erchant ships, the cabinet decided that they must go to war. Congress overwhelmingly agreed with Wilsons sentiment and on April 6, 1917 the United States declared war on Germany. Wilson avoided war to the fullest extent, but the merchants could no longer take the beating at see that they were getting. Avoidance of war, and taking diplomacy to the fullest extent, would be used throughout the twentieth century. The Cold War is a perfect example, the presidents never allowed the United States to go into a state of war with Russia. The American War Dept. raised 3,000,000 men for battle and the Navy expanded its already great strength. The Germans would get beaten back, and the Allies would win the war in the fall of 1918. It was time to establish a treaty to try and prevent another World War from occurring. The allied nations agreed to meet at Versailles, France, starting January 1, 1919. The major fault in the peace settlement would be that only neutral nations and allied nations were invited, and only the allies played a significant role. With the central powers not attending, none of their voices could be heard, this is believed to be a major reason for the failure of the settlement, a cause of the Great Depression, and the rise of Hitler. The name Woodrow Wilson seems to be synonymous with two words, Fourteen Points. The Fourteen Points were Wilsons major accomplishment in office. Wilson introduced his theory on what measures would be successful, in not only preventing Germany from beginning a war again, but to prevent all wars. After all it was the war to end all wars. His elaborate Fourteen points were outlined in two groups the obligatory, the must be fulfilled and six more specific nonessential, but valuable clauses. The eight musts included open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, general disarmament, the removal of international trade barriers, impartial settlement of colonial claims, the restoration of Belgium, the ...
