WAR, PROSPERITY, AND DEPRESSION
concessions, Wilson compromised somewhat on the issues of self-de- termination, open diplomacy, and other specifics . He successfully re- sisted French demands for the entire Rhineland, and somewhat moder- ated that country’s insistence upon charging Germany the whole cost of the war . The final agreement (the Treaty of Versailles), however, pro- vided for French occupation of the coal- and iron-rich Saar Basin, and a very heavy burden of reparations upon Germany .
In the end, there was little left of Wilson’s proposals for a generous and lasting peace but the League of Nations itself, which he had made an integral part of the treaty . Dis- playing poor judgment, however, the president had failed to involve lead- ing Republicans in the treaty nego- tiations . Returning with a partisan document, he then refused to make concessions necessary to satisfy Re- publican concerns about protecting American sovereignty .
With the treaty stalled in a Senate committee, Wilson began a national tour to appeal for support . On Sep- tember 25, 1919, physically ravaged by the rigors of peacemaking and the pressures of the wartime presi- dency, he suffered a crippling stroke . Critically ill for weeks, he never fully recovered . In two separate votes — November 1919 and March 1920 — the Senate once again rejected the Versailles Treaty and with it the League of Nations .
The League of Nations would never be capable of maintaining
world order . Wilson’s defeat showed that the American people were not yet ready to play a commanding role in world affairs . His utopian vision had briefly inspired the nation, but its collision with reality quickly led to widespread disillusion with world affairs . America reverted to its in- stinctive isolationism .