Wilson’s Slip-Up: A German President’s Misguided Quote

In a speech advocating war with Austria, President Woodrow Wilson unwittingly handed the German Republic’s President, Friedrich Ebert, a propaganda gift. The speech, which Wilson delivered in a moment of high tension, seemed to suggest that the United States and its allies would not emulate the atrocities committed by Germany and its allies during the war. Yet, in citing Wilson’s words, Ebert unwittingly highlighted the very contradictions that would come to define the Treaty of Versailles.