Why Did America Fail to Join the Leage of Nations? Essay Example
America entered World War One in 1917. America and the President, Woodrow Wilson, were horrified by the destruction that had taken place in such a humane part of the world. The only way to avoid a repeat of such a disaster was to create an international committee whose purpose was to prevent wars by maintaining world peace. This would be the task of the League of Nations. Woodrow Wilson was the creator of the League of Nations in his Fourteen Points Speech. This was ironic because the United States failed to join the League of Nations. This can be seen in the US delegations in Paris, the Congressional election of 1918, Article X, Wilson's conflict with republican senators and his problem with compromising, the Americans that didn't agree with The Versailles treaty. On January 18, 1919 Wilson led the U.S. delegation in Paris to ensure his fourteen points were used. The conference went into the hands of the "Big Four" which were Wilson as the "chairman"; Premier Uittons Orlando from Italy; Prime Minister David Lloyd George from Britain; and Premier Georges Clemenceau from France. In February, 1919 the world diplomats agreed to make the League Covenant. When Wilson returned to Paris, Premier Clemenceau pressed French demands for the German-inhabited Rhineland and the Saar Valley, a rich coal area. Wilson feared that if he didn't compromise he would be violating the point of self-determination so the compromise was that the Saar Basin would remain under the League of Nations for fifteen years, and then a popular vote would determine its fate. Then Italy wanted Fiume, a valuable seaport. Wilson said the seaport belonged to Yugoslavia and the Italians turned against Wilson. Another struggle was with Japan over China's Shandong Peninsula and the German islands in the Pacific (Japan had won both of these in the war). Wilson made a compromise whereby Japan kept Germany's economic holdings in Shandong and he said he would return the peninsula to China at a later