Versailles #11: Woodrow Wilson Profile Part 1/2

When Diplomacy Fails Podcast

Zack Twamley

Phd, International Relations, Korean War, European History, 17th Century, 18th Century, Politics, 20th Century, Thirty Years' War, History, 19th Century, War, First World War

4.8 • 773 Ratings

🗓️ 4 December 2018

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Welcome to Woodrow Wilson's United States of America. As we build towards a key concept, the Fourteen Points, here we set some background and ask some pertinent questions, such as - why did the US intervene in the war, and why did Wilson wait so long before doing so?

Woodrow Wilson is a character we must understand if we are to grasp the nuances of the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles which that created. Wilson was an integral part of what made the end Treaty so significant, but he can also be blamed for its uninspired record in America, and its ultimate failure. All the while, his message was one of firm but fair treatment for a defeated Germany, and this message was one which many at the top levels of Germany's government could not fail to heed.

To understand where such high minded ideals came from, we must examine Woodrow Wilson before he arrived in Paris in late 1918. More than that, we must investigate whether Wilson's ideals were developed not to meet the crisis of the Great War, but as a repeat of what he had done before, in Mexico.

Thus, we take a seemingly strange detour into the Mexican American border over 1913-1914, to get to the bottom of what the President was doing and why. Why did he care so much about what government was represented in Mexico? Why did he feel compelled to work against big businesses when they could have cut him a tidy profit? Wilson's actions led to turmoil along the border with Mexico, and even some Mexican raids into American soil, which Uncle Sam had to meet directly, as this cartoon suggests.

My point is, in history, nothing is ever so straightforward as we might think. Wilson's famed ideals did not come from nowhere, and here we debate whether we can see their origins in the tumultuous relationship which America's southern neighbour had with the President. It's quite a journey, so I hope you'll join me to see where it takes us...

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, my name is Zach Twombly. You're listening to When Diplomacy Fails and the Versailles
0:04.2	and the Versailles' Anniversary Project, but more specifically, you're listening to the first of
0:08.4	a two-parter, looking at Woodrow Wilson, the man, the myth, the legend, the infamy, everything
0:13.9	else all wrapped up together. Woodrow Wilson was a complex guy and he had a lot going on in his mind and he caused a lot of things to happen as well.
0:22.3	So it only makes sense to spend such a long time on him. As you can tell, this is a very large
0:27.5	episode. So as is my want with the larger episodes, there will be a break halfway through. Where
0:32.6	we'll unleash one of these songs that I've been holding on for? Other than that, you should know
0:37.4	that this podcast episode is brought to you by the Delegation
0:40.7	Game.
0:41.2	And the Delegation Game is probably the best way you guys can engage with, well, what we're
0:45.7	doing here at the Versailles Anniversary Project.
0:48.1	On the 18th of January, we'll all be flying over to Paris, the virtual version of the Paris
0:52.8	Peace Conference, and we'll be starting
0:54.5	to make things happen in this virtual world. We already have 18 delegates signed up, so if you
1:01.6	want to join, by all means do. Head over to patreon.com. For when diplomacy fails, for $6 a month,
1:07.9	the same price as that really, really overpriced coffee in Starbucks, which
1:12.1	I really couldn't believe it is that expensive, but it genuinely is. I spent $6 on a coffee
1:16.6	and I really couldn't believe it. But in any case, yes, $6 a month will get you access to the
1:22.0	Delegation game. Every week then, for the next six months, we'll be throwing challenges at you guys and you'll get to vote on what happens next. Build your avatar, send them my way and I will do some dice rolls, I'll set up some challenges, we'll have some polls and we'll see what happens next. So far we've got some very interesting characters to send to Paris, so I hope you have a thing about whether or not the delegation game is for you. If you just want some information, make sure you head over to wfpodcast.com forward slash delegation game.
1:49.1	Alrighty, guys, I hope you enjoy this one.
1:51.7	It's, well, it's pretty weighty, there's an awful lot going on.
1:55.2	But if you like your American history, if you like your presidents, if you like your Woodrow Wilson's,
	...

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