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Title
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JM-193: If things only worked out according to the prospectus!
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Summary
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The top left panel is captioned, “The Peace Conference, as the world was led to expect”. The caption references Woodrow Wilson presenting his “14 Points” at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The Paris Peace Conference was held after the end of fighting in WWI, and resulted in the creation the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was the document which formally ended WWI, and laid out the terms of surrender for the Axis powers. Wilson’s “14 Points” speech outlined his ideas for peace to thrive after such a brutal and catastrophic war. The first point in Wilson’s speech is “Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view”. The purpose of this point was to avoid the secret alliances that led to many countries becoming involved in WWI. The top right panel shows Wilson’s “14 Points” in the trash and is captioned, “The Peace Conference as it actually worked out”. The shows three men signing a secret treaty. Based on their appearances and the context of the cartoon these men are mostly likely President Woodrow Wilson (the left), Prime Minister of France, Georges Clemenceau (the middle), and Prime Minister of England,David Lloyd George (the right). The bottom shows a meeting of the League of Nations, and is captioned “The League of Nations, as the world is led to expect”. The League of Nations was Woodrow Wilson’s idea to create a body of the world’s nations, which would foster international cooperation and support. The League of Nations is the fourteenth point in Wilson’s “14 Points” being described as “A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike”.The League of Nations operated from 1920 to 1946, and faced significant problems from nations having varying international interests. The bottom right panel shows five men sitting at a table with the caption, “The League of Nations if it follows the precedent set by the Paris Conference”. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)
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JM-169: He kept us out of war!
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This cartoon shows a democratic speaker addressing a crowd. The speaker is saying, “He kept us out of war”, which was President Wilson’s campaign slogan for the election of 1916 against Charles Hughes. There are various countries making comments behind the speaker. This first man on the left represents Japan. Japan is saying President Wilson would have gone to war with Japan, if he had allowed an act discriminating against Japanese immigrants in larger immigration legislation.The country next to Japan is England. England is saying that President Wilson would have entered World War I, if he had protected American shipping. This is a reference to the attack of an American ship, the Lusitania, by a German submarine. Japan and England were both Allied powers during World War I, and they are separated from the Axis powers, Germany and Mexico, by a wall. Germany is saying that President Wilson would not have needed to keep the United States out of war, if Germany had not been an aggressor against other nations. Next to Germany, Mexico is saying President Wilson would have declared war, if he had remained adamant on the salute if the flag. This refers to when President Wilson did not want to salute (and thus recognize) the Mexican government under the control of Victoriano Huerta. Despite his apprehension, President Wilson eventually returned the salute from a sense of precedent and duty. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)
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JM-189: Compromises
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Summary
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The top panel of this cartoon depicts President Woodrow Wilson meeting with other world leaders at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The Paris Peace Conference began after the armistice agreement for World War I, and it eventually produced the Treaty of Versailles. The four men meeting depict the leaders of the “Big Four” Allied powers of WWI. The Big Four nations were the United States, led by President Woodrow Wilson, England, led by Prime Minister David Lloyd, France, led by Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and Italy, led by Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando. These men are creating secret treaties, which is in contradiction with Wilson’s “14 Points” speech. The first point in this speech is “Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view”. This point was created to address the practice of secret treaties between nations, which many contributed to the beginning of World War I. The 14 points are conspicuously placed in the garbage at this meeting. The bottom panel depicts Uncle Sam showing Woodrow Wilson ways to protect the United States while signing treaties with other nations. This panel is captioned, “he ought to be able to compromise now to satisfy the interests of his own”. This caption is used to suggest there may have been conflict between President Wilson’s interests and the interests of the United States. (Summary created by Mary Delano, MU History Intern, Spring 2018)