What does Woodrow WIlson 5 -14 14 points mean?
On the 8th January, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson presented his Peace Programme to Congress. Compiled by a group of US foreign policy experts, the programme included fourteen different points. The first five points dealt with general principles: Point 1 renounced secret treaties; Point 2 dealt with freedom of the seas; Point 3 called for the removal of worldwide trade barriers; Point 4 advocated arms reductions and Point 5 suggested the international arbitration of all colonial disputes. Points 6 to 13 were concerned with specific territorial problems including claims made by Russia, France and Italy. This part of Wilson’s programme also raised issues such as the control of the Dardanelles and the claims for independence by the people living in areas controlled by the Central Powers. All the major countries involved in the First World War objected to certain points in Wilson’s Peace Programme. However, when peace negotiations began in October, 1918, Wilson insisted that his Fourteen P
