Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson was the President of U.S.A. during the World War I. Wilson was the son of a Presbyterian minister. He was born in Staunton, Virginia, in 1856. Woodrow Wilson was educated at Princeton, the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University. He became a professor at Princeton (1890-1902). He also published the book, History of the American People (1902).

Woodrow Wilson was elected as Democratic Governor of New Jersey, in 1911. He was famous for his progressive views on reform. In 1912 he became President of America. In the beginning of First World War he declared that U.S.A. would stay neutral. Of course there was pressure for him to take the place of the Allies. Opinion against Germans was hardened after the sinking of the Lusitania.

On 31st January, 1917, Germany announced a new submarine offensive. Woodrow Wilson’s answer was to break off diplomatic relations with Germany. The

publication of the Zimmerman Telegram, that suggested that Germany was willing to help Mexico regain territory in Texas and Arizona, intensified popular opinion against Germany.

Thus, on 2nd April, Woodrow Wilson asked for permission to go to war. His proposal was approved in the Senate on 4th April by 82 votes to 6, and two days later, in the House of Representatives, by 373 to 50. Though

U.S.A. declare war against Germany, it wasn’t a member of the Allies. On the 8th January, 1918, Woodrow Wilson presented his Peace Programme to Congress. The major countries involved in the First World War objected to certain points in his Peace Programme. Woodrow Wilson supported the Versailles Treaty. However, the Republicans now controlled the Senate, and they disliked the proposed League of Nations.

Thus, when the Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, Woodrow Wilson began a nation-wide campaign to win support for the Paris Peace Agreement. While on this tour, he collapsed (26th September, 1919) and was an invalid for the last three and a half years of his life. Thomas Woodrow Wilson died in 1924.