• What was Woodrow Wilson's role in and vision for peace and the League of Nations after World War I?
• What were the central issues in the debate in America over the League of Nations?

• Describe Wilson's concepts for peace and the League of Nations and efforts to foster American support for it.
• Discuss the opposition to the League in the Senate.

• Review the lesson. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other useful websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing. Download the Master PDF. Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of any handouts you plan to use in class.

• Activity 1. Five Views
• Activity 2. Wilson's Final Campaign

Activity 1. Five Views

Working in either a whole-class setting or small groups, students should listen to and/or read the texts listed above, then fill in the chart "The Debate Over the League of Nations" on page 1 of the Master PDF.

There were five basic viewpoints about the League of Nations:

• President Wilson, a strong internationalist, was unequivocally in favor of the League. His position is represented by the address he gave to an audience in the City Auditorium of Pueblo, Col., on September 25, 1919 (see Wilson's Passion for the League of Nations on the EDSITEment resource Links to the Past). He was supported by 27 Democrats in the Senate. Other strong internationalists included Newton Baker (see Newton Baker on the League of Nations on First World War.com, a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Great War Primary Documents Archive), Democratic presidential candidate James M. Cox (see James M. Cox: Prevention of War, text and archival audio on the EDSITEment resource American Memory), and former Secretary of Treasury William G. McAdoo, who saw a different side to the story (see William G. McAdoo: Revise Taxes, text and archival audio also available on American Memory).
• Former President William Howard Taft was a limited internationalist. Though wary of putting the U.S. in a position where it could be forced into a war, he supported the League.
• Senator Gilbert M. Hitchcock had mild reservations about the League (see The Trouble with Senators Who Oppose the League of Nations, text and archival audio available on American Memory). Twenty Republicans and an equal number of Democrats agreed.
• Senator Henry Cabot Lodge had strong reservations about the League, but was willing to support it with changes to the covenant (see Henry Cabot Lodge's Case Against the League of Nations, text and archival audio available on American Memory). He had the support of seven Republican senators, including future President Warren G. Harding (see Senator Warren G. Harding: An Association of Nations, text and archival audio also available on American Memory).
• Senator William E. Borah could never agree to the League. He was one of 14 irreconcilable Republican senators and one Democrat. His position is represented by a speech to the Senate delivered on November 10, 1919 (see Borah on the League of Nations, on the bottom half of the page, available on Links to the Past).

In the end, the Senate adopted 14 changes. If desired, review with the class the Reservations drawn up by Republican Senators, available via a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Great War Primary Documents Archive. For more detail about the Senate debate, consult The Senate and the League of Nations on Documents of World War I, another link from Great War Primary Documents Archive (NOTE: The document begins with Lodge's 14 reservations, but quite a bit of additional material follows.)

Activity 2. Wilson's Final Campaign

On November 10, 1923, one day before his last public statement, former President Wilson delivered a speech, the text of which is available at Wilson's Final Campaign on the EDSITEment resource Links to the Past.

Guiding Discussion Questions:

• In what ways were Wilson's predictions proven correct by events occurring after 1923?
• Given the harsh provisions of the Treaty of Versailles (to which Wilson agreed in order to ensure that the League of Nations would be part of the agreement), is there any reason to believe the League of Nations could have prevented World War II had the U.S. joined?

Prepare a class set of cards labeled: Strong Internationalist, Mild Internationalist, Mild Reservationist, Strong Reservationist, and Irreconcilable. Pass the cards out placing one each in an envelope to keep political positions secret. Read a statement or a position about the League of Nations and ask those representing a stance in agreement with that position to stand. After discussion about why students stood, pass the envelopes around to change the assigned stances of individuals. Repeat as desired. For a list of suggested position statements, see the “Hypothetical Position Statements on the League of Nations” on pages 2-3 of the Master PDF.

An alternative assessment would be to have students choose the political positions with which they agree the most and then write responses in defense of their chosen positions.

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• American Memory
  
  • James M. Cox: Prevention of War
  • William G. McAdoo: Revise Taxes
  • The Trouble with Senators Who Oppose the League of Nations
  • Henry Cabot Lodge's Case Against the League of Nations
  • Senator Warren G. Harding: An Association of Nations
• Great War Primary Documents Archive
  
  • First World War.com
  • Newton Baker on the League of Nations
  • Reservations drawn up by Republican Senators
  • Documents of World War I
  • The Senate and the League of Nations
• Links to the Past
  
  • Wilson's Passion for the League of Nations
  • Borah on the League of Nations
  • Wilson's Final Campaign