History 485

Devine

 

 

Study Questions

 

 

 William C. Widenor, “The United States and the Versailles Peace Settlement”

 

1.    Why were European leaders like Georges Clemenceau skeptical and even suspicious of Wilson and his idealistic plans for a lasting peace? How did their perception of American history and European realities differ from the Americans’ worldview?

 

2.    What were some of the major obstacles to a Wilsonian peace? What happened to the Fourteen Points as the peace negotiations began to focus on specific details?

 

3.    What criticisms have figures from Keynes to Kissinger leveled against the Treaty of Versailles?

 

4.    What have been some of the common explanations for why the U.S. refused to join the League of Nations?

 

5.    Why does Widenor believe that establishing a League of Nations that would actually have real power to preserve the peace was politically impossible? Why is establishing a universal collective security organization so difficult?

 

6.    Widenor concludes that a “lasting peace” and a “just peace” may have been incompatible. What does he mean by this?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

 

Lloyd Ambrosius, “Woodrow Wilson and the Culture of Wilsonianism”

 

1.    How did Wilson define “nation”?  Why was a group of people who shared the same “nationality” not necessarily a sovereign “nation”? What made the United States a “nation”?

 

2.    How did Wilson’s conception of a “nation” reveal his belief in a “hierarchy” of races?

 

3.    How did Wilson define “democracy”? When was a nation “ready” for democracy?

 

4.    Who held (or should hold) power or “sovereignty” in a democracy?

 

5.    How did Wilson differ from the Founding Fathers regarding the separation of powers and the role of the president?

 

6.    How could Wilson reconcile peoples of different nationalities living in one nation and national self-determination? Why did Wilson recognize new nations in Europe, but not elsewhere?

 

7.    If we understand how Wilson defined terms such as “nation,” “democracy,” “sovereignty,” and “self-determination,” why do his policies appear less hypocritical and contradictory?

 

 

William R. Keylor, “The Peace of Paris and the New International Order”

 

1.    Why did Wilson’s idealistic rhetoric appeal to Europeans and why, ultimately, did it lead to tragic disappointment on their part?

 

2.    What evidence is there that, from the outset of the peace negotiations, Wilsonian theory and actual diplomatic practice contrasted sharply?

 

3.    What did France hope to achieve during the peace negotiations and what was Clemenceau’s strategy for achieving his nation’s security and economic goals?

 

4.    Why were German reparations to France not part of Clemenceau’s initial strategy? Why did that change? What was the British role in the reparations issue?

 

5.    What is the irony of the infamous “war guilt” clause?

 

6.    What did Great Britain hope to achieve during the peace negotiations and what was Lloyd George’s strategy for achieving his nation’s security and economic goals?

 

7.    Why did the issue of German reparations precipitate a break down in British-French relations?

 

8.    Why did Lenin’s Soviet Union seem less a threat as the peace negotiations at Paris continued through 1919?

 

9.    How does Keylor assess German claims that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh?  Why does he believe the Treaty of Versailles failed to maintain a lasting peace?