Treaty Of Versailles Essay Example for Free

Treaty Of Versailles Essay In 1919, then President Woodrow Wilson of the United States came home from a conference in Paris with a treaty for the US Senate to ratify. It was the Treaty of Versailles which defined the conditions of surrender by the Germans to end World War I, and it proposed to establish the League of Nations. The senate’s major bloc, the Republicans, strongly opposed the treaty. Sen. Henry Cabot Lodge was then the leader of the majority. President Wilson and Sen. Lodge were extreme opposites on the issue of the League of Nations. While President Wilson’s vision for America was to band with the other world powers in a post-war era, Sen. Lodge was for America to pursue its economic interests without the obligation to consult other member nations of the League. Sen. William Borah (R, Idaho) believed that the League would only serve to further the imperialistic interests of the other big member nations like France and Britain. He argued that America has reached its status as a great nation without the restricting influence of its allies. His eloquence moved his colleagues that no one had the heart to debate his position. Sen. Myers (D, Montana) had reservations about the terms of surrender by the Germans as provided in the Treaty. He cited the inaction of the allied powers to bring war crimes to trial so he was concerned that the Germany was not being given the treatment it deserved. The senator, nonetheless, voted for the ratification of the treaty with the Lodge reservations. The Lodge reservations were meant to ensure the League would honor the political and territorial sovereignty and independence of member nations while it is in existence and in the event of its dissolution. The treaty was never ratified by the US senate. The rejection caused the US what would have been a valuable membership to the League. Instead it has to contend with its isolationist position, an outsider in the League. BIBLIOGRAPHY Henning, Arthur Sears. â€Å"Senate Rejects Treaty of Versailles.† Los Angeles Times, March 20, 1920. MSN Encarta, http://encarta.msn.com/sidebar_761594078/senate_rejects_treaty_of_versailles.html Stromberg, Joseph R. â€Å"The Ghost of Henry Cabot Lodge.†Anti-War.Com, 2002, http://www.johndclare.net/America2.historians.htm â€Å"Henry Cabot Lodge: Reservations with regard to the Treaty and the League of Nations.† June 2001. http://www.etsu.edu/cas/history/docs/ledgereser.htm