USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The Lodge Reservations, written by United States Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the Republican Majority Leader and Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, were fourteen reservations to the Treaty of Versailles and other proposed post-war agreements.

Detailed explanation-2: -On February 28, 1919, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts began an assault on President Woodrow Wilson’s proposal to establish a League of Nations that ultimately culminated in the Senate’s rejection of the Treaty of Versailles.

Detailed explanation-3: -The opposition came from two groups: the “Irreconcilables, ” who refused to join the League of Nations under any circumstances, and “Reservationists, ” led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge, who wanted amendments made before they would ratify the Treaty.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Senate has, at times, rejected treaties when its members felt their concerns were not adequately addressed. In 1919 the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles, which formally ended World War I, in part because President Woodrow Wilson had failed to take senators’ objections to the agreement into consideration.

Detailed explanation-5: -Throughout the negotiations, Wilson had to contend with Senate Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge. The two men hated each other and Lodge was well positioned to cause problems for the president. Lodge was not an isolationist, but he believed the League of Nations threatened national sovereignty.