Fourteen Points

On January 8, 1918, toward the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson stood before both houses of Congress to lay out a vision for the postwar period. He proposed a plan based on “Fourteen Points,” which gave his short speech its name. Newspapers around the world quickly reprinted the speech’s core passages under that title. This guide uses the full text of the speech in the Congressional Record for the House of Representatives (Vol. 56, Part 1). The list of 14 points, which have often been published alone, composes most of the speech’s second half.

Wilson opens his speech with an explanation of why America needs to define the peace for which it is fighting. He recounts the recent peace talks at Brest-Litovsk between the enemy Central Powers (Germany and Austria) and Russia, a US ally. Wilson describes how the Russians offered reasonable and just principles for a settlement. In contrast, the Central Powers talked about liberal ideas but in practice made harsh demands to which the Russians could not submit (690).

Wilson speculates that this discrepancy shows tension between the Central Powers’ civilian and military leaders, which may offer hope for future negotiations. He then says it is time for all participants, especially the US, to publicly state their vision for an armistice and postwar world. He condemns all attempts at making secret deals behind closed doors. He admits that Russia is militarily broken and helpless before Germany’s armies but praises its continued heroic defiance. America, Wilson proclaims, entered the war because the Central Powers violated rights and therefore must ensure that peace is made on the foundation of justice (690-91).

Wilson then moves into his proposals (691). His first five points describe principles that, if obeyed by all nations after the war, will lead to a more prosperous world that might avoid another such war. They include:

1. All international treaties and alliances should be made in full view of the public without backroom deals.

2. All nations should have freedom of navigation (the right to sail any sea without their ships being harassed or sunk).

3. There should be open trade between nations without economic barriers.

4. Militaries and stockpiles of military supplies should be reduced to the minimum needed for self-defense.

5. European and Japanese claims to rule parts of the world as colonies should be judged by a neutral party. The desires and rights of the colonial subjects need to be given as much weight as the claims of their colonial rulers.

Wilson’s next eight points address the future borders of specific territories. These points include:

6. Wilson demands that the Central Powers withdraw from occupied Russian territory. He also demands that all nations respect the freedom of Russia to rule itself under the institutions of its choosing, a veiled reference to the new communist government being formed there.

7. Belgium, which was invaded at the beginning of the war in violation of international law, must be liberated.

8. The French territories of Alsace-Lorraine, taken by Germany in 1871, must be restored to France.

9. Italy’s frontiers are to be adjusted based on ethnicity. In other words, if most people in a disputed territory speak Italian, that region should be part of Italy.

10. The people who make up the Austro-Hungarian empire should be allowed to freely develop themselves. That is, the different ethnic groups in that empire should have the right to create their own countries.

11. The Central Powers should give up the countries in the Balkans (southeastern Europe) that they had conquered, including Serbia.

12. The Turks, who rule the Ottoman Empire, can keep the country of Turkey but other ethnic groups in the empire should be able to form their own countries.

13. The Polish people should have their own country.

Wilson rounds out his list with a final point that suggests a way to enforce his earlier principles. The later League of Nations is based on this point:

14. He calls for an association of nations that can guarantee peace and protect small nations against attack.

Wilson reaffirms that America’s concern is justice. He reassures Germans that he has no hatred of them or desire to humiliate them. He is happy to embrace a peaceful Germany as an equal—all that needs to happen is for liberal German civilians to overrule the generals who desire to become the masters of other nations. America will fight so long as justice is denied but will happily make a just peace.

Wilson concludes with a rousing declaration of America’s commitment to justice and liberty for all people. He casts the war in apocalyptic tones as the “final war for human liberty” (691). The US will fight to the end to ensure that good triumphs.