1. In what ways was the League successful after World War I? Unsuccessful?
The League was both successful and unsuccessful after World War I. The League was successful because it was able to prevent some disputes between countries turning into wars. Some of the disputes that the League was able to solve was between Sweden and Finland, who were fighting over a group of islands during a humanitarian crisis in Turkey. The League also prevented a war between Greece and Bulgaria over the border. Not only did the League help disputes among countries but it also gave attention to social issues such as child slave labor, smuggling, and the status of women. The League also had some points were it was unsuccessful. The League did not have a strong military to back up the decisions that they made, making it so they had less power than they said they did. The lack of a strong military was exposed multiple times when the League couldn't defend its decisions, such as when Italy seized the Fiume port from Yugoslavia. The Leagues weaknesses were apparent to the other countries in Europe when the League continuously couldn't uphold its decisions with their military.
2. Many historians suggest that the terms of the Versailles Treaty were a major cause of World War II. Support that argument.
The Versailles Treaty was a huge insult to Germany and the other countries who created the treaty were too harsh on Germany. Germany went through a great hardship, and massive unemployment. Germany also lost a lot of land, which Hitler a German Chancellor at the time promised to get their land back and to recover economically. Hitler started to build Germany's army to prepare them to get their land back, which violated the treaty. When Hitler brought troops into the demilitarized zone that was set up in the treaty, France brought it to the League but they couldn't do much about it; especially since the League's military was weak. In the end Germany invaded Poland, and the League collapsed and World War II began.
3. Some historians characterize U.S. policy during the interwar period as isolationist. What actions, described in the reading, could be called isolationist?
There were many reasons that the United States did between the two world wars that could be called isolationist. For one the United States would not compromise with the Europeans on their ten billion dollar debt, and they expected the debt to be paid in full. Also the United States raised the import tax so that all European goods were more expensive and it also made it harder for the Allied powers to repay their debts back to America. Another thing that the United States did that could be called isolationist is that they enacted a legislation to limit the amount of immigration into the country.
4. How was U.S. foreign policy different in the Cold War from the interwar period?
A lot of things about the United States foreign policy changed in the time of the Cold War compared to the interwar period. For example Rossevelt worked with the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, to created the Atlantic Charter, which created the United Nations. The purpose of the United Nations was a lot alike the League of Nations, where it is created to maintain peace and security. Also the United States gave billions of dollars to European countries to help them; such as giving the western European countries thirteen billion dollars in the European Recovery Program. The United States also participated in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which included an article (Article 5), which was worded similarly to Article X of the League of Nations. Unlike the interwar period, the U.S stayed engaged in foreign policy throughout the Cold War.
5. What is "Wilsonian" thought? Why do some support it and some oppose it?
A Wilsonian thought is about the concept of multilateralism and security and peace throughout the world. Wilson wanted the United States to be a country to help reduce conflict in the world and to promote world peace and staying involved in foreign affairs, which were all stated in Wilson's fourteen points. Some peopled loved the ideas of Wilsonian, but others thought it was naive and unrealistic. The people that do not agree with Wilsonian think that it threatened the U.S security because it doesn't let the United States work on its own to protect the citizens. Another arguments against Wilsonian have to do with the UN's failure to prevent terrorism and not being able to act quick during emergencies.
