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[WASHINGTON OR WILSON?] US INTERVENTIONISM PAVES WAY FOR WORLD WARS
US INTERVENTION AND THE WORLD WARS -Wilson's Intervention and Duplicity Led
to World War II, the Russian Revolution, the rise of Adolf Hitler, and the
Cold War. Yet the United States continues interventionist policies.
By Robert John*
Should the United States have participated in the World Wars of this
century? Presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan in his 436-page new
book,
A Republic, Not an Empire. depicts an American foreign policy over more than
two centuries that, far from being "isolationist," has been deeply engaged
in
the world, but--at least until 1917-almost always for the national interest.
He argues that the country went wrong in a period of imperialism, and now
seeks to impose its image on other countries, using force-economic or
military-if they resist.
The main focus of criticism has been on defending American participation
in World War II - that "just war." That is an argument potent with emotions
and pitfalls.
What is simpler to demonstrate, is that World War II was a result, or
even a continuation of World War I. American intervention in World War I,
and
participation in its aftermath, including the Versailles Treaty, produced
circumstances that led to the to the rise of Hitler, National Socialism, and
the Second World War (and the Bolshevik take-over in Russia).
President Washington's guiding principle of American policy toward
European conflict prior to World War I was the principle of neutrality.
Prior
to belligerency, the United States of President Wilson had not been neutral.
On 15th May 1915 by Order in Council the British government declared goods
of
all kinds entering or leaving Germany contraband, a full blockade. Yet the
U.S.A. sold war materiel to France and Britain, and virtually supported
their
food embargo of Germany. The copper in every shell the Allies fired enriched
the Guggenheims, who controlled copper; every use of nickel enriched Alfred
Mond who controlled that metal. William Jennings Bryan resigned as Secretary
of State in 1915 on this and other issues and Wilson's neglect of his
advice.
Early on in the war, Britain had cut the undersea communication cable
between the United States and Germany, and therefore had the lead in the
propaganda war for American public opinion. Stories of German soldiers
impaling Belgian children on their bayonets were hard to counter. British
intelligence services in the United States, were successful in bringing much
of the American press to support intervention on the side of Britain and
France.
Without American partiality, and the expectation of American direct
belligerency, the war might have ended in compromise toward the end of 1916,
when, according to British Prime Minister Lloyd George, "the Allies had
almost exhausted the gold and marketable securities available for American
purchases." The saving in lives and suffering would have been enormous. The
Bolshevik coup d'état would have been highly improbable.
As for the peace, America failed to honor President Wilson's Fourteen
Points for peace which were announced by him on 8th January 1918, but
particularly Wilson's declaration a month later: that there were to be no
annexations, no contributions, and no punitive damages. It was on that basis
that General Ludendorf had recommended to Field-Marshall Hindenburg that
Germany ask for an Armistice. Diplomatic exchanges followed until 23rd of
October 1918.
Classified as Secret in the U.S.A. until the 1990s, only now do we know
that on 23rd October Wilson, who had become the key player in bringing the
Great War to an end, informed the German government that if the United
States
had to negotiate "with the military masters and monarchical autocrats of
Germany now, or if it is likely to have to deal with them later in regard to
the international obligations of the German Empire, it must demand not peace
negotiations but surrender."
The Kaiser abdicated for his country and people. They were led to
believe
that he had voluntarily deserted them in their darkest hour. The Berliner
Tageblatt of 10 November 1918: reported, "Yesterday morning . . .everything
was still there"¾the Kaiser, the chancellor, the police chief¾"yesterday
afternoon nothing of all that existed any longer." The March 1917 Menshevik
Revolution in Russia was being re-enacted in Germany, with Friedrich Ebert
playing the role that Kerensky had played in Russia the year before.
According to the outstanding British military-and geopolitical analyst
Maj. General J.F.C. Fuller, "Thus chaos was planted in Europe." Europe
needed
stability and political evolution. Wilson used American power in the name of
peace and democracy, interfering with the local process of political
evolution, for revolution.
In spite of the Kaiser's abdication, the terms of the Versailles Peace
Treaty of June 1919 were those imposed by complete surrender. The Treaty
formally asserted Germany's war guilt and ordered it to pay huge reparations
to the Allies, waived by the United States which had profited considerably
from the War. The economy of postwar Germany was such that the Allies could
not be paid. In 1923, France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr district with
Senegalese and other African colonial soldiers because of German defaults,
an
act that embittered the Germans. The treaty called for the creation of the
League of Nations. It placed limits on German armed forces. It restored
Alsace and Lorraine to France, gave Prussian Poland and most of West Prussia
to Poland, made Danzig a free city, put Germany's colonies under the League
of Nations, placed the Saar under French administration, called for
plebiscites in various territories newly freed from the Central Powers, and
called for the demilitarization of the Rhineland. American perfidy toward
Germany is seldom acknowledged by historians.
Until Germany signed the Treaty, the Allied food blockade of Germany
continued for nearly six months after the war had ended. Even the German
Baltic fishing fleet, which had augmented German food supplies during the
war, was prevented from putting to sea. Many Germans(800 000) starved to
death. This
was a precedent for current policy against Iraq and Yugoslavia.
Unable to pay the debts that Germans had been forced to bear, in January
1932 Senator Copeland suggested to Congress that the United States should
keep Germany from financial collapse.
This must be known to understand a response by some Germans to Adolf
Hitler when in a typical speech he said the country will win back her honor
with him as leader. The Nazis emphasized fighting the system, not
personalities.
On 30 January 1933 Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor, affirming that he
would carry out his obligations without party interests and for the good of
the whole nation.. The chain of events that had begun with World War I and
America's abandonment of neutrality, with President Wilson's insistence on
the abdication of the Kaiser and American participation in the intolerable
Versailles Treaty, was in train. World War II would follow.
What is the relevance of all this for American policy and our future?
America and Britain have starved the people of Iraq for a decade, because
they have not got rid of their Kaiser - Saddam Hussein. America leads NATO
in
sanctions against Yugoslavia until President Milosevic leaves office. The
precedents were made by a revolutionary internationalist - President Wilson.
Should we rather expect our presidents to reconsider the guidance of our
first President: Good relations with all, special relations with none, no
foreign entanglements and so on? The twentieth century world would have been
better for that.
Misdiagnosis has been fateful. The most seditious misinformation put out
by seducers of America's sovereignty is the canard that Word War II was a
result of the U.S.A. not joining the League of Nations. The truth is that
Wilson's policy was motivated by the League of Nations idea, and America's
intervention in the Great War resulted in the Second World War. In a rare
admission in an establishment publication, "America at 200" states, " It is
today highly dubious whether even with the most vigorous participation by
the
United States in the League, international relations could have been
reshaped. Of course, we will never know."
We know that President Washington's vision was clearer than President
Wilson's. Let it guide us again./end
________________________________
**ROBERT JOHN is a leading diplomatic historian and policy analyst. Dr. John
has broadcast on the Overseas Service of the BBC, the Canadian Broadcasting
Service and on CBS and NBC television. . At the 1994 Second Orwellian
Symposium in Carlsbad, Czech Rep., partly sponsored by UNESCO, Dr. John was
given the Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award. He was presented with
the
1997 FREEDOM AWARD by the International Institute for Advanced Studies in
Systems Analysis in Baden-Baden "for his outstanding work and contributions
towards the fight for human rights, justice and liberty."
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