In 1897, the United-States militarily intervened outside of their territory for the first time since the Mexican war in 1845.The Spanish-American-Cuban-Filipino war represented a major challenge for the McKinley administration, the United-States were just recovering from a recession, but were also becoming the most important economy in the world. The 1897, war represented the first diplomatic test on the American continent over a European country, Spain. In 1917, the United-States were given the opportunity to intervene in Europe for the first time since their independence. World war one allows the United-States to rise not only as main economic actor, but also as a hegemon. Both wars present some chronological commonalities, but the vision
…show more content…
McKinley was an indecisive leader who was afraid of public opinion and political pressure. President McKinley was in favor of a measured approach and principally thought on a domestic level. Theodore Roosevelt on the other hand, who served under the presidency of McKinley, saw the Spanish war as a great opportunity to show the strength of the United-States to the world. The vision of the McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt administrations on foreign policy was realist, mainly justified by the contingent necessity, the idea that, no matter what, someone will control the islands, so it better be the United-States. However, they did not think of the long term implications of the colonization of these islands, and the United-States did not want the populations to be American for racial reasons. Hence, the United-States started to be seen as a rising imperial power. In 1917, Wilson is a constructivist president, he is a former history professor and sees the world as global. Wilson had a great vision for a world maintained peace: a league of nations ruled by 14 points. He softly tried to implement it without going to war by proposing a “peace without victory”. Wilson wanted to implement long term peace in the world by reinforcing the cooperation and dependency between countries. As his ideas were not accepted, he understood that a direct involvement in the war would give him the opportunity to build a future by being on the side of the
McKinley was an indecisive leader who was afraid of public opinion and political pressure. President McKinley was in favor of a measured approach and principally thought on a domestic level. Theodore Roosevelt on the other hand, who served under the presidency of McKinley, saw the Spanish war as a great opportunity to show the strength of the United-States to the world. The vision of the McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt administrations on foreign policy was realist, mainly justified by the contingent necessity, the idea that, no matter what, someone will control the islands, so it better be the United-States. However, they did not think of the long term implications of the colonization of these islands, and the United-States did not want the populations to be American for racial reasons. Hence, the United-States started to be seen as a rising imperial power. In 1917, Wilson is a constructivist president, he is a former history professor and sees the world as global. Wilson had a great vision for a world maintained peace: a league of nations ruled by 14 points. He softly tried to implement it without going to war by proposing a “peace without victory”. Wilson wanted to implement long term peace in the world by reinforcing the cooperation and dependency between countries. As his ideas were not accepted, he understood that a direct involvement in the war would give him the opportunity to build a future by being on the side of the