Woodrow Wilson's "War Message"

The piece that I have chosen for my paper is Woodrow Wilson’s “War Message.” This piece takes place in 1917, during a time in which most of the world was involved in World War I. This speech was given in Congress, as the President requested that the United States declare war against Germany.

“I am not now thinking of the loss of property involved, immense and serious as that is, but only of the wanton and wholesale destruction of the lives of non-combatants, men, women, and children, engaged in pursuits which have always, even in the darkest periods of modern history, been deemed innocent and legitimate. Property can be paid for; the lives of the peaceful and innocent people cannot be.”

In this quote Wilson is make an appeal to pathos by showing the German submarines as cruel and unruly. He begins by showing that property is important, but that human life is of greater importance. He uses the line “even in the darkest periods of modern history” to create an even greater effect because it shows that the Germans are more barbaric than anyone previously. The use of words like “peaceful” and “innocent” allow the audience to think of these people as being helpless and good, and that the acts that are being performed against them are truly horrible.

“We have no quarrel with the German people. We have no feelings towards them but one of sympathy and friendship. It was not upon their impulse that their government acted in entering this war. It was not with their previous knowledge or approval. It was a war determined upon as wars used to be determined upon in the old, unhappy days when peoples were nowhere consulted by their rulers and wars were provoked and waged in the interest of dynasties or of little groups of ambitious men who were accustomed to use their fellow men as pawns and tools.”

In this section of the speech, Wilson is trying to show that the United States is not interested in hurting the country of Germany but the government that has made this decision to terrorize other nations. This entire quote has a touch of irony, because though Wilson says that he does not have a problem with the people and that they are only victims of their government, they are about to be victims of war. With the United States declaring war on Germany the majority of these people that we have such “sympathy and friendship” for will more than likely be injured by the acts of the United States. Though this is the underlying message, the one that the audience will respond to will be Wilson’s appeal to pathos. He is able to make his declaration of war essentially against these people while settling the nerves of the American public that may be weary of attacking a whole nation of people. This quote makes it seem as though Wilson is saying that the citizens of Germany will not be injured, when in fact they will probably be the ones that suffer the most.

“Neutrality is no longer feasible or desirable where the peace of the world is involved and the freedom of its peoples, and the menace to that peace and freedom lies in the existence of autocratic governments backed by organized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by the will of their people.”

This quote repeatedly uses the words “freedom” and “peace.” This is done by Wilson in order to bring a certain tone or feeling to this section. When the audience hears this section of the speech the will associate “peace” and “freedom” with good things, and the fact that this “menace,” which is very negative term, is disturbing these things, the audience is going to have a negative reaction to the “menace.” Also, Wilson uses a bit of historical evidence here to appeal to his point. When he talks about governments controlling the people against their will, it will make the audience think back to the times in which the United States was being controlled by England and how desperate our country felt during those times.