HIStory blog

Ashley Gyer

History

October 7, 2009

Wilson’s 14 Points and Vision of the Future

Wilson was in favor of “peace without victory” and during the war he made plans for the peace following the war. He delivered his “Fourteen Points” speech to Congress January 8, 1918. The first five points was based on the idea of an open world. The Next eight points addressed the idea of “self-determination” for minorities throughout Europe. The final point was designed to support a League of Nations to guarantee political independence and peace among the small states.

Points six to thirteen addressed specific territorial issues:

· Point six concerned the evacuation of Russia and settlement of all questions affecting Russia

· Point seven concerned the evacuation and restoration of Belgium.

· Point eight freed all French territory with the return of Alsace-Lorraine.

· Point nine readjusted the frontiers of Italy along recognizable lines of nationality.

· Point ten guaranteed Austria-Hungary the opportunity for autonomous development.

· Point eleven evacuated Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro and provided Serbia sea access.

· Point twelve assured Turkey and other parts of the Ottoman Empire sovereignty. Free passage through the Dardanelles was guaranteed to all nations.

· Point thirteen provided for an independent Polish state.

The first five points were general and applied worldwide.

· Point one was to prohibit secret treaties such as the Triple alliance. The idea was that if a nation did not know about a treaty then the whole structure of international cooperation would be affected. This point would equally favor all nations regardless of size. With is point, then all nations would know about all treaties between other countries and be able to take any action necessary to maintain their commercial and political positions

· Point two provided absolute freedom of navigation on the seas. This point would be of greater benefit to nations with large fleets of ships. Small nations with little or no shipping would receive little benefit other than the fact that they could get shipments from other parts of the world without interference.

· Point three planned to do away with all special commercial agreements that might lead to war. The idea was to have equality of trade among all nations. This point would favor small nations because without it the larger nations could discriminate and deal only with other large nations.

· Point four called for decreased armaments and encouraged only having such arms that were needed to protect a territory from invasion. This point would favor smaller nations with little money for defense and armament. This point would possibly take away some of the power of the United States because they would have to give up some of their power to comply with the reduction of arms.

· Point five called for impartial adjustment of all colonial claims with the interests of the population to have equal weight with claims of the government. This point created some concern by England and France who wanted to make sure it only applied to colonial claims arising out of the war. This benefited England and Japan who were the chief heirs of the German colonial empire. It did produce some loss of original power in these areas.

· Point fourteen called for an association of nations to guarantee political independence and territorial integrity. This led to the formation of the League of Nations. This could have possibly had some effect on the time leading up to World War II, but since the Unites States never approved the League it became an ineffective organization.

Wilson hoped for a post war world that would be open, independent, and free. He envisioned freedom on the seas, free trade, an end to colonialism, and a worldwide reduction in armaments. He believed that all people should be able to choose their own form of government. Most of all he wanted a League of Nations to secure political independence and territorial integrity.