LAD #25: Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points

On January 8, 1918 President Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech to Congress about how America should deal with Germany after World War I. His plan was entitled the Fourteen Points, and were each lenient policies that the Congressmen did not approve of. In the first point, Wilson stated that there should not be any private alliances, and that all kinds of diplomacy should be open to the public. The second point stated that there shall be freedom of navigation upon the seas. This point was so that warfare could not be started in the seas. In the third point, Wilson stated that there shall be free trade throughout the world. In the fourth he stated that the armies of all the consenting peace nations will be decreased by size. In the fifth he stated that all decisions regarding the colonies should be impartial. In the sixth it stated that the German army was to be removed from Russia. In the seventh it stated that Belgium should become an independent, free country. In the eight, Wilson stated that Germany has to give back Alsace-Lorraine to the French. In the ninth, it stated that all Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy. In the tenth it said that the people of Austria-Hungary should determine how they should live through self-determination. In the eleventh point, it stated that self-determination should also be allowed for the Balkan states. In the twelfth, it stated that Turkish people should be governed by the Turkish government and non-Turkish people could have their own government. In the thirteenth point, it stated that Poland should be created. Finally, in the fourteenth point, and Wilson’s favorite point, a League of Nations was to be created.