Woodrow Wilson 14 Points Analysis

764 Words2 Pages

Wilson’s Fourteen Points Analysis
The United States (US) President Woodrow Wilson “Fourteen Points” speech was initially thought to be an acceptable proposal for peace following the First World War; however, they sparked many controversial issues and were not readily accepted by all the nations involved. His idealistic views were in favor of American Foreign Policies, Allied bias and additional powers in Western Europe. The Fourteen Points were less beneficial to the problem that Europe was encountering and more favorable to the Allied Powers, as the United States main focus was to become a more dominant nation, while the Great Britain wanted more rule over the seas and France on the other hand was seeking vengeance.
Wilson’s idealism further resulted in the Europeans nations having a challenge to pursue the fourteen elements, predominantly the issue of self-governance which prevailed throughout most of the points. In reading the article, one might quickly conclude that the Allies favored all aspects of self-governance without partiality and/or favor but presumably this was not the case, as there were a lot of biases to it. Self-governance was in favor of self-interest for the US; this is evident in point five which states that “all decisions regarding the colonies should be impartial”. Basically, this has in fact restricted self-governance for most nations, by interchanging the European rule in a more discrete manner. A few countries, for example Poland was allowed independence, whereas others were being denied, as a consequence they became mandates. The meat of the matter was that the fifth proposal allowed the Allies a greater advantage of controlling colonialism in particular Great Britain. This whole issue of self-governa...

... middle of paper ...

... the actual Fourteen Points as proposed. Prior to reading the points, he made mention of that there were “no confusion between the Allied powers, no uncertainty of principle and no vagueness of detail”. He further stated that “only failure to make definite statement of the objects of the war lies with Germany and her allies”. Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” yielded minimal success as it regards to post World War peace and many of the points failed because they were severely deficient in detail and succinct. The last point that spoke about the “League of Nations” was accepted. In addition the points were based exclusively on US ideals without any input from the other countries that were affected.

Works Cited
"Fourteen Points." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Encyclopedia.com, 2013. Web. 2 April 2014. .

Show More
Related

  • Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles

    1243 Words  | 3 Pages

    Wilson's 14 Points vs. the Treaty of Versailles. When the peace processes were to start after the end of World War One, there were four people who were major components in the treaty of Paris: Clemenceau, George, Orlando, and Wilson. Clemenceau wanted revenge on the Germans by punishing them through the treaties because he believed that they were at fault for the war; George was in agreement with Clemenceau although he did not feel that Germany should suffer severe punishment; Orlando who wanted the irredenta to be re-established; and President Wilson of the United States of America wanted to create a mild peace with Germany in a fair way. In view of this, Wilson created fourteen points that he wanted accomplished in full as a result of the peace treaties. His fourteen points were his plan for a world peace and included plans for the end of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, the just settlement of colonial claims, the establishment of a League of Nations, and the evacuation of occupied territories and national self-determination.

    Read More

  • Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt's Imperialistic America

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    American taking part in imperialism gained its motion from both economic and cultural justifications that stemmed from America's history of expansion; American imperialism only varied slightly in the first few generations of presidents as we will explore sampling from Theodore Roosevelt's presidency on into Woodrow Wilson's presidency. American's previous western expansion became the breeding grounds for American imperialistic justification. Though cultural justifications were used to keep the public interest in support of imperialism economic justifications were viewed as more important throughout the history of imperialism, even in uniting the similarities of Theodore Roosevelt's and Woodrow Wilson's imperial agendas.

    Read More

  • Comparing Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt

    1543 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the 20th century many different presidents went in and out of the doors of the White House serving the country the best they could. However, two of these men hold a place in American history as perhaps the greatest leaders that had ever served our country. Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson are two extraordinary men that symbolize the hope and aspirations of the American people during such a tumultuous time in United States history. Both of these men held leadership qualities like no other, had strong views for America, and held exceptional ideas on foreign policy.

    Read More

  • Foreign Policy Dbq

    1378 Words  | 3 Pages

    As part of his fourteen points, Wilson proposed formation of a body that will be assigned to handle international disputes which was later named League of

    Read More

  • Wilson vs. Roosevelt

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first two decades of the twentieth century the national political scene reflected a growing American belief in the ideas of the Progressive movement. This movement was concerned with fundamental social and economic reforms and gained in popularity under two presidents. Yet Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson espoused two different approaches to progressive reform. And each one was able to prevail upon congress to pass legislation in keeping with his own version of the progressive dream. These two people, although they had different principles in mind, had one goal: to make changes to the nation for the better of the people and the country. Setting out to reach this goal, Roosevelt came to be a president of the common man while Wilson became the “better” progressive president.

    Read More

  • Comparison Of President Woodrow Wilson And Franklin D. Roosevelt

    661 Words  | 2 Pages

    The decisions made by our leaders during the world wars greatly affected our history and the worlds. President Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt made great strides to protect our national security and our future. Both had similarities and differences in their strategy to combat the issue of war. Both made the United States more involved in world affairs today.

