1) Article X was a controversial issue in Wilson's fourteen points that established the League of Nations. The Republicans vehemently argued against this issue because it threatened the Congressional sovereignty to wage war. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge argued on behalf of the Republicans in his reservations.
2) The concept of a "return to normalcy" formulated by President Harding was a return to the domestic policies of the Republican party of McKinley's time. It favored less government and executive power, pro-business policies such as high tariffs and low taxes, and a foreign policy tending toward isolationism. His foreign affairs were manifestations of his idea of a "return to normalcy." For example, to replace the Treaty of Versailles, Harding arranged a separate peace treaty with Germany that did not provide for American membership in the League of Nations, thus returning to isolationism, a key idea in American foreign policy to that point.
3) Wilson did not prohibit American citizens from traveling on ships of countries involved in the war; previously he had wanted to stay neutral. Now he seemed to be siding with Great Britain.
4) Wilson combined both zeal and conviction in intervening in Latin American affairs. He had a vision of a world free from Imperialism, a world of free trade and a world in which Americans could enrich the world with "the creations of our thoughts and fruits of our character." The tragedy was that Wilson, who really wanted what he believed, was the best for the peoples of Latin America, managed to intervene too often and too blatantly to protect the interests of the US In the process, his foreign policy alienated onetime friends of the US and would contribute to future difficulties in both Latin American and Europe.
5) Yes, Wilson's treatment of dollar diplomacy was inconsistent with his beliefs. Wilson claimed to oppose dollar diplomacy yet his treatment was hypocritical to his beliefs. He continued American intervention in the Caribbean and he sent marines to occupy Haiti, and control its finances. In Mexico, Wilson recognized Carranza's government and he ordered General John Pershing into Northern Mexico to seize Villa, but he eluded capture. This furthered tensions with Mexico and left them in fear of American "Yankee imperialism."
6) The Bolshevik Revolution, of course, gave birth to the Soviet Union. The effect of the Revolution on Soviet-US. relations is that relations existed. There have been only brief periods in which these relations were pleasant. During and after World War I, there was some animosity towards the Soviet Union by the United States. The US felt that the USSR had not lived up to its responsibility by pulling out of the war early. The US also felt threatened by the USSR's self-proclaimed intention to spread communism throughout the world. These were the main causes of US-Soviet tension between 1914 and 1925. Other problems, such as nuclear power, developed afterwards.
7) By presenting his Fourteen Points at the Paris Peace Conference, Wilson showed his desire to move toward a more idealistic foreign policy. Rather than allow the US to shrink back into ourselves once the war was over, Wilson promoted the nation as a leading world power. The Fourteen Points called for United States leadership in freeing the entire world from war, hunger, fear, and many other intangible ailments. Wilson, then, was asking the nation to reach a set of idealistic goals in their relations with other nations.
8) To Germany, the treaty was quite harsh. Germany was forced to give up all of its colonies, some-inhabited territory, and they were compelled to accept sole "war guilt." The treaty disarmed Germany and it severely wounded German pride. This bitter hatred of the treaty led to extreme German aggression in WWII.
The treaty was fair because it transferred German territory chiefly on the basis of nationality, assigned German colonies as League of Nations mandates with the objective of eventual independence, disarmed Germany as a start towards world disarmament, and provided for a League of Nations. If the military provisions of the treaty had been enforced, Nazi Germany would not have been able to wage war.
9) The Washington Conference, which convened between 1921 and 1922, resulted in international agreements designed to promote world peace. The Five-Power Treaty set the ratio of capital warships being built at 5:5:3:1.67:1.67, thus limiting the war-making power of those countries. The Nine-Power Treaty set the conditions for trading rights with China, thus eliminating fighting and contributing to world peace.
10) It is difficult to say whose policy was more beneficial. It could be said that Wilson's policy was not beneficial to the US because Wilson entered the US into a war. World War I was not directly beneficial to the US However, it could be argued that the entry into the war was beneficial because, if the US had not entered the war, Germany could have succeeded in taking over Europe. If this had occurred, an attack on the US would have been probable. In this case, the war was beneficial to the US Harding's policy, however, was rather non-confrontationalist. Confrontation, of course, was not needed. Harding was president during a time of relative peace. He initiated protective trade barriers and engaged in international disarmament procedures. Whether Harding's policy during a time of peace is more or less beneficial than Wilson's policy during a time of war is objective.
Copyright 1997 John Jeong