HISTORY IGCSE CONTENT - 20TH CENTURY OPTION - FAIRNESS OF THE TREATIES 1919-1923: WILSON'S ROLE

1. WILSON’S ROLE
IGCSE HISTORY

4. PROFILE
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the president of the United States of
America during World War 1.
He was born in 1856 and he died in 1924.
His pre-political career included being a lawyer and a teacher in
political science.
He was also the president of the famous Princeton University.
In his political career he was the governor of New Jersey (1911-1913)
and the president of the United States (1913-1921).

5. CHARACTER
From 1914 to 1917 he focused on keeping the USA out of the war.
As president, he had campaigned against corruption in politics and
business. He had a poor record with regard to the rights of the African
Americans.
He was an idealist and a reformer who took America into the First
World War to make the world “Safe for Democracy”.
He devised his famous Fourteen Points in early 1918 which he hoped
would form the basis for a strong and lasting peace settlement. He was
the “father” (main inspiration) for the newly formed League of Nations
(the pre-United Nations organisation).
He was obstinate. Once he made his mind up on an issue he was
almost impossible to shift.

8. DID EVERYONE SHARE WILSON’S VIEW?
When Wilson talked about lasting peace and justice, other leaders
agreed with him. Who would stand up in public and say they were
against a just and lasting peace?
Many were doubtful about his ideas.
For example “self-determination”.
It would be very difficult to give people in Eastern Europe the
opportunity to rule themselves because they were scattered across so
many countries, especially in the Balkans.

9. THE AMERICAN VIEW
America had not declared war on Germany until April 1917 and was
not fully involved in the war until more than a year later.
At no point was American territory invaded and only few American
civilians died (800).
The war had provided profitable trading and business opportunities
for American manufacturers, merchants and finance people.
Lack of a national emotion meant that Wilson could stand back and
take a more detached view of the peace talks.

10. THE FOURTEEN POINTS
The Fourteen Points had been drawn up during the later stages of the
war. They resulted from Wilson trying to identify the general causes of
the conflict and finding remedies for each of the causes.

11. EXAMPLES

12. THE SECRET TREATIES
Wilson believed that secret treaties had led to misunderstandings and
suspicion between the most important countries before the war.
He recommended that there should be open diplomacy and no treaties
(Point 1).

13. THE ARMAMENT RACE
Wilson decided that one of the causes of the war was the armament
race, consisting in naval ships, aircrafts, weaponry.
He recommended that all states should disarm, maintaining just what
was needed for basic defence (Point 4).

14. THE SELF-DETERMINATION
Wilson hoped to promote the long-term stability of Europe by
recognising the principle of self-determination.
That translated in allowing national groups (such as Slavs, Czechs, and
Poles) to form independent national states (Points 9, 10, 12, and 13).
NOTA BENE: SELF-DETERMINATION is allowing an area to decide its
own political future, usually by means of a vote.