson actually ended up having a stroke. Some say that the reason for the defeat of the treaty was because of Wilson failing to see the other side of the argument. As Wilson himself said in his speech in September of 1919 (Document C), he is not willing to compromise. He knows what it is that he wants, and he doesn't care what anyone else, like the senate, has to say. Even respected politicians, like Du Bois, call his stubborn actions "idiotic" (Document H). Although his inability to even consider views of the Senate was a major factor in the defeat of the treaty, it was mainly the strength of his opposing forces that really killed it.

The government was already mainly Republicans at the time of Wilson's reelection, so getting his senate members to agree to the treaty would be hard work. Senate Borah lead a group called the Irreconcilables, who, because of the piece of the treaty that involved the League of Nations, completely opposed the entire thing. (Document A). The Senate believed that because America was the global superpower at the time, that they could settle any type of matter on their own hands, without the help of the League of Nations. Even the few Democrats that made up the government were opposed of the idea to pass the treaty. If no one was on his side, then failure of the treaty passing was inevitable. As noted in Document F by John Maynard Keynes, the treaty wouldn't solve any problems and nothing good would come out of it.