After Woodrow Wilson made his Fourteen Points speech to Congress, the text of the speech was quickly distributed to representatives of the Allied governments. It received mixed reviews: Many Europeans found it hard to imagine that an American president presumed to sort out all of Europe’s problems in a single page of very general concepts. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, for instance, remarked with sarcasm that God Himself had provided only ten commandments.
Still, delegates from the Allied nations gave Wilson's points a chance: They tried to convert its general proposals into a treaty that would designate post-war borders. However, the maps that the delegates had available were not nearly accurate enough to avoid disagreements. And while Wilson had stressed the need to grant self-determination to the people
who had been historically dominated by Austria-Hungary, Germany, Russia,
and the Ottoman Empire, most of the former colonial territories of the Central Powers were simply transferred to the Allies.
Study the information on the tabs below to learn more about the European response to Wilson's Fourteen Points.
Belgium
France
Italy
Britain
United States
Baron Charles de Broqueville of Belgium responded to the Fourteen Points on February 28, 1918. Germany had indicated they agreed "in principle" to Wilson’s proposal, but they insisted on using their continued occupation of Belgium to enhance their bargaining position. Belgian neutrality had been ignored by the German Kaiser during the war, and the Belgian diplomat announced that negotiations for peace involving Belgium could only take place after the Germans departed and with the active support and cooperation of the Allied powers, who had guaranteed Belgian independence.
De Broqueville insisted that Germany pay "reparation for damages and guarantees against repetition of the aggression of 1914.” In relation to Wilson’s Fourteen Points, this meant that Belgium had no interest in discussing a peace treaty while their country was still being occupied by Germany. The Belgians felt that the negotiations should come later after German had been forced to leave Belgium.
The French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau, served as president of the peace conference. The French had been fighting for a century with Germany-- beginning with Napoleon Bonaparte’s victories, which had loosened both the German and Austro-Hungarian domination over numerous smaller states. In the Franco-Prussian War, Germany regained most of that territory. And the Germans had already drafted plans to invade France ten years before the start of World War I.
First of all, Clemenceau did not think the Fourteen Points contained any new points that were not already commonly agreed upon. Next, he demanded reparations from Germany that would reduce the threat that "terrorizes the populations and prevents them from devoting themselves freely to their work for fear of the enemies who may spring up at any moment.” The French viewed Germany’s refusal to accept their role in the conflict--as fully responsible for it--as an indication that the conflict was not yet over.
When the Italian Prime Minister, Sidney Sonnino, arrived at the Paris Peace Conference to represent the interests of his nation, Italy remained partly occupied by Austria-Hungary. Italy had already received Allied military support in preventing Austria-Hungary from seizing Venice. The Italians knew that both the Ottomans and Austria-Hungary would likely be forced to surrender border regions to the Allies. They hoped that the Versailles Treaty could be used to increase their own territorial status. Ultimately, the Italians received very little new territory, since both Britain and France had lost many troops trying to defend them.
David Lloyd George was the British Prime Minister at the end of World War I. He had come to Paris with very specific ideas that were largely similar to Wilson’s Fourteen Points. However, Britain wanted Germany to forfeit all of its overseas colonies. The Germans had expected this outcome, but there were several areas in Eastern Europe, most notably the Ukraine, which they were entirely unwilling to turn over to Russia.
The struggle for Eastern European territory was not Britain’s concern, however. The British wanted control of Arabia and Palestine after the Ottomans were "partitioned," or divided up. In closed discussions, the French and British hammered out what amounted to private arrangements that would benefit their nations.
Wilson's Fourteen Points, and the League of Nations in particular, were not very popular back home either. Theodore Roosevelt wrote an article called “The League of Nations” in January of 1919, in which he remarked: “If the League of Nations is built on a document as high-sounding and as meaningless as the speech in which Mr. Wilson laid down his fourteen points, it will simply add one more scrap to the diplomatic waste paper basket.” His criticism concerned the fact that most of the points could be interpreted to mean “anything or nothing." Also, one US Senator suggested that the League of Nations should be “buried in hell."
By the end of the first week of discussions in Paris, it became clear
that most delegates were thinking of the Paris Peace Conference as an
opportunity to exact revenge against Germany. During the conference,
Wilson’s health began to fail, and he had very little effect on the
drafting of the Versailles Treaty, after delivering his Fourteen Points
address.
How did the United States' allies react to Wilson's attempt to shape a transition to peace? Use these questions to review a few key points.
Which of the following was one reason why the borderlines created in the Versailles Treaty were a big problem?
Borders have always been pretty popular and unfortunately Germany didn't like their borders so it took two world wars to make the needed changes.
Borders have always been pretty popular and unfortunately Germany didn't like their borders so it took two world wars to make the needed changes.
The problems with inaccurate maps have also led to many other conflicts.
Why didn't the Belgian Minister think the Peace Treaty was a good idea?
Russia welcomed the treaty since it meant that the land they had lost to Germany would be returned and France had no interest in taking over Belgium.
The German occupation of Belgian remained one of the main issues to resolve since the Kaiser wanted to use it as a bargaining chip.
Russia welcomed the treaty since it meant that the land they had lost to Germany would be returned and France had no interest in taking over Belgium.
Why did France make so many demands at the Peace Conference in regard to Germany?
The French people almost all agreed with the efforts to reduce Germany to a state of poverty, if possible, to prevent any more invasions. Also, Austria-Hungary was invading Italy and there wasn't much fear of them crossing the continent to Paris.
The French people almost all agreed with the efforts to reduce Germany to a state of poverty, if possible, to prevent any more invasions. Also, Austria-Hungary was invading Italy and there wasn't much fear of them crossing the continent to Paris.
The German military continued to expand, however, until WWII.
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