World War
The Phrase” …the war to end all wars”, can be traced to social commentator and British author H.G. Wells (Warren 2004, p. 147).Later, those words were to be used reiterated an associated to the American president Woodrow Wilson .
In conjunction with phrase “make the world safe for democracy”, Wilson was convinced that in order to preserve human freedom, it was imperative that America enter the World War 1(Jamieson 1988, p. 99). That famous phrase seemed to inspire hope for a peaceful future in the huge crowds that thronged to have a glance at president Wilson as he traversed the French Avenue des Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe (Brezina 2006).The reason for the visit was to promote the so called fourteen points that later formed part of the Versailles Treaty of 1919 as a way to get back at the central or axial powers-Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. The allies-Britain, France, Italy and United States-were in attendance.
Right from the start, it was bvious that the so called “Big three” that is Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain, Clemenceau premier of France and Woodrow Wilson of United States were at loggerheads in their negotiations. Vittorio Orlando, prime minister of Italy was sidelined because Italy had been an ally to the Germans and Austria by signing of the Triple Alliance between the three nations. On the other hand, Wilson was of the desire that America steer away from Europe and leaves it to its own devices. Even though this was echoed by the American public, Wilson believed that Germany merited a punishment that would promote European reconciliation rather than a reprisal.In a landmark speech, President Woodrow Wilson presented his fourteen points after the concerted efforts in deliberations. These impositions on Germany were thought to suffice as punishment but they later proved to be a ticking time bomb as they did not go down well with the Germans.
The impositions dubbed the Treaty of Versailles recommended territorial changes in Germany wwhich resulted to parts of its lands being distributed; the German military was cut to 100,000 men and denied some armament; loss of her coal base in Saar and Upper Silesia and a restriction of uniting with Austria crippled her financially. This treaty was rejected by the Germans after being shown the treaty in early May 1919 as they were not consulted by the Allies. The German officials were forced to sign the treaty resulting in to hunger among the citizens.Consequently, this lead to a revenge mission by joining Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party. Germany later regrouped resulting to emergence of other alliances that prompted World War II.
In conclusion, the US can never avoid military action since it has got interest in other nation that it needs and wants to protect. As a superpower, it also exercises a veto power over other nations and therefore has been the target of terror gangs. In view of these and other reasons, the US may never be able to stay out of military actions.
