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American History
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Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points
World War 1 ended in 1918 after Germany surrendered on November 11, 1918. After this, all the powers decided to end the war and to maintain peace in society. World War 1 was one of the deadliest and most brutal wars in the history of the world because in this war millions of soldiers and civilians were killed and wounded. The infrastructure of the belligerent nations was destroyed completely, and the economy of many countries collapsed. Therefore it was essential to end the war on priority bases and to avoid such situations in the future, which will result in the outbreak of another war.
It is believed that one of the major aspects which helped in maintaining peace in the world is the famous 14 points presented by the 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson. The American president, before the joint session of the Congress, in January 1918, gave his vision about war and peace in Europe. These 14 points became the foundation of the League of Nations, which was the first international organization to maintain world peace.
The 14 points were majorly concerned with maintaining peace in Europe, revival of the economic and political activities internationally, realignment of territories of the allied nations and lastly a framework for the international organization, i.e. the League of Nations. Thus it will not be wrong to believe that the 14 points by Woodrow Wilson had a great historical significance because this step ended the world war. Another great historical significance of the 14 points is that it resulted in the rise of the German empire because the 14 points became the source of humiliation to Germany and Germans retaliated accordingly. To cap it all it is evident that the famous 14 points became the bases for both war and peace.
Resistance against Nuclear Weapons
During the cold war, both the democratic and republican parties were supporting containment of communism and wars for containment of communism. Despite this fact, there were some Americans who were against nuclear proliferation. Howard Zinn in his book “A People's History of the United States" has highlighted the fact that these people were mostly those who hold a strong Christian faith. The resistance by Americans against nuclear weapons and against the war in Vietnam had a great historical significance because it discouraged the American government form indulging in wars.
In the beginning some priests and ordinary people like Molly Rush a mother of six children rose against the use of nuclear weapons. These people were of the view that the Government of America is using the money of Taxpayers for making deadly weapons and killing other human beings. With the passage of time, more people raised their voices against the American government. After the elections of the 1980s, about two thousand women marched against the policies by Regan. After this, a group of doctors started contemplating the impact of nuclear war on human health. By 1982, the most massive protest against the government took place in New York. Hence within three years, the public opinion regarding the use of nuclear weapon changed entirely and the American government cautious steps while making decisions in International political arena.
With the above discussion, it is evident that the resistance by the people against the use of nuclear weapons was a turning point for American foreign policies. The American government became more cautious towards human rights and avoided indulging in proxy wars. One of the strongest examples of this is the role of the USA during the Iraqi invasion in Kuwait in 1990. During this time the USA took measured steps to end the war.
End Notes
ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Byrd, Robert C., and Wendy Wolff. Senate, 1789-1989, V. 3: Classic Speeches, 1830-1993. Government Printing Office, 1995.
Locke, Joseph L., and Ben Wright. The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open US History Textbook, Vol. 1: To 1877. Stanford University Press, 2019.
"Video: The Reagan Revolution | US History II (American Yawp)." 2019. Courses.Lumenlearning.Com. Accessed March 15, 2019. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/ushistory2ay/chapter/video-the-reagan-revolution-2/.
Zinn, Howard, and Matt Damon. A People’s History of the United States. New Press, 1998.
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