World War I (Aftermath)

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On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson went to Congress to announce his ideas regarding the war affairs of America. He created something known as the Fourteen Points, a plan that would determine the foreign affairs of the United States after World War I (Brower). When looking at the points, it is easy to identify how these were similar in nature, allowing them to be grouped. The first group deals with the points one, two, three, four, and five. These points dealt with the idea of how to maintain peace between nations and reduce the chance of imperialism and war. Instantly, the idea of peace is introduced, as the first point begins with “Open covenants of peace” proving the importance of maintaining peace (“Woodrow Wilson”). Moreover, Wilson aimed to unite the nations of the world peacefully by granting nations the “freedom” to navigate seas, removing “economic barriers” that hindered trade, reducing “national armaments” based on the threat a country faces, and allowing “ free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims” (“Woodrow Wilson”). These five points came together to guarantee the freedom of each nation, as no nation would have a stronger military or control over the seas. Plus, trade would be less expensive, allowing stronger relations between the countries.
Wilson wanted to continue on this idea of reduction of imperialism. To address this, he included points six to thirteen, which dealt with “territorial guarantees” (Brower). To summarize, Wilson wanted to give each nation its own independence. Points six and seven deal with the evacuation and restoration of Russia and Belgium, respectively (Jones). Point eight deals with the restoration of French territory, and point nine deals with the borders...

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