Woodrow Wilson & The End of WW1: The League of Nations

American History Hit

History Hit

America, History

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2024

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When it comes to US foreign policy in the early 20th Century, isolationism tends to come to mind. What, then, was Woodrow Wilson's impact on the end of WW1?

Don is joined by Charlie Laderman to find out more about the peace negotiations, the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations, and how these things were understood in the US.

Charlie is is Senior Lecturer in International History at King's College London. He is the author of 'Sharing the Burden: The Armenian Question, Humanitarian Intervention and Anglo-American Visions of Global Order'.

Produced by Freddy Chick and Sophie Gee. Edited by Max Carrey. Senior Producer was Charlotte Long.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Late afternoon sunlight illuminates the manicured park grounds visible through
0:06.2	17 high arched windows along one side of the room. Opposite those, 17 tall arches comprised of 357 mirrors reflect the light back,
0:17.0	refracting it through massive crystal chandeliers suspended from the ceiling.
0:22.0	In the middle of this remarkable chamber,
0:25.0	there is another reflection underway
0:27.0	in a struggle to brighten the darkness of a worldwide conflict.
0:32.0	It's the 28th of June, 1919. worldwide conflict.
0:32.5	It's the 28th of June, 1919.
0:35.2	It's exactly five years since the shooting of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, and
0:40.8	over seven months after the armistice, silenced the First World War.
0:45.0	Now, 27 delegations representing 32 powers of the world meet for a final time here in the
0:51.0	Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
0:54.0	The delegates have been discussing a resolution in Paris since the 18th of January.
0:58.9	George Clemensau, in his home country of France, has been pushing for harsh punishment for the aggression of Germany
1:04.5	and her allies.
1:05.8	He wishes to see German power effectively destroyed.
1:09.5	Woodrow Wilson, on the other hand, the American president, is pushing for less harsh punishment,
1:14.3	advocating for clemency in the name of ongoing peace. The opposition between
1:20.0	the two men's views has been such that the Brit, David Lloyd George, will reportedly reflect
1:26.0	on the experience as being seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.
1:31.6	The treaty of Versailles will go down as one of the least effective peace treaties in history,
1:36.0	and among its 440 articles in 15 parts sat the League of Nations, an idea of the American President's creation.
	...

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