The Blueprint That Never Was

In the year 1917, after over two years into the war to end all wars, independent attempts at a peace compromise were put forward by Austria and the Pope (O’ Brien, n.d.). These, however, were futile attempts as the war carried on its raging inferno, with no party prepared for defeat. The entry of the United States into the war that very year (Lowe, 2005, p. 19) gave surface for a modernistic approach to peace by the visionary President Woodrow Wilson. The United States, along with the Allied Governments, were eager to keep Russia in the war following the downfall of the Russian government in the Bolshevik revolution. It was partially in response to Lenin’s involvement that Wilson resolved to make a declaration on war aims. (O’ Brien, n.d.) In January 1918, in a speech to both houses of Congress, Wilson addressed 14 Points as the blueprint for peace between the militant powers. He clearly addressed what he understood as the grounds for war by pursuit of abolition of secret diplomacy, freedom of the seas, an all-round reduction in armaments, and adjustments in colonial claims. To ensure world peace even in future, Wilson proposed the removal of economic barriers between states and a world organization to preserve peace – the most important of which he considered (Baker & Dodd, 1924).

The material in Wilson’s speech were based on records generated by “The Inquiry”, a body of approximately 150 political and civil scientist brought together by the president’s adviser and friend, Col. Edward M. House. Their task was to research Allied and American policy and enquire into financial, civil, and political information to be expected in discourse during the peace conference. (Our Documents, n.d.)

The first fundamental theme of Wilson’s 14 Points (Wilson, 1918) is his high regard for the need of transparency in matters of international relations. In his first point, Wilson stresses the importance of abolishing secret diplomacies, which in the years leading up to the war, were binding countries together through confidential negotiations such as the �Entente Cordiale’ between Britain and France (Lowe, 2005, p. 8). This sparked collected nations, obligated to fight beside their Allies in the instance of Serbia and Russia; Germany and Austria-Hungary. (Lowe, 2005, p. 13) Freedom of navigation at sea and the removal of all economic barriers promoted international cooperation and would prove beneficial for all nations, the latter in subduing the economic chaos which followed the tragic war. The reduction in armaments would serve to end the great Anglo-German naval rivalry (O’ Brien, n.d.), as there was a steady increase in armaments in the region of Europe before the war, in reference to Germany (Lowe, 2005, p. 13). Wilson saw any reduction in armaments, naval or otherwise, as a step in reducing any risk of escalation of tension between nations.

Wilson’s second underlying idea was the replenishment of territories as before the war with a guarantee overall wellbeing for citizens under colonies of great power such as Britain and Germany . Interestingly, Wilson isolates Russia and possession of her territories. This may reflect his concern on the Bolshevik revolutionary government as communist ideologies were still fresh tenets, and the unstable nature of Russia’s new government prompted Wilson to propose sovereignty in the country. In his further terms, Wilson urged the restoration of Belgium without attempt to restrict its dominion. He called for the liberation of France and the restoration of Alsace and Lorraine, which were lost in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871 (OnWar, n.d.). Furthermore, readjustments of Italian frontiers were to be effected along “clearly recognizable” lines of nationality. Under this central theme, Wilson hoped to secure peace in the interest of all and escalate his beliefs that constitutions in a country were to be set and determined by her own government or the entire structure and justice of international law is “forever impaired”.

Another essential feature of the 14 Points