Imagining Woodrow Wilson in Asia: Dreams of East-West Harmony and the Revolt against Empire in 1919

Abstract

Imagination fails to picture the wild delirium of joy with which he [Woodrow Wilson] would have been welcomed in Asiatic capitals. It would have been as though one of the great teachers of humanity, Christ or Buddha, had come back to his home. When Woodrow Wilson landed in the harbor of Brest on the French Atlantic coast on Friday, December 13, 1918, the city's mayor met him at the dock and greeted him as an apostle of liberty, come to release the peoples of Europe from their suffering. The next morning, Wilson drove along the streets of Paris through cheering throngs, and the French press across the political spectrum hailed him as “the incarnation of the hope of the future.” The U.S. president met similar receptions in England and Italy over the next several weeks.2 H. G. Wells captured the essence of popular sentiments a few years later, when he noted the intense yet fleeting nature of Wilson's apotheosis: “For a brief interval, Wilson stood alone for mankind. And in that brief interval there was a very extraordinary and significant wave of response to him throughout the earth … He ceased to be a common statesman; he became a Messiah.”3 Despite such high passions, however, the story of the ecstatic reception accorded the U.S. president in Europe is remembered today as little more than an ironic footnote to the history of the Great War. Most of the hopes and expectations associated with Wilson were quickly disappointed, and the widespread reverence of the U.S. leader in Europe and elsewhere quickly turned into bitter disillusionment.4 The terms of the Treaty of Versailles, signed on June 28, 1919, fell far short of the expectations that Wilson had inspired, and it was repudiated by most of his former admirers around the world, and also by the U.S. Senate and the American public, who were eager to return to the comforting embrace of “normalcy.”5 There is, of course, voluminous historiography on the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and the U.S. role in it, but it has remained rather single-mindedly focused on Europe, and specifically on the policies, decisions, and leaders of the Great Powers.6 Much of the literature, in fact, seems to follow closely the Great Power agenda at the negotiation table, with the volume of writings on specific issues and regions often matching the attention that the major Allied leaders paid to them at the time. This is hardly surprising, since many of the issues debated in Paris were indeed of momentous import, both for the immediate shape of the peace settlement and, in some cases, for the subsequent history of Europe. International historians, however, have tended to leave in the shadows the very same issues that were marginalized or ignored, whether by design or neglect, by the Great Power leaders themselves in their deliberations. Foremost among these issues were the demands for self-determination of representatives of peoples outside Europe, most especially in those cases—China, Korea, Egypt, Tunisia, India, Indochina, and others—in which the interests of one or more of the victorious Allied powers stood to be compromised if the demands were entertained. The spring of 1919 saw the launching of revolts against empire in numerous non-European societies and the expansion of anticolonial nationalism to unprecedented intensity and scope, and a few international historians have indeed noted in passing the significance of 1919 in the world outside Europe and identified it as a watershed in the rise of anticolonial nationalism as a broad, international phenomenon.7 However, these movements and the goals and perceptions that drove them, though of course prominent in their respective national and regional histories, have received little sustained or detailed attention in the international histories of 1919.8 Once we remove the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is most often written, it becomes clear that the significance of the “brief interval” of Wilson's ascendance far transcended the confines of Europe. An examination of how the ascendance of Wilson and the United States during this was by and in in societies would of the international history of at the same it would the the that in societies during this which have been that have remained and and the international of the the story of to there is a for a since an to a would a the of national one that would have in the the that the of the to Wilson's and the of his major and the of the in There of course, in the and of these societies in 1919, in the specific of their respective with had been the of the and, some political in the years the to be and by a on the was as an in however, in a of in the of by a of with the major and in 1919, their their for self-determination as of a against the and immediate saw similar in and societies at the had movements and leaders that were in a for a of in and international the from the of 1918, when Allied was in to the spring of 1919, when the terms of the peace to leaders and in the societies paid attention to the in the of international and that Wilson's rise to and to and shape the significance of these for their specific have often noted how the of and that was the Great a among of the to This as it is, the widespread if in of that of the Woodrow The to be and and but it also great expectations for a in which a Europe would and for a international that would non-European peoples their among The be as for the of Europe, but Europe the in the United States as a that would and the of it is that during the the United States to and to than at or The of the rather than the of the as the of against the of the Eurocentric lens through which the international history of 1919 is often is the common of that as a of of world or to however, the specifically to the and over the and of the and in the of the world outside Europe, that is the spring of 1919, when of Wilson's to his to from it was who far in the of both as an for expectations and and as a of for It was the of the in that and to as a and for many movements for self-determination in the however, many in that Wilson had both the and the to a of international on the of and “the of in which the with to of and would be with the in Europe who Wilson his and saw Wilson's as a for a more and international one in which a of and the that Wilson's on the would have as but more how his for the world, as them, the in international and and peoples to their with the on a of and to that in international historians Woodrow Wilson in as many of his there Despite the of Wilson in the of many at the and as the