Why wasn't the treaty ratified?

The Treaty of Versailles wasn’t ratified for a number of reasons. Henry Cabot Lodge, Robert LaFollette, and other isolationists help to sway congress against it. Wilson had compromised too much with Clemenceau of France, George of Britian, and Orlando of Italy. The treaty was too harsh for most Americans. The American people still might have ratified it on their own, but during Wilson’s campaign for the treaty, he suffered a stroke. Mainly, Henry Cabot Lodge and some of his esteemed colleagues in the Senate were afraid of the USA getting to involved in international affairs. The didn’t like or entertain for long the idea that we would b subject to an international governing body, the League of Nations. So, the seven extreme isolationists in the Senate managed to sway 37 other Senators to their side, enough to reject the treaty. The decision they made against the treaty might have been altered had Wilson taken one of them with him to the Paris Peace Conference. However, he choose to go alone, except for some “yes sir” democrats.

The chance was still great, though, to get the treaty ratified if Wilson had stuck to his original policy of the Fourteen Points. Everyone was expecting him to, especially the Germans. Unfortunately, Clemenceau, George, and Orlando were all seeking revenge and reparations for what Germany did to them. So instead of a lasting peace, they managed to set up a huge debt and chance for a revolution in the future. The money they did seek would most definitely bankrupt Germany and greatly hurt the remnants of the Austria-Hungary empire. Furthermore, only a few of the fourteen points were included in the treaty, the only important one being the League of Nations. Of course, the league was enfeebled from the start without the USA. Lodge and his friends all saw the compromises Wilson made to make the treaty work, and they disapproved. Wilson did try to attempt to save the league through state legislatures. He toured the country from coast to coast seeking support he so desperately needed. Although he still acted as president, the stroke he received from stress during that campaign ended any chance of the treaty’s ratification.