What did president wilson’s fourteen points propose about communication between nations?
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As America sent its men overseas to fight, President Woodrow Wilson continued to make a moral case for its involvement in the war. Wilson was a progressive and an idealist. At the same time, he was deeply prejudiced against African Americans, and for years was strongly opposed to voting rights for women. These contradictory attitudes were not unusual for the time. In a speech to Congress on January 8, 1918, Wilson laid out fourteen concepts that summarized U.S. war aims. Some were specific to the war: Germany was to evacuate Russia, leave Belgium and return territory taken from France in their 1870 war. Italy’s borders would be adjusted to encompass all Italian speakers (at Austia-Hungary’s expense). Austria-Hungary was to leave the nations it had occupied. It would also offer self-government to its minorities, as would the Ottoman Empire. An independent Polish state would be established. On a broader scale, Wilson wanted to address the issues he believed had led to the outbreak and expansion of the war. He proposed an end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, reductions in armaments and greater rights for colonial peoples. To enforce these principles, he proposed the creation of a global “association of nations.” Wilson’s speech came to be known as the “Fourteen Points.” They were embraced around the world as American idealism at its best, and were adopted by the Allies as the central message of their wartime propaganda. However, Wilson would ultimately find it difficult to turn his ideals into reality, even in his home country. The immediate cause of America�s entry into World War I in April 1917 was the German announcement of unrestricted submarine warfare, and the subsequent sinking of ships with Americans on board. But President Wilson�s war aims went beyond the defense of U.S. maritime interests. In his War Message to Congress he declared our object �is to vindicate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the world.� Wilson used several speeches earlier in the year to sketch out his vision of an end to the war that would bring a �just and secure peace,� and not merely �a new balance of power.� He then appointed a committee of experts known as The Inquiry to help him refine his ideas for peace. In December 1917 he asked The Inquiry to draw up specific recommendations for a comprehensive peace settlement. Using these recommendations, Wilson presented a program of fourteen points to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918. Eight of the fourteen points treated specific territorial issues among the combatant nations. Five of the other six concerned general principles for a peaceful world: open covenants (i.e. treaties or agreements), openly arrived at; freedom of the seas; free trade; reduction of armaments; and adjustment of colonial claims based on the principles of self-determination. The fourteenth point proposed what was to become the League of Nations to guarantee the �political independence and territorial integrity [of] great and small states alike.� Wilson's idealism pervades the fourteen points, but he also had more practical objectives in mind: keeping Russia in the war by convincing the Bolsheviks that they would receive a better peace from the Allies; bolstering Allied morale; and undermining German war support. The address was immediately hailed in the United States and Allied nations, and even by Lenin, as a landmark of enlightenment in international relations. Wilson subsequently used the Fourteen Points as the basis for negotiation of the Versailles Treaty that ended the First World War. Although the treaty did not fully realize Wilson�s unselfish vision, the Fourteen Points still stand as the most powerful expression of the idealist strain in American diplomacy. What did the 14 Points propose?They prescribed a program of transparency in international relations, free trade, freedom of the seas, reductions in armaments, national self-determination, and adjustment of colonial claims that gave equal weight to the peoples of the colonized countries.
What was President Wilson's vision for his 14 Points?Wilson's vision included freedom of the seas, arms limitations, the return of territory conquered by Germany, autonomy for nationalities ruled by the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, and a new association of nations to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity of all states.
What did President Wilson's Fourteen Points propose about Brainly?He proposed that there should be no secret treaties between countries like the treaties that helped to cause WWI. It was called: Open Diplomacy. >>>>
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