Fourteen Points

The Fourteen Points were listed in a speech delivered by President Woodrow Wilson of the United States to a joint session of the United States Congress on January 8, 1918. In his speech, Wilson set out a blueprint for a just and lasting peace in Europe after World War I. The idealism displayed in the speech gave Wilson a position of moral leadership among the Allies, and encouraged the Central Powers to surrender.

The speech was delivered over 10 months before the Armistice with Germany ended World War I, but the Fourteen Points became the basis for the terms of the German surrender, as negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and documented in the Treaty of Versailles. However, only four of the points were adopted completely in the post-war reconstruction of Europe, and the United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.

Background

The U.S. joined the Allies fighting the Central Powers in 1917. By early 1918, it was clear that the war was nearing its end. The Fourteen Points in the speech were based on the research of the "Inquiry," a team of about 150 advisers led by Colonel Edward M. House, Wilson's foreign policy advisor, into the topics likely to arise in the anticipated peace conference.

Wilson's speech took many of the principles of progressivism that had produced domestic reform in the U.S. and translating them into foreign policy (free trade, open agreements, democracy and self-determination). The Fourteen Points speech was the only explicit statement of war aims by any of the nations fighting in World War I: other belligerents gave general indications of their aims; others wanted to gain territory, and so refused to state their aims.

The speech also responded to Vladimir Lenin's Decree on Peace of October 1917, which proposed an immediate withdrawal of Russia from the war, calling for a just and democratic peace that was not compromised by territorial annexations, and led to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.

The Fourteen Points

The first five of Wilson's Fourteen Points were quite general:

I. The abolition of secret treaties

Secret treaties were common before the First World War, and many blamed them for helping spark the conflict.

II. The freedom of the seas

The freedom of the seas allowed for freedom of navigation outside territorial waters at times of war and peace, but also allowed for total and partial blockades "for the enforcement of international covenants". This proposal was opposed in particular by the United Kingdom.

III. Free trade

Free trade provided for the removal of economic barriers between peaceful nations, also called for the introduction of equality in trading conditions.

IV. Disarmament

Disarmament "to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety".

V. Adjustment of colonial claims.

Wilson called for decolonisation and national self-determination for formerly colonized countries, and for the people of the world to give equal weight to the opinions of the colonized peoples as to those of the colonial powers.

Points six through thirteen were more specific, dealing with the situation of specific countries:

VI. Russia

In the aftermath of the October Revolution and the context of the ongoing Civil War, Russia was to be assured its independent development. This also called for a withdrawal from occupied Russian territory.

VII. The restoration of Belgium

Belgium to be evacuated and restored to the status quo ante bellum.

VIII. Alsace-Lorraine

France had lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany following the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War; it was to be returned.

IX. Italy

The borders of Italy were to be redrawn on lines of nationality. Ignoring the territorial promises made under the secret 1915 London Pact, whereby Italy was persuaded to enter the war on the Allies' side, this became a source of resentment in that country.

X. Austria-Hungary

Autonomous development of the peoples of Austria-Hungary (as the Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved).

XI. Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and other Balkan states

The integrity of Romania, Serbia, Montenegro, and other Balkan states was to be respected, their territories deoccupied, and Serbia was to be given access to the Adriatic Sea.

XII. Ottoman Empire

Sovereignty for the Turkish portion of the Ottoman Empire, autonomous development for other nationalities, and free navigation of the Dardanelles.

XIII. The Polish question.

The establishment of an independent Poland with access to the sea.

Wilson's final point was perhaps the most visionary:

XIV. A general association of nations

Point 14 called for a multilateral international association of nations to enforce the peace, foreshadowing the League of Nations (and, after the Second World War, the United Nations).

Impact

The speech contained the highest ideals, reforming foreign policy on moral and ethical grounds, rather than pure self-interest. It was widely disseminated as an instrument of propaganda, to encourage the Allies to victory. Copies were also dropped behind German lines, to encourage the Central Powers to surrender in thee expectation of a just settlement. Indeed, a note sent to Wilson by Prince Maximilian of Baden, the German imperial chancellor, in October 1918 requested an immediate armistice and peace negotiations on the basis of the Fourteen Points.

The speech was made without prior coordination or consultation with Wilson's counterparts in Europe. As the only public statement of war aims, it became the basis for the terms of the German surrender at the end of the First World War, as negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 and documented in the Treaty of Versailles. Opposition to the Fourteen Points among British and French leaders became clear after hostilities ceased: the British were against freedom of the seas; the French demanded reparations. Wilson was forced to compromise on many of his ideals to ensure that his most important point, the establishment of the League of Nations, was accepted. In the end, the Treaty of Versailles went far beyond the proposals in the Fourteen Points. The resulting bitterness in Germany laid the seeds for the rise of Fascism in the 1930s.

Nevertheless, Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for his peace-making efforts. He also inspired independence movements around the world, including the March 1st Movement in Korea. However, history shows that, despite the idealism, the post-war reconstruction of Europe adopted only four of the points completely. Also, the United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles, making it invalid in the United States and effectively hamstringing the nascent League of Nations envisioned by Wilson. The largest obstacle faced in the ratification of the Treaty of Versailles was the opposition of Henry Cabot Lodge. It has also been said that Wilson himself was the second-largest obstacle, primarily because he refused to support the treaty with any of the alterations proposed by the United States Senate.

References

Text and commentary from the US Department of State
Text and commentary from John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Text and commentary from ourdocuments.gov
Interpretation of President Wilson's Fourteen Points by Colonel House

External links

Wilson's shorthand notes from the Library of Congress

International relations | League of Nations | World War I

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Background

The Fourteen Points

Impact

References

External links