Wilson Fights for Peace
Ch. 11-4
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
• The Fourteen Points – Wilson’s plan for world peace
– No secret treaties b/w nations;
– Freedom of the seas for all nations;
– Nations should lower or abolish tariffs in order to
promote free trade;
– Arms reduction (weapons);
– Colonial policies should consider the interests of the
colonial peoples;
– Ethnic groups should be able to either form their own
nation state or decide what state to belong to;
– League of Nations: international forum to solve disputes
Allies Reject Wilson’s Plan
• Wilson’s plan failed to take into account the anger felt by
Allied leaders
• The “Big Four” meet in Paris to negotiate a peace treaty:
• George Clemenceau (France) - Lived through two previous German
invasions
• David Lloyd George (Great Britain) - promises to “Make Germany
Pay”
• Vittorio Orlando (Italy) - Wants control of Austrian held territory
• Woodrow Wilson (U.S.A.) – Wants to “Make the world safe for
democracy” through the creation of a League of Nations
• Peace talks exclude representatives from the Central
Powers and Russia
Treaty of Versailles
• Established nine new nations and shifted the
boundaries of other nations;
– Russia looses much of its territory
• Barred Germany from maintaining an army;
• Germany required to pay reparations;
• War Guilt Clause – required Germany to
accept total responsibility for the war
• Ignored claims of colonized people for selfdetermination
• Created a League of Nations
Opposition to the Treaty
• Many people in the U.S. oppose the Treaty of
Versailles because:
– Economic concerns
– Sell-out to imperialism
– League of Nations
• Threatened U.S. isolationism
• Suspicious of requirement for joint military/economic
action against acts of aggression
• Wilson refuses to compromise;
• The Senate refuses to ratify the Treaty
The Legacy of the War
• Accelerates America’s emergence as the
world’s greatest industrial power;
• Contributes to the movement of AfricanAmericans to the North (Great Migration);
• Anti-immigrant and anti-radical fears are
intensified in the U.S.;
• Over 1 million women enter the work force;
• Leaves Europe politically and economically
unstable