After World War I, the US did not join the League of Nations because it did not receive support from the Senate. For president Woodrow Wilson, the League of Nations offered the best chance of long-term peace and stability in Europe, but his senators did not agree. To understand this opposition more clearly, look at the following extract from a speech made by Senator William Borah:
We are in the midst of all of...
After World War I, the US did not join the League of Nations because it did not receive support from the Senate. For president Woodrow Wilson, the League of Nations offered the best chance of long-term peace and stability in Europe, but his senators did not agree. To understand this opposition more clearly, look at the following extract from a speech made by Senator William Borah:
We are in the midst of all of the affairs of Europe. We have entangled ourselves with all European concerns. We have joined in alliance with all the European nations which have thus far joined the League and all nations which may be admitted to the League. We are sitting there dabbling in their affairs and intermeddling in their concerns.
For Borah, then, being involved in European affairs was a bad idea. Remember that the US had suffered greatly as a result of joining World War I in 1917. In terms of casualties, for instance, the US lost over 116,000 soldiers. In one single battle, the Battle of Argonne Forest, there were 26,000 deaths.
Thus, the idea that the US might continue to share in European interests and concerns, given the recent bloody history, was something that the Senate wanted deeply to avoid.
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