"The League of Nations failed to take hold in America because the country was not yet ready for so global a role. Nevertheless, Wilson's intellectual victory proved more seminal than any political victory could have been. For, whenever America has faced the task of constructing a

Question

new world order, it has returned in one way or another to Woodrow Wilson's precepts."
- Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state, Diplomacy, 1994
"The United States would never ratify the treaty and would never join the League of Nations. Many newspapers and commentators expressed regret at the outcome, and most laid the blame on Wilson- properly so. [Connecticut Senator] Brandegee's cruel remark about Wilson's strangling
his own child was not far off the mark. Wilson had blocked every effort at compromise.
John Milton Cooper Jr., historian, Woodrow Wilson, 2009

a) Briefly describe ONE major difference between Kissinger's and Cooper's interpretations about the
Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations.

b) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts
could be used to support Kissinger's interpretation.

c) Briefly explain how ONE specific historical event that is not explicitly mentioned in the excerpts
could be used to support Cooper's interpretation.

Answer 1

a) The major difference between Kissinger's and Cooper's interpretations about the Versailles Treaty and the League of Nations is that Kissinger views Wilson's intellectual victory as more important than any political victory, while Cooper blames Wilson for blocking every effort at compromise and not allowing the treaty to be ratified.

b) To support Kissinger's interpretation, one could point to the fact that Wilson's Fourteen Points, which formed the basis of the Versailles Treaty, were widely accepted and adopted by other countries, demonstrating the intellectual victory of Wilson's ideas.

c) To support Cooper's interpretation, one could point to the fact that Wilson refused to compromise on the League of Nations, which ultimately led to the treaty not being ratified by the United States.