In the 19th century, the term "manifest destiny" described the United States as a nation of people and institutions with special virtues, who was destined to redeem and remake the west in the image of agrarian America. But, after World War I, President Woodrow Wilson redefined Manifest Destiny as through American example and interventionism, the United States would take the lead to spread Democracy throughout the world. To do this, America needed to join the league of Nations as the leader of the free world.
Wilson's Manifest Destiny started in 1918 when he outlined a 14 point plan for the end of the war and peace in the world. Woodrow Wilson with an idealistic vision of peace outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination. The Germans accepted this plan and assumed it would form the basis of a treaty with the Allied nations. But Wilson's 14 point plan was met with much skepticism by the other three "Big Four" Allied leaders (David Lloyd George of Britain, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, and Georges Clemenceau of France). When it came time to negotiate the treaties at the Versailles Peace Conference, Wilson was alone. He even deliberately excluded Republican leaders in the United States Senate whose approval for any treaties was constitutionally required. Without the support of thee major European allies, and without the support of the Untied States senate, very few of his 14 point plan were enacted. The German people were aghast at the eventual terms of Peace. The treaty blamed the war entirely on them, and required reparation payments that were impossible to make. When the Peace Conference came to an end on January 20, 1920, the only action item from the 14 point plan to be included was the League of Nations.
Two years after, Wilson gave his famous Fourteen Points speech, Woodrow Wilson still dreamed of a new age of peace. In his last state of the Union, he spoke of a new Manifest Destiny, one not just of a great Democracy spanning from Ocean to Ocean, but one where Democracy spanned across the globe. Now that the war was over, Democracy was being put to it's final test. The enemies of democracy with their autocratic principles had been defeated, and the autocracy was replaced with democracy. But according to Woodrow Wilson, this was done in name only. It was now time, for Democracy to be locked in with authority and sanction. Without the support of the Allied leaders, President Wilson now needed America to take bold moves. He needed America to join the League of Nations as a leader, because as he put it, it was " surely the manifest destiny of the United States to lead in the attempt to make this spirit prevail."
In his last address to congress, President Wilson spoke these words:
"With that faith and the birth of a nation founded upon it came the hope into the world that a new order would prevail throughout the affairs of mankind, an order in which reason and right would take precedence over covetousness and force; and I believe that I express the wish and purpose of every thoughtful American when I say that this sentence marks for us in the plainest manner the part we should play alike in the arrangement of our domestic affairs and in our exercise of influence upon the affairs of the world.In the end, America never did join the League of Nations. Germany felt that they had been tricked by Wilson and furor over their treatment after the war gave rise to nationalism. 15 years after Wilson outlined his 14 point plan, Hitler would become Chancellor of Germany. Wilson's Manifest Destiny was to be put on hold for the moment.
By this faith, and by this faith alone, can the world be lifted out of its present confusion and despair. It was this faith which prevailed over the wicked force of Germany. You will remember that the beginning of the end of the war came when the German people found themselves face to face with the conscience of the world and realized that right was everywhere arrayed against the wrong that their government was attempting to perpetrate. I think, therefore, that it is true to say that this was the faith which won the war. Certainly this is the faith with which our gallant men went into the field and out upon the seas to make sure of victory.
This is the mission upon which Democracy came into the world. Democracy is an assertion of the right of the individual to live and to be treated justly as against any attempt on the part of any combination of individuals to make laws which will overburden him or which will destroy his equality among his fellows in the matter of right or privilege; and I think we all realize that the day has come when Democracy is being put upon its final test. The Old World is just now suffering from a wanton rejection of the principle of democracy and a substitution of the principle of autocracy as asserted in the name, but without the authority and sanction, of the multitude. This is the time of all others when Democracy should prove its purity and its spiritual power to prevail. It is surely the manifest destiny of the United States to lead in the attempt to make this spirit prevail."
Wilson's Fourteen Points (brief description)
- Open covenants of peace.
- Absolute freedom of navigation.
- Equality of trade conditions.
- Reduction of arms.
- Fair adjustment of colonial claims.
- Evacuation of all Russian territory.
- Restoration of Belgium.
- All French territory should be freed.
- Readjust frontiers of Italy with clear lines of nationality.
- Autonomous development of Austria-Hungary.
- Evacuate Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro.
- Secure Sovereignty of the Turkish Ottoman Empire.
- Create an Independent Polish State
- Form the League of Nations.
References
Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/wilson14.asp [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017].En.wikipedia.org. (2017). The Big Four (World War I). [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Four_(World_War_I) [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017].
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2017). Woodrow Wilson: 8th Annual Message. [online] Available at: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=29561 [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017].
Walker, B. (2017). Recalling the Failure of Wilson's "Fourteen Points". [online] Thenewamerican.com. Available at: http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/4722-recalling-the-failure-of-wilsons-fourteen-points [Accessed 19 Dec. 2017].
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