An International Community

In order to understand the creation and development of the League of Nations it is important to have an understanding of the leagues architect Woodrow Wilson. Wilson was the son of a Presbyterian minister, born in a pre-civil war south. His father would instill in him a strict moral code which allowed no compromise with wrong. This coupled with his southern upbringing, which focused upon states rights and self-determination for minority people gave Wilson the foundation he would need later to lead the United States during the War to End All Wars and develop the League of Nations. One of his earliest memories is of the union soldiers marching on Georgia. This childhood experience cultivated a hatred for violence and war in Wilson. The hatred for war and the desire to prevent future wars was the impetus for the creation of the League of Nations. The League was intended to be an international organization whose aim was to prevent future war through disarmament, open diplomacy, international co-operation, restrictions on the right to wage wars and penalties that made war unattractive to nations. Despite the Leagues lofty ambitions and America’s President Wilson creating the League of Nations America never joined the League.
The most troubling aspect of the League of Nations was the concept of collective security expressed in Article X. Before the war America maintained a foreign policy based upon isolationism. George Washington, in his farewell address as President warned against becoming involved with European affairs. The Monroe Doctrine officially divided the world into two distinct spheres of influence, Europe and the Americas’. The United States would not venture into European affairs and Europeans’ were supposed to stay out of Latin America. Wilson was very reluctant to become involved in WWI for those reasons. What happened in Europe was not Americas’ problem to solve. Many saw Article X entangling not only America but a majority of Europe into the sort of alliances that were a major cause of WWI. Americas’ 116,000 killed and 204,000 wounded in a European war caused by secret treaties between European nations, not only created a strong anti-war sentiment in America but it also gave further evidence that isolationism was the proper course for American foreign policy. Many European nations agreed that military entanglements were dangerous and even threatened their national sovereignty. That combined with many European nations focus upon imperialism and dividing up the spoils of war made the League of Nations a very hard sell for Wilson.
The League of Nations was a concept that was ahead of it’s time. Wilson, a former Professor at Princeton, had a very different outlook upon the world than many of his contemporaries. He had a very global view before other nations or American politicians grasped the concept. The League of Nations and the generous terms laid out within the fourteen points was instrumental in ending the war. Germany surrendered with the understanding that the terms would be based upon the fourteen points. The Germans felt betrayed by the harsh terms outlined within the Treaty of Versailles and these terms would be the foundation for WWII. If properly formed and with American participation and leadership it is possible that WWII could have been avoided. The main purpose for the formation of the League was to promote world peace and self determination for Nations throughout the world. Lofty and perhaps unattainable goals devised with only the best intentions and the desire to lift up his fellow man Wilson sacrificed his health and eventually his life in the pursuit of his ideals.
The modern world owes a debt of gratitude to Woodrow Wilson. Although the League was formed with the strong influence of an American president, America never joined the League. However the League managed to exist until it was replaced in 1943 by the United Nations. The United Nations continues to try and uphold the guiding principals which Wilson based the League of Nations upon. It was the ground breaking idea of a unified world organization that is responsible for so many of today’s global institutions. If one looks around it is easy to see how Wilson’s vision of the world has shaped modern events and institutions. The United Nations is obviously linked to the League of Nations but many other institutions owe a debt of gratitude to Wilson’s concept of the world as an intertwined global entity. The World Bank, NAFTA, the European Union, NATO, the Warsaw Pact, the Kyoto Accords, the concept of the Global economy, and the Bill and Melinda Gates to name just a few. Given the impressive list of organizations and institutions that were formed based upon the concept of a world community responsible not only for the mutual protection of it’s members but also the betterment of mankind it would be almost impossible to vote against the formation and implementation of the League of Nations charter.