    Read More

  • An Analysis of Arthur Link's Book, Woodrow Wilson Revolution, War, and Peace

    1503 Words  | 4 Pages

    Link’s book was published in 1979 and was written based upon privet manuscript collections, government archives from the U.S, Brittan, France and Germany, as well as newspapers. Link also reaches from monographs, biographies, and articles from numerous colleagues. (Link.pg 129) Each of these sources are solid and reliable sources, and were well used to put together a book packed with information on Woodrow Wilson’s life. Link uses many firsthand accounts from Wilson himself, but seems almost suspicious of accounts that were not presented first hand. Though Link is extremely selective in what he chose to present, the book clearly presents these facts, but has a very bias opinion of Wilson as discussed earlier. Link’s evidence, though selective, fits nicely in the monograph and makes the aspects of Wilson that he does cover clear and easy to read

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Wilson's Fourteen Points, By Woodrow Wilson

    1044 Words  | 3 Pages

    World War I, or the Great War, lasted from 1914 to 1918. In harsh battles between some of the world’s strongest economic powers, millions of people were killed and wounded. Woodrow Wilson was the President of the United States during these years, and he yearned for peace. Towards the end of the conflict, Wilson delivered a speech called “Fourteen Points” on January 8, 1918. His goal in doing so was to create some stability in a time of crisis. Even though the leaders of some countries did not jump on board right away, they eventually agreed to signing the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending the war. Through emphasizing peace, security, and freedom, President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” paid off overall, ultimately revealing that

    Read More

  • Woodrow Wilson and World War I

    973 Words  | 2 Pages

    On January 8, 1918 Wilson presented to Congress his speech The Fourteen Points. This was a plan for freedom and peace after the war (http://www.angelfire.com/in3/wilson/wilson.html). Without going into details of the entire Fourteen Points, a quote from u-s-history.com list the following:

    Read More

  • Wilsonian Realism In America's We Saved The World

    1101 Words  | 3 Pages

    In WWI, Wilsonian idealism meant several things. This included de-colonization. Also, Wilson strongly believed in democratic peace theory, and he thought that the United States needed to make the world safe for democracy. Furthermore, the president clarified that the United States was entering the war on a moral high ground. For example, Woodrow Wilson mentioned the U.S. was not going to war out of national security but the U.S. had a messianic mission. There were some concerns like the Zimmerman letter that asked Mexico to attack the U.S. On the other hand, the messianic mission was “a war to end all wars” and this was war to make the world safe for democracy. His ideas, which were deeply liberal principles, were embedded into the fourteen points he had created during

    Read More

  • Sykes-Picot agreement and Lawrence of arabia

    1312 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the end the agreement was far from ideal; the Great powers sought only short term gain without any real regard for the future and way the region was simply ‘’carved up’’ would sow the seeds for countless wars in the coming century. The agreement was condemned by American President Wilson as it contradicted his fourteen point plan regarding self-determination of nations. It was seen as the Colonial power reverting to the greedy imperialism which many believed was the cause of WW1. As one expert on the Middle East later stated; "The Sykes-Picot deal was designed in a manner that fulfils the interest of the West based on the ground realities that existed at the time i.e. it was a solution that was far from optimal in establishing a stable long term existence in the Middle East’’.

    Read More

  • The Treaty of Versailles

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    President Woodrow Wilson had hopes for a New World. For Wilson, the war had been fought against autocracy. A peace settlement based on liberal-democratic ideals, he hoped, would get rid of the foundations of war. None of Wilson's hopes seemed better than the idea of self-determination -- the right of a people to have its own state, free of any foreign domination. In particular, this goal meant the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France which had been lost to Germany in the Franco-Prussian war, the creation of an independent Poland, the changing of the frontiers of Italy to include Austrian lands where Italians lived, and an opportunity for Slavs of the Austro- Hungarian Empire to form their own states.

    Read More

  • Differences Of Wilson And Woodrow Wilson's Decree On Peace

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    Lenin’s decree states good points on how to achieve a brief period of peace and opens it up to negotiations on how to alter the decree to better serve the purpose of peace. The Fourteen Points directly say exactly what Wilson believes is needed and is included in his declaration of entering the war. The Fourteen Points possibly would have been the best plan for the world and did help with the good aspects of the conclusion of the war; however, every country in Europe had it’s own agenda that did not adhere to the wants of the foreign United States of America. In the course of human history, what is best for the people of the world is not what transpires and this is evidently seen in the ambitious ideals put forth by Vladimir Lenin and Woodrow

    Read More

  • Idealism and Realism

    1783 Words  | 4 Pages

    To begin with, Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the United States is one of the most influential and known idealist in history. He is recognized as an idealist because of his admirable ambitions and his strive for excellence. He had a major role after World War One, when he presented his Fourteen Points. The Fourteen Points were meant to bring peace to the world and make it so that another tragic war like the Great War would not occur again. His Fourteen Points Speech is a perfect example of idealism because in the speech Wilson talked about free trade, self-determination, disarmament, freedom of the seas, and the most important part of the speech was the League of Nat...

    Read More

  • Woodrow Wilson The Study Of Administration Summary

    726 Words  | 2 Pages

    Woodrow Wilson’s purpose in writing “The Study of Administration” is to bring awareness that the government systems in place need to be re-evaluated and improved. Wilson encourages we need to examine the history of administration set forth by others in determining certain needs to be accomplished in effective ways and methods. Wilson’s desirable outcomes for research within the public administration field are for government systems to become more productive and organized.

    Read More

More about Woodrow Wilson 14 Points Analysis

Open Document