Were Woodrow Wilsons 14 points a realistic target for the Treaty of Versailles to live up to?
As a military historian, I would have to say Wilson’s 14 points were overly-ambitious and somewhat unrealistic in the light of the wartime experiences and pre-existing attitudes of the European ‘Great Powers’. There is a case to be made that the punitive peace settlement of 1919 contributed significantly to the rise of Nazism in Germany (although there is an equally strong case to be made that extremism in some form would have arisen in a defeated Germany in any case). However, while it is very easy to criticise WIlson’s 14 Points, it should be remembered that they contributed largely to the creation of the League of Nations, the model for the international organisations which provide the world’s political framework today. Wilson’s calls for open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, removal of trade barriers and reduction of armaments all supported his central attempt to address the world’s problems, but I would without hesitation call the League of Nations the single most important point o
