President Wilson proposed the Fourteen Points plan for a just peace after World War I that included open diplomacy, free trade, and a League of Nations. However, France and Britain rejected Wilson's plan and imposed a harsh Treaty of Versailles on Germany that crippled its economy through war reparations and territorial losses. The treaty was also criticized for not respecting Woodrow Wilson's principle of self-determination for colonized peoples. While Wilson advocated for US membership in the League of Nations, the US Senate refused to ratify the treaty, leaving the country isolated and the League weakened.

1. Wilson Fights for Peace
CH.11 SECTION 4

2. Fourteen Points
 Wilson’s plan for peace
 There should be no secret treaties among nations
 Freedom of the seas should be maintained for all
 Tariffs and other economic barriers among nations should be
lowered or abolished in order to foster free trade.
 Arms should be reduced “to the lowest point consistent with
domestic safety, thus lessening the possibility of military
responses” during diplomatic crisis
 Colonial policies should consider the interests of the colonial
peoples as well as the interests of the imperialist powers
 Creating the league of nations

3. Allies Reject Wilson’s Plan
 France and Britain want to make Germany pay
 Treaty of Versailles:
 Established 9 new nations and shifted other borders
 Reduced German army and got rid of air force
 Germany had to pay reparations for war damages
 $33 billion

4. Treaty’s Weakness
 War-guilt clause: forced Germany to admit sole
responsibility for starting WWI
 Reparations were far more than Germany could
afford to pay- especially after being stripped of its
colonial possessions
 Treaty ignored claims of colonized people for self-
determination
 Many in the US opposed the treaty

5. League of Nations
 Some believed that the League of Nations would
threaten US foreign policy of isolationism
 Wilson would not compromise with the Senate and
add amendments
 The Senate did not ratify the treaty
 The US signed a separate treaty with Germany after
Wilson was no longer president

6. Legacy of the War
 The war accelerated social change
 US military was strengthened as well as the power of
government
 “the war to end all wars”