Tutor profile: Michael R.

What role did President Woodrow Wilson play in ending isolation and move the nation into the role of intervention during the Great War?

One cannot separate America’s participation in the Great War and ending the policy of isolation without considering the role of Woodrow Wilson. To be sure, the twenty-eighth President of the United States is deserving of recognition for this. He made full use of his personality and rhetoric to advance America’s entry into the war. However, Americans remained opposed to war. As a result, Wilson sold the nation on a set of principles of idealism, commonly referred to Wilsonian idealism. This idealism, now recognized as international liberalism, rests on the assumption that decisions based on enlightened self-interest would end discord and bring about political and diplomatic harmony. Wilsonian idealism encompasses a number of principles, which were articulated in a series of policies and speeches, including his famous Fourteen Points speech. When Americans committed to the principles of idealism, they quickly recognized the German Empire as a threat to democracy. Once Germany vowed to resume unrestricted submarine warfare, Americans came around to intervention.

What prompted the Age of Exploration?

The Age of Discovery began under Portugal’s Prince Henry the Navigator. Prior to this time, the Venetians held a monopoly on maritime trade, especially in Asia. Alternative, travel by land existed as an option; however, this took longer, was often more expensive, and was incredibly risky. Further, the rise of the Ottoman Empire and their conquest of Constantinople cut the West off from an extensive network of trade routes. As a result, interest in finding maritime routes to Asia grew, leading the Prince Henry establishing the Institute at Sarges, which sought to teach sailing, cartography, and navigation. As such, explorations of Africa’s west coast began, and culminated with Bartolome Dias, who in 1488, became the first European to sail around the southern tip of African. However, when Christopher Columbus asked the Portuguese Crown to fund his expedition West, which intended to find a route to China, they refused, prompting him to turn to the Spanish monarchs for funding.

What was the Middle Kingdom of Egypt?

The Middle Kingdom of Egypt refers to a period of time, approximately 2040 B.C to 1782 B.C., in which the political divisions that resulted from the downfall of the Old Kingdom were resolved. This occurred when Mentuhotep II ascended the Thebian Throne and overthrew the rulers of the Tenth Dynasty. He then moved to consolidate power and expand his rule over the rest of Egypt.