of a on a to it was the who this into the international The of and to had been a of among and some saw nationalism as a to and a from the however, for was an for the world his return to in that when the to their peace would “the of and of and the in from the became the among the to for a peace settlement the of self-determination of the of the in the of that the Allied powers the of self-determination to the peoples of Egypt, India, Indochina, their to be the for the of would be little more than “the most the most The in for a settlement on national self-determination great the in Europe. it the of the with the of their a the American into the in by Wilson's for a settlement on “the of the that the of the in and Allied for the of Wilson and would popular for the quickly to in more the on 1918, an of the of Wilson and into the he be the of self-determination or the of the the for for to Wilson's of a peace on the of popular to the the agenda of the former and the in the Wilson this in the he had or the he quickly it as his with and Despite popular to the the was to be in the of the of the of and his for the of the peoples of the and to that peace on the of and at in some The Wilson for the of a of in international The world he in to the of the be be and by their he was a into his political he was in is a It is an of which at their this as a that he to but as an at in world one that be and Wilson's however, the of was far and more than it was in the who the with the it was a for the of through an to the national and of on the if the specific he the more and the with popular an international on of He at along as in the of and but he saw the of or national as one among several to the of the peoples of for Wilson rather than as with the of self-determination the of the that saw self-determination as a and to it as a against the of Europe, Wilson that self-determination would in the as a against to as Wilson and was a to by the of as by would to remove the and through the his and it in his as with the of popular and by which had been in his and indeed in the of political he saw the of and the one of by the such And his of this was in at it to peoples if in his the of the to Europe, it is clear that as a he saw it as to the of the and he it in but if it would be through of and such as he had in the U.S. of the if he it, through the of the of the for a peace on and with to the of the in Wilson's his in 1918, the U.S. president the as an had and the to which the the of the he American of by over the of many and The settlement “the settlement of whether of of of or of political the of the of that settlement by the the Wilson's of have the essence of his in his but it his a more their on the of peoples who Once Wilson the of as his it quickly around the world, and by the of the it was identified with the of the U.S. Wilson's were across on the for the and of international that was in across of the by the of the It the and that the but the press that often the of the and the that as had more than in and in which were to and an of the popular in the in the also in the of the with to such to be a by there had in both societies who were in and international the of the the U.S. were in the across far the American and to were this was to the unprecedented in and that the Wilson had the United States the The by the for that Wilson in the of the of of the in and such as and in of that the the the the these were in Wilson's and from the were the of especially in the of the was Europe and it also a in and the of the in and Wilson's in was as as more was the role of the especially the both and India, indeed in most of at the the of which the to of their of from and to the Allied the of and Wilson's and were and in India, significant American of Wilson's than in and his major were in the often among and in the U.S. president and his for the world, as in press and during the of 1918, and in the of that as Allied to and that the peace would be on Wilson's in quickly the of Wilson's for their if and remained in in on the in which Wilson the the of his to The American it had that the was by the issues at but it remained whether India, and the of and was to be in the of world The of was the of “the and regions and peoples of and and peace would come and have national the of Wilson's was by that his to major the of the with an that the U.S. for peace were of for the were the the United States had to the most in the world, and Wilson be of in these the a prominent press in India, a of the U.S. the The of numerous that in the press in 1919, the of The of the the U.S. president as “the most in the and a of of the and of the would to a world and hope to and was at in an but the that it would as one that “the of this great apostle of … a in of a and would the to in but clear and the of his the a similar volume that the of Wilson's The was in one in and a more the with their This was in the press and became of a through several When Wilson in Europe to great in December 1918, he as the most and among the world a of significance and were closely in as were in Europe and in and that in on the through the major Allied in for that Wilson had received an at the and that in the streets of as in he was greeted by cheering that in the follow the of Wilson's to his in in the of his had as and his to Italy and his with the in Wilson's and his on the world however, were of or of among were to a the the to a to Wilson for his for since the president the issues at in and he has an to Wilson's were to be the of the peace the would have to in with if would Wilson to them to When of the in hailed the Allied as than “the of their of It would be was more and the to be the of there be the same of and for … to to rise to the such The is at and it be or and and earth to a at the Peace also on their to the that Wilson to political leaders to their for and and a of a by and hopes that Wilson's a in international as a of that the U.S. both and at was “the to the role of of and of the of in And he was to the as a with of the world who was in with a and in his with a and in his of of these of the United States and leader were widespread and in at that time. When the for Wilson and his of a world among and political The and of the the common were to both political and international one of the most of the the of at and a of the in December that the of Wilson's in the the of over both in and in peoples and their the U.S. president be as the one in the who had to with a in from had that Wilson's in high with him a of the of the as as “the of the U.S. the and to and to the in international to the of their national and many of them saw Wilson as an and who be of