Of course you're right about all the stupid wars fought in my parents' lifetimes. It's also true that by the time WWII broke out, it was too late for USA to avoid it, so in a sense it was "justified". I don't find USA's actions in WWI to have been either justified or beneficial to humanity.
Wilson ran for reelection promising not to enter WWI. Upon winning, he immediately broke that promise. When USA entered the war, it had already ground to a stalemate after three years of carnage. The various warring parties had been open to a negotiated peace. As soon as American lives were on the line, France, Britain, and Italy discovered a determination to see the war to its bitter end, which took another 1.5 brutal years and millions more human lives.
Wilson claimed to prefer reconciliation to punishment of Germany, and initially during peace negotiations he reined in the worst French and British excesses. Then he got Spanish Flu, suffered severe mental decline, and functioned as a doormat for the remaining "negotiations". The French and British somehow concocted such draconian penalties that they created brutal fascist dictatorships not only in their enemy Germany but also in their ally Italy. Hitler's and Mussolini's empowerment, not to mention the transfer of Germany's Chinese colony to Japan, guaranteed a conflict like WWII.
Wilson ran for reelection promising not to enter WWI. Upon winning, he immediately broke that promise. When USA entered the war, it had already ground to a stalemate after three years of carnage. The various warring parties had been open to a negotiated peace. As soon as American lives were on the line, France, Britain, and Italy discovered a determination to see the war to its bitter end, which took another 1.5 brutal years and millions more human lives.
Wilson claimed to prefer reconciliation to punishment of Germany, and initially during peace negotiations he reined in the worst French and British excesses. Then he got Spanish Flu, suffered severe mental decline, and functioned as a doormat for the remaining "negotiations". The French and British somehow concocted such draconian penalties that they created brutal fascist dictatorships not only in their enemy Germany but also in their ally Italy. Hitler's and Mussolini's empowerment, not to mention the transfer of Germany's Chinese colony to Japan, guaranteed a conflict like WWII.
https://www.history.com/news/woodrow-wilson-1918-pandemic-wo...