What do the 4th, 5th, 8th, 9th, and 10th points of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points speech mean?

Woodrow Wilson presented his Fourteen Points speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918 in hopes of promoting peace in the aftermath of WWI. The first five points of the speech provide general guidelines for peace. In points four and five, the power of peaceful nations is addressed and Wilson identified the need to change in order to create a stable and peaceful world.

In point four, Wilson says that all peaceful nations must disarm and retain only enough weaponry to provide domestic safety.

Point five is directed at the colonial powers, directing them to release all colonial claims and to work in with the colonized counties for the benefit of those populations.

In point eight Wilson requires that French territory be returned to France, including the Alsace-Lorraine portion that had been in contention since 1871.

In point nine, Wilson suggests the readjustment of Italian boarders by clearly defined nationality lines.

In point ten, Wilson states that the people of Austria-Hungary should be given the opportunity for self-government and that borders should be created along nationality lines.

1. No treaties made in secret
2. No blockades of the seas ships must always be allowed to travel freely
3. No more tariffs -- have free trade
4. As few weapons as possible -- only enough to defend your country
5. Change around what colonies belong to who -- do it fairly and take into account what the colonized people want.
6. All foreign countries' armies out of Russia -- let them decide for themselves what government they'll have
7. All foreign countries out of Belgium
8. France should get back the stuff Prussia took from it in 1870
9. Make Italy's boundaries include all Italians -- even those not now in Italy.
10. All the different ethnic groups that had been part of Austria-Hungary should have their own countries
11. The countries mentioned should have their territory back and should decide for themselves how they'll relate to each other
12. Like #10, except about the Ottoman Empire -- specifies that the Turkish part should remain one country
13. Poland should get to be a country again -- all Poles should be included in it.
14. A League of Nations should be formed to keep the peace.

What are the three major objectives of Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" speech?

Agreed in that Wilson was trying to achieve a permanent peace, hence the nickname for World War I: "The War to End All Wars".  The conflict was essentially so horrifyingly murderous, that there was a serious postwar movement to avoid such conflicts in the future at all costs.  Wilson simply looked at the most common causes of conflict and tried to remove them with the Fourteen Points.

Another of the causes, in addition to those listed above, that Wilson was concerned with, were the secret alliances countries made.  This gave them confidence that, with their allies, they could prevail in a war, and they tended to act more aggressively.  This was true right before World War I in Europe.  Wilson called for "Open covenants, openly arrived at".  It was pretty idealistic that all countries would disclose any and all treaties they made with other countries, but the world was pretty idealistic at that time.

Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Poland were all countries resurrected/born out of the Fourteen Points and his call for self-determination.  It is important to note that only four of the Fourteen Points was actually in the Treaty of Versailles, and then the United States Senate never ratified that treaty, so we were never a part of the League of Nations.  It was doomed to failure.

I would say that Wilson's Fourteen Points actually had one overall objective.  That objective was to prevent another war like WWI from occurring.  To achieve that objective, Wilson was trying to do a few different things.  They include:

• The idea of self-determination.  Wilson was trying to be sure that all ethnic groups would have their own countries and rule themselves.
• The idea of freedom of the seas.  He did not want countries that were at war to be blockading other countries.
• Collective security.  This means that if one country was attacked, all the others would gang up on the attacker.  This would prevent war.  It was supposed to be done by the League of Nations.

What were the main objectives of Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points?

Woodrow Wilson proposed a peace plan at the end of World War I. This plan was called the Fourteen Points. The purpose of President Wilson’s peace plan was to secure a peace that wouldn’t be too harsh on the defeated Central Powers and would allow them to get back on their feet again. Unfortunately, the leaders of Great Britain, France, and Italy wanted to harshly punish the defeated nations in the Central Power alliance.

President Wilson’s Fourteen Point peace plan can be divided into five major themes. One theme was to end the practice of having secret treaties. When the Soviet Union pulled out of World War I, they published the secret agreements the Allies had made regarding various issues, including the dividing up the land, after World War I. This didn't reflect well on some of the Allied countries.

President Wilson wanted countries to be ruled by people of their own ethnic group. This concept, known as self-determination, would hopefully avoid some of the issues that led to the start of World War I. When a group of Serbians carried out their plan to kill Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, the lack of self-determination was part of the reason for this attack.

President Wilson also wanted to promote the concept of freedom of the seas. The attacking of American shipping before we joined World War I was a major factor in our decision to join the war and fight against Germany and the countries in the Central Power alliance.

President Wilson also wanted to reduce the number of weapons that existed. He believed that lots of weapons and powerful armies were ingredients that could lead to war.

The most important point to President Wilson was the creation of the League of Nations. This organization would be a place where countries could take their disputes and try to settle them peacefully through discussion and negotiation. President Wilson believed this organization would go a long way toward preventing wars from occurring in the future.  

President Wilson’s Fourteen Points peace program was viewed as a very idealistic peace plan by the other Allied nations. They wanted a harsher peace, which was what was eventually created by the Treaty of Versailles.

What were Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points"?

Woodrow Wilson went to Paris at the end of World War I with a peace plan that was called the Fourteen Points. There were fourteen points in the plan that can be divided into five categories.

One category was to end secret agreements. President Wilson was embarrassed when the Allied plans for a post-World War I Europe were made public. It made the Allies look very greedy.

A second part of his plan called for letting people be ruled by people from their own ethnic group. One of the causes of World War I was that Serbians were unhappy that people from Austria and Hungary were ruling some Serbians. This led to a plot to kill Franz Ferdinand, the next king of Austria-Hungary.

A third part of the plan called for freedom of the seas. Neutral nations should have the right to trade with any country, free from illegal searches, seizures and sinkings.

A fourth part of the plan called for reducing weapons. If countries had fewer weapons, President Wilson believed that war would be less likely.

The last part of the plan called for establishing a worldwide peace group where countries could talk about their problems or issues without having to go to war over them. This organization was called the League of Nations. Ironically, while the League of Nations was created, the United States never joined it due to concerns in the United States Senate.

The Fourteen Points was divided into five major themes.