Germany Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Germany - Essay Example So while in some ways he did not want to enter the war, being a pacifist at heart, Wilson knew that the outcome of the war could have drastic impacts on the way the world worked after it, and these impacts would be decided upon solely by the victors. Knowing all this, Wilson wanted to have a seat at the victor’s table, in order to be a part of determining the new world order. His championing of the League of Nations following the First World War shows what kind of world order he imagined, and he perhaps thought that, through going to war this one time, he could help prevent future conflicts from ever occurring again. He was sadly mistaken, obviously, both because of the harsh reparations demanded by the allies and because o the US government’s unwillingness to take part in the League, but his aspirations were high all the same. So while the Zimmerman telegram was certainly inflammatory, there are definitely ways in which would could argue that it was used more as a pretext to enter the war than being the sole cause of the US’s entrance – Wilson had a lot to gain in going to war for the Victorious side, and so probably would have taken much less inflammatory bait had it been presented. It is impossible to know for certain how the world would have turned out had the United States never entered the war: it is even hard to know which side would have won, or if victory ever would have happened in any kind of real way. I would argue that without US intervention, neither side would really have been able to win the war, and a much less harsh peace process would probably have had to occur, which would have led to better consequences. The defining feature of much of the First World War was a terrible stale-mate – lines of trenches were established, and because defensive technology was, for this brief time period, so