Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points

Wilson failed to gain support from the people about aiding foreign European countries if they were in need, but refused to listen and signed the treaty on June 28,1919 nonetheless. Nationalists created “reservations” that protected the right of the U.S. to make decisions based on its own national interest. By September of 1919, the Treaty faced much opposition because a majority of the U.S. did not want to join the League. Wilson also refused to make any changes to Article X, as he felt it was the main way to prevent future wars. In the end, the Senate refused to ratify the Treaty, which crushed Wilson. Wilsonianism was the ideas of self-determination, disarmament, and the cooperation of nations in-order to create a lasting peace, which many viewed as idealistic. After 1920, many Americans returned to isolationism until the beginning of WWII. President Roosevelt identified “Four Freedoms” worth fighting for: freedom of speech, worship, want and fear. Wilsonianism is seen in many policies today such as the world’s craving for democracy, and Bush’s foreign policies of making America safer by extending

After the end of World War I the United States entered into a period of isolationist foreign policy. On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson announced the United States’ objectives through his Fourteen Points. His fourteenth point proposed a league of nations to protect international security and stability. After the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, the Treaty

Wilson’s fourteen points summarise the quest for international cooperation in achieving and maintaining peace. However, this can be questioned as the first paragraph also suggests a self-centred approach taken by Wilson. The speech suggests that the USA is the only ones with the capacity to achieve such peace, the programme of the world's peace, therefore, is our programme; and that programme, the only possible programme. It reflects a world view and hierarchy, suggesting one big American alliance rather than an idea of international cooperation. This is also further illustrated on in Wilson’s speech, his concern for the safety of the USA is key in the way he treats countries such as Russia and Germany, and his disagreement with some of the terms in the Treaty of Versailles. In point six of the speech when dealing with Russia it talks of securing the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world. Wilson was careful in how he achieved peace, as he wanted to maintain relationships with countries within Europe, whilst keeping USA dominance ad not upsetting France and Clemenceau who wanted harsh treatment of Germany. This is illustrated in point eight of Wilson’s fourteen points.

World War I was a period when countries faced economic, political, social, and cultural problems, which threatened the survival of democracy and freedom and needed a fast and effective resolution which was presented to the world by Woodrow Wilson called the Fourteen Points. The Fourteen Points offered the world a democratic resolute, that was effective, reliable and a basis for long lasting peace, unlike the Treaty of Versailles which was a non democratic approach to the problem since it contained a war-guilt clause which forced Germany to admit sole responsibility for starting World War I, although other European nations had been guilty of provoking diplomatic crises before the war, also the treaty excluded Russia which was a major

After losing a generation of men and experiencing the hardships of war, many peace related objectives were put into place to prevent another war so destructive and disastrous. The road to peace started with the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. United States President, Woodrow Wilson, presented a drafted series of peace proposals called the Fourteen Points. The last point addressed the possibility of having a group dedicated to peace and interactions among nations no matter the size (Macmillan). This organization would stop wars like World War I from happening so that it does not become part of the culture of the Western World yet again. While the idea of the league was originally rejected, the Treaty of Versailles, the most significant treaty to come out of WWI, established the League of Nations. Eventually, the League of Nations disbanded in five years after the start of World War II and the United Nations was formed. Newton Diehl Baker, Woodrow Wilson’s Secretary of War argues that the lack of such a league to keep peace in 1914 is what threw the world into the chaos of World War (Macmillan). Even Baker did not know the ramifications the war would have due to the lack of peace structure until after the war

Out of the many speeches given by President Woodrow Wilson regarding World War One, two in particular serve as a sort of showcase of the changing role of the United States in global politics during the early 20th century. The first is Wilson’s Address to the Senate of the United States: “A World League for Peace” (“World League”). The second is Wilson’s Address to a Joint Session of Congress on the Conditions of Peace, also known as his 14 Points. Although the themes of these speeches have similar ideals such as the quest for self-determination and multiple countries uniting to prevent aggression, the proceedings at Brest-Litovsk make 14 Points speech both a continuation and a shift from the “World League” one. Wilson’s 14 Points speech reflects the commitment of the United States to enter the war and enforce its own agenda (as well as that of the other Allies), a drastic change from its earlier neutrality.

