Free Custom «Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen Points Speech» Essay Paper

The Fourteen Points was a speech by then the President of the United, Woodrow Wilson, to the congress towards the end of world war one. The speech whose blue print was a fourteen-point message was to be used by the world as the basis of setting peace negotiations to end the world war one and to specifically assure Americans that they were fighting for a right course.In his speech, Wilson urged that "covenants of peace be quickly arrived at" to quickly end the war. Keenly, the President also noted that "absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war" except where the sea was closed due to agreements between two or more nations. All the economic barriers were also to be removed to allow free movement of people across borders.Because of the war many countries had increased their military forces as cautionary measures in regards to the war. Wilson urged these countries to reduce their military forces to coincide with the domestic level of military. He also called for the evacuation of all invaded soils in the same way all colonised nations were to be accorded their sovereignty as a sign of good will towards ending this war whose effects had turned out to be so adverse to the entire world. Concerning the displaced Polish natives, Wilson suggested that a "Polish state" be formed in addition to the formation of an association for the "purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike".

 

Type of service

Type of assignment

Title of your paper *

Academic level

Pages

Timeframe

Spacing

Currency

  Order now

Wilsons Fourteen Point Speech attracted mixed reactions from different people which prompted him to address another congress (11th February 1918) to clarify the fourteen points. Amongst all who reacted positively or negatively, to the president's speech there was one who was very much categorical about opinion on President Wilson's fourteen points. This was Arthur Balfour, then the British Foreign Secretary and a former Prime Minister. His speech was delivered to the congress on 27th February, 1918. He touched on the issues such as the Russian policy, German policy among others and openly accused some countries whose stands he did not like.

Balfour in other words was openly expressing his support to the Wilsons fourteen point plan of ending the war, an opposing stance to many, amongst them Georg von Hertling (Prime Minister of Bavaria, 1912-1917 and Prussia, 1917- 1918).