Jim Powell, historian, author and senior fellow at the Cato Institute, discusses his classic article for Armistice Day “What We Can Learn From Woodrow Wilson’s Great Blunder;” how US entry into WWI ended the stalemate that would have produced negotiated settlements and paved the way for Lenin, Stalin, Hitler and WWII; how Wilson’s weak negotiating skills failed to prevent the vengeful Treaty of Versailles and the rise of German nationalism; how “war socialism” contributed more to post-war German hyperinflation than reparation payments; the Ottoman Empire’s destruction and subsequent formation of ill-conceived new countries; and the tens of millions killed by their own communist governments in Russia and China.
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