Villalobos Eamon Barkhordarian

Period C 4/12/09
World History
Handout "Wilson's 14 Points & Treaty of Versailles"
1) What is the tone of President's Wilson speech, include specific examples?

He set the tone for post-war American diplomacy. Wilson could foresee that international

relations would only become more important to American security. He advocated equal

trade conditions, arms reduction and national sovereignty for former colonies of Europe’s

weakening empires. His overall tone was fair and optimistic, always looking toward

peace regardless of the circumstances. “Equality of trade conditions among all the nations

consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. His tone also

revolved around “restoration” and how to restore many countries affected during the war.

“ Belgium must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty

which she enjoys in common with all other free nations.” “All French territory should be

freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Russia in 1871

should be rightened.” He wants security also alongside with freedom for many.

2) The last two paragraphs before the 14 Points--how does he describe his "world vision"?

President Wilson welcomes peace, and says that once peace has begun, he welcomes it with wide

arms. I believe the “secret understandings” means secret agreements and alliances, which he

prohibits between countries. He imagines a day when conquest and overdoing is gone and so are

the secret agreements between countries. He explains that the only reason the United States

entered the war was because “violations of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and

made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected.” They entered the war

merely to keep the country and its people secure. His world vision is for the world to be a safe

and secure place to be in, and safe for every peace loving nation. “Unless justice is not done to
Villalobos Eamon Barkhordarian
Period C 4/12/09
World History
others, it will not be done to us.” He believes the worlds program to world peace is his program

and that program is the only possible program as they see it.

3) List and describe 4 themes in Wilson's 14 Points.

1. No secret treaties, alliances, or covenants. The president wants open covenants of

peace. “The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret

covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some

unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world.”

2. Freedom and Equality. Freedom of navigation on the seas, outside territorial waters,

alike in peace and war. The removal of all economic barriers and the establishment of an

equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating

themselves for its maintenance.

3. Restoration. “ Belgium must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit

the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations.” “All French

territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France

by Russia in 1871 should be rightened.”

4. Security and Freedom. The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be

assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule

should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity

of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free

passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

4) In the Treaty of Versialles, how and why is Germany "treated"--include specific

examples?
Villalobos Eamon Barkhordarian
Period C 4/12/09
World History
World War I ended with Germany being the only "enemy" left of the original combatants

and the world was plenty mad about the millions of deaths the war caused, so they got to

shoulder the burden of paying restitutions to the countries that Germany had opposed. As

with most questions involving war, this is but a simplified explanation. It forced

Germany to assume full blame for causing the war. It also imposed huge reparations that

would put an already damaged German economy under a staggering burden. The

reparations not only covered the destruction caused by the war, but the pension for

millions of allied soldiers or their widows and families. The total cost of German

reparation would come to over $30 billion. The treaty limited the size of the country’s

army and took a lot of land from the country away. “The German military forces shall be

demobilized and reduced as prescribed hereinafter.” “The territories which were ceded to

Germany in accordance with the Preliminaries of peace signed at Versailles on February

26, 1871, and the Treaty of Frankfort of May 10, 1871, are restored to French

sovereignty.” “The Allied and Associated Governments, require, and Germany

undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian

population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property during the period of

the belligerency of each as an Allied or Associated Power against Germany.”

5) Review "Article 231" what does this article ask Germany to do?

The article asks Germanyto accept the responsibility for causing the war. Also it forces

Germany and her allies to accept the responsibility of all the losses it caused for the

Allied forces. Basically, it’s putting all the blame of the war on Germany and its allies.