Woodrow Wilson (American University Studies Series IX, History)

Woodrow Wilson: Architect of World War II, demonstrates the manner in which the American President's idealism proved the crucial factor in the decision to enter World War I. As this event destabilized the long-standing European balance of power, it resulted in a particularly unequal peace that prompted bitter resentment from the defeated Germans. From this perspective, the rabid nationalism of Hitler, or an equally extreme reaction, emerged as a predictable response. World War II thus continued the former conflict, having been made virtually inevitable by Wilson's decision to involve America in a conflict in which its national interests were not threatened.