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Treaty Of Versailles Dbq Essay

Decent Essays

Emmaline Milosek
Blain
APUSH
21 May 2018
Treaty of Versailles After four years of brutal combat, the first world war had come to an end in 1918. The end of WW1 called for provisions regarding international relations, especially regarding pending imperialist nations such as Germany. With differing opinions from powers such as France and
Britain, Woodrow Wilson and the U.S. had an important role in bringing the war to an end. The
Treaty of Versailles, officially placing blame on Germany for the war, was a set of measures to be taken post-wartime in order to institute peace worldwide and fairly punish Germany. The treaty, eventually defeated by Senate, was victim to criticism from a variety of audiences ranging from American citizens to the angered French …show more content…

As illustrated in Document E’s cartoon, the U.S. Senate was the dominant force in the rejection of the Treaty of Versailles. With similar reasons as U.S. citizens, Senate was able to act on their disapproval of the treaty, and was the overall opposing force that kept from the ratification of the clauses. Senate, split, like the rest of the nation, were separated into those referred to as “irreconcilables”, those who strongly disapproved of the treaty as a whole, and
“reservationists”, those who believed in initiating reservations, or slight changes before ratifying the treaty. The notable irreconcilable senators, both Democrats and Republicans, included those such as Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, William E. Borah of Idaho and Hiram Johnson of
California. Idaho Senator, William Borah, was a key influencer in the ideals behind the irreconcilables, as depicted in Document A. Borah’s speech to Senate in 1918 assertively brings to light the truth behind the “peaceful” measures of the treaty, he states “In its last analysis the proposition is force to destroy force, conflict to prevent conflict, militarism to destroy

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