Versailles #68: American Matters

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It's high time we considered the American angle once again. After several weeks of work, one would imagine that the American delegation and the American President would have their kinks all worked out by this stage, right? Unfortunately not. In fact, Woodrow Wilson faced several serious conflicts of interest and differences of opinion not only within the American delegation and the body politic back home, but also, so it seemed sometimes, from his old self. Wilson had undoubtedly been forced to compromise on several of his key ideals, and while he imagined that the League of Nations would justify these sacrifices for the sake of long term gains, there were those in his confidence that couldn't imagine allowing the President to get away with it.

Whether it was his inconsistency in treating the Italians over Fiume and the Japanese over Shantung, his inability to clarify what self-determination actually meant, or his consistent faux pas with each of the allied leaders, Wilson seemed a far cry from his triumphant, visionary self by mid-May 1919. In this episode, we'll get to grips with how his contemporaries and historians since weighed in on the question of Wilson's principles, from those he was willing to cling to relentlessly, and those which he seemed to throw aside as the German peace treaty loomed into view. If you want to be clued in on the latest developments in the American side, then this installment of our project is for you!

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