Was Wilson an Idealist or Realist?

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Cat Wowk

Was Wilson an Idealist or Realist?

        The U.S. president, Woodrow Wilson, in my opinion, is seen as an idealist rather than a realist.  Though he may have thought his ideas were possible at the time, they now seem unrealistic and almost impossible to achieve.  The fact that he thought he could get every nation to agree to end a war with no victor, or to get all the nations to approve of his 14 Point Plan was very unlikely.

        Wilson believed that the only way to make World War I a war to end all wars, was to end it in peace without victory.  In order to do this all of the nations involved in the war must agree that there will be no winner, which, unfortunately, would have been near impossible to accomplish.  France and Britain were reluctant to accept no winner to the war.  When the War Guilt Clause was made to blame Germany for the war, it was clear that peace without victory was not going to happen.

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        The 14 Point Plan was another one of Wilson’s improbable ideas.  Wilson, again, would need every nation in the world to agree to follow his plan.  One of the points in this plan was to evacuate Belgium and rebuild it.  The money to fund this project would come from all nations collectively which many countries saw as unfair because it was Germany that had destroyed it.  Another point was that all territories should be freed and restored.  To countries possessing these territories, such as France, this seemed ridiculous to agree to.  

        The 14 Point Plan also included Wilson’s ...

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