Despite Wilson’s best efforts to stay neutral during World War One, he was was not able to accomplish that task. Entering the war was not going to be a fruitless endeavor, however. The main goals of American participation during World War One was to protect freedom and democracy, and to spread it to the other countries of the world, to help ensure financial stability, and to protect the ships that the German U-Boats were destroying. Wilson’s 14 points helped to reflect the goals of freedom and democracy by generally pushing for a more peaceful world. One of the main reasons for the 14 points existence was to share Wilson’s postwar hope for the world. In the fourteen points, he also lays out a proposition for freedom of the seas. This

The situation required the formation of alliances as an insurance of support in case the war would break out. Central Powers consisted of Germany and Austria-Hungary, while the Entante powers were Great Britain, France and Russia – that had many formal and secret agreements. In 1915, Germany declared war on Great Britain at sea and attacked all ships, including merchant ships. By drafting these first five points, Wilson was hoping to prevent any future conflict at the same scale as the Great War, by eliminating the actual causes of war. By bringing every nation to the same level and introducing them to the free trade and free sea navigation Wilson hoped to engage the nations into an economically beneficial alliance. The more nations joined the League of Nations – the more benefits would they have. This diplomatic solution is revolutionary because it did not only refer to the couple of countries – it referred to the global stage.

The Fourteen Points were distributed all over the world. On November 5, Wilson delivered the peace plan to the German government (http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1234.html). The Germans surrender November 11,1918 and expect a peace treaty under Wilson’s Fourteen Points. The war was now over. Many lives were loss because of the war. There was disease and starvation that killed ten million civilians. In addition, ten million soldiers were killed (http://www.polytechnic.org/faculty/gfeldmeth/chart.ww1.html).

The Fourteen Points was a speech that was given by Woodrow Wilson to be used as peace negotiations after World War I. Woodrow Wilson was president at the time and the speech was broadcasted all over the world. There were fourteen points given in the speech, as the name implies. This was actually pretty unsuccessful because many of the countries wanted to punish Germany more so they only kept one point, the final one. This point established a league of nations.

In order to fully understand why each party would be left to perceive the notions they do, it is imperative that we have a greater understanding of the main points of the Treaty of Versailles. On another note, it is important to mention that Wilson's 14 Point Plan is not the actual Treaty of Versailles, but a benefactor to the treaty. Prior to the drafting and signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Wilson constructed a 14 Point Plan that would attempt to administer peace for the entity of the world. Pursuing peace, some of the more influential and important points of the plan was the

The first point on Wilson’s 14 point plan was that nations should not have any secret treaties or alliances with other nations. This is an important point in the plan, because if it were followed through with it could possibly prevent many wars afterwards. That is, of course, if the nations

In the early months of 1918, the dynamics of The Great War ravaging Europe changed dramatically. On March 3rd, Germany and the Russian Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, officially ending Russia’s involvement in the war and freeing Germany’s forces previously occupied on the Eastern Front . That same month, Germany launched an extensive attack in France along the Somme River, knocking a devastating blow to the Allies. By the summer of 1918, the United States had escalated it’s involvement in the war, sending over mass amounts of troops and coordinating with European powers to essentially back the German offensive into a position of little advancement. As Germany recognized its failing position in the war, the officials in the German High Command began quietly pursuing negotiations of peace and cease fire, not from their European counterparts, but from American President Woodrow Wilson . Germany was hoping to benefit from President Wilson’s ideals of peace and justice for all, ideals he had laid out publicly that year in a January speech outlining his “blueprint for a new democratic world order.” These Fourteen Points became the cornerstone of Wilson’s contribution to the peace negotiations following the armistice that ended the war in November of 1918. Focusing on the belief that an established system of democracy, communication and peace would prevent further atrocities like World War I, the Fourteen Points centered on equal representation and opportunity

promote freedom of the seas, break down economic barriers, ensure self-determination for the oppressed, and form a world organization that would enact systemic security for all nations. Germany readily accepted the conditions; however, the Allies were unable to overcome the past atrocities and were more interested in reparations for World War I than promises of future peace. Fortunately, Wilson formulated the Fourteen Points so that even if one point was implemented it would contribute to peace efforts.

Assess the impact of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points on the Paris Peace Settlement and determine whether Wilson was successful in his goals.