An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove: the Principles that Defined the American Age

... Russia from war. The European scepticism was also based on the suspicion that Wilson’s ideas primarily benefited the United States, especially with regard to free trade. As a result, the text of the Treaty of Versailles significantly differed from the Fourteen Points, and the United States Congress blocked the country’s accession to the League of Nations, the fundamental international institution set up after First World War and largely reflected Wilson’s ideology. A little over 20 years later, a new world war broke out. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, two military-political blocs were on the brink of mutual annihilation. The realists and ...