on of the nations strength to fight the enemiesof democracy and reestablish the proper balance of power in Europe (Blakey2). The President reminded the nation that during the course of the lasttwo months his war objectives had remained unchanged and he proceeded towarn Americans of the nessecity of retaining their virtuous motives and aimsas the country mobilized for war(Safire 113). Wilson then called America towar for the noblest purpose a war has ever been undertaken (Baker 511). Our object....is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world as against selfish and autocratic power and to set up amongst the really free and self-governed peoples of the world such a concert of purpose and of action as will henceforth insure the observance of these principles....We are at the beginning of an age in which it will be insisted that the same standards of conduct and of responsibility for wrong done shall be observed among nations and the individual citizens of civilized states (Ferrell 2).With this statement, Wilson ruled out any questions as to why he wasleading his country into combat and it became evident that His wordspointed to principle, not selfish interest, as the motive for war (Safire109). Wilson refused to accept a moral double standard in internationalaffairs and he recognized the dawning of a new age in which the sameprinciples of conduct and consequences of wrongdoing would be observed byall (Ferrell 2). Then President Wilson went on to address the American position onthe German people. He proclaimed America wasnt fighting against thegeneral public of Germany, but we were engaged in a battle opposing the thegovernment of which the people had no control over. We have no feeling towards t...