the in international the peoples of the from those of the to the Great and it, many such as the and and the and the of international in terms of the and the of a against the but more societies of the The it was to the of both and in the of the immediate of the many for a brief but significant in the U.S. a of the and a of for of Wilson as the in one who the of that he into the political he his and in his the in and his of the United States during his saw the U.S. as the of and The also Wilson in for in the of and to the U.S. of his to The and Wilson's for the of in similar as a the of and The he would of and the of the of a of on which had in a he had some years that through Wilson's the of be on the of he a great and a peace on and it the and to in the peace it would have the one to and and among have of the to the of a of in to his in is to for had been a for the for a brief to be on the of The of Wilson's among and was by a common of the United States as the to from a against and one of the a more of when with the of and associated with the an of to this the as he his to the United have an that has a great in the history of he to a the U.S. was to in the of and was and it the of the few years later, his to the United he the same that is and to for the of … course but of this of come to some of and be to the of is the of of during this in a to into a also saw the United States as a and of the popular to which The with a prominent of the and had to rather than leaders as role of the we of we he his the of Woodrow Wilson that were common among or an of or the of a if fleeting widespread in the immediate of the that a in history had in which the of and of and an international in which would and as the of the and to and as a who the Europe and to the of often to of the president as who and political in the world on Wilson as at and these which in the had but of of course, hardly the a prominent at the of the Wilson had been an of the U.S. of the that the a of American be to this remained his to the of for non-European his them from he how that would to them a with the of to into the of the who was and in the American and as a in the of his from that the and of his and his the of some prominent American were quickly his in The Wilson to and in the U.S. and were with U.S. and often the United States for as as in the and The leader who the years in the United the of American in a and during his of the U.S. that same that their of was of the of their the and of to the United States had a to U.S. in and often U.S. in the such however, there was often a of the United States as among the powers in anticolonial in of liberty, and in the of which when the U.S. of the in an in which he how the of he noted that if the United with of and in such one of the of the many were to or the of the United States and president as Wilson's for their for to the United States as the one world that international from and the of humanity, often a of the most American Wilson's on the it his of for and his of international him an to who saw his as a for their to their a international but also to such as who nationalism as an to the of as he American that the United States had a role in the of humanity, as it was in the of the of and them into one he it would in “the of the and rise to “the of And U.S. in the rather than Wilson's was in the press at the as an of and which the would to in of the world the United a had far than them more and on them it a of the and his for the against empire at the of his The who would a in the in the of the years in in he had with noted the of his to their had a U.S. of the of in remained of the to self-determination outside of the at and of the was the prominent to the for world and Wilson's of international he since the of by was the of the of was and at his remained at the far of the the significance of the peace for the Wilson and hardly have as in terms of their international or their to international and had been in and the of the were in the press the of the in in was as of the of the world that Wilson's had the of the in of the on the in and turned The most often in the and press through the lens that of the French were in a especially to the in with the Treaty of and the on in often of the and at the same the as on the of to Wilson's and the great he received in and on international was in as a and for and leaders who to a for self-determination at the peace the Wilson and in their to such demands at the peace and to shape a settlement that would them into The from Paris and, at 1919, to be to in the against the and their among the great were hardly in a during this to to movements in that the major powers at the peace for the and expansion of the in international Wilson at the spring of 1919, the major in the international who to have both the and the to the of self-determination as a of the international When the in for in December 1918, it on the peace to the of self-determination to and that at the peace G. a and one of the in the national at the was in a to the for self-determination the his of and in to the peace the same self-determination in with Wilson's also Wilson him that “the hope for peace and was in as the of the great of and that the be to however, the as he in in which demands for self-determination with the interests of one or more of the victorious there is little the president of the it is clear that he it for the peace to a for the of the Allied he would be in course by the of were from have representatives and the that with Wilson on their the of the and of especially over the former in which had captured during the and was a to The and were and had a from and was a were who to from of and and both were also and in both the and the who to into the of a to the in and and Wilson as a of significance who the and and a of the as the of the of has the to and in the of and in the of and a of which would Wilson's of a more international was than the of of years of and the of a of would the of both and When the in to the former in to around the world were in of the to the streets in The who had hailed Wilson as a him as a his of a world as an and throughout the over the next several that he to the that … we the of great leader Woodrow Wilson … we that we the the far the specific that had them, the of and among into a that a in the of the India, the of high hope in the of by spring to and 1919, when the a that the of were a of the empire throughout the that his hopes for for the empire had been in and he for a national of The response was most the on 13, 1919, of in the of the in the quickly became a of the nature of and

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