What are the major differences between Wilson's 14 points and the Treaty of Versailles?

In 1917, the United States entered World War I after Germany expanded its submarine warfare to include the sinking of ships, including US passenger vessels. Even prior to the outbreak of war, President Woodrow Wilson had indicated to the American public his ultimate plans to secure world peace and to change the balance of world power. In January of 1918, Wilson presented his famous “Fourteen Points” speech to Congress, in which he outlined idealistic proposals for ending World War I and suggested principles for future implementation in the post-war world.

President Wilson’s recommendations included plans for settlement of territorial issues among the warring factions, covenants to maintain peace with respect to trade issues, arms reduction, free sea passage lanes, and rights of self-determination. His fourteenth point became the foundation of the League of Nations:

A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

In January 1919, the initial Paris Peace Conference was held at Versailles for the purpose of establishing the terms of a peaceful settlement to the war. Wilson’s Fourteen Points formed the basis of a League of Nations, which would include plans for an international security agreement to prevent future wars. Although Wilson was a strong supporter of the League, the concept was unpopular at home and faced fierce congressional opposition since it was widely believed that such an international security agreement would financially overburden the United States and weaken the nation’s ability to maintain its own defenses. Additionally, Congress feared future entanglements with European political affairs.

The Treaty of Versailles encapsulated the main ideas for establishing a just peace from Wilson’s Fourteen Points, but changed many of the territorial divisions Wilson had suggested. Acceptable territorial boundaries were complicated by secret treaties among and between allied nations for post-war divisions. In addition, the treaty focused mainly on punishing Germany for the war, while Wilson’s plan called for far more leniency toward Germany. Instead, the other allied nations insisted upon:

compensation by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allies and their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea and from the air.

Ultimately, Wilson’s insistence on an international security agreement resulted in the US rejection of the League of Nations. The US did not enter the League, which weakened it considerably. Furthermore, with the exception of the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France, the political territorial provisions proposed by Wilson in his Fourteen Points differed greatly from divisions adopted in the Treaty of Versailles. Finally, Wilson’s idea of a just peace as articulated in his Fourteen Points conflicted with the harsh restrictions and reparations demanded by the allied nations in the Treaty of Versailles.

In very broad terms, one could say that Wilson's Fourteen Points were concerned with general principles whereas the Treaty of Versailles was more focused on specifics. This is not surprising as Wilson announced his Fourteen Points while the First World War was still raging, and so he was limited as to how specific he could be.

To be sure, there were specific proposals in the Fourteen Points, most notably the ceding of Alsace-Lorraine to France. But the most important of Wilson's Fourteen Points was undoubtedly the principle of self-determination, whereby each European nation would get to choose who ruled it.

The Treaty of Versailles, on the other hand, was focused like a laser-beam on punishing Germany. Under the terms of the Treaty, sole responsibility for the First World War was laid at Germany's door, meaning that it would have to pay a very heavy price for its actions.

The Treaty set out in precise detail exactly what price Germany would be expected to pay. In monetary terms, the price was truly staggering. Germany would have to pay reparations to the Allies to the tune of almost $270 billion in today's money.

In terms of national prestige, the price was greater still. The German Army was reduced to just 100,000 men and six battleships. For good measure, all of Germany's overseas colonies were to be handed over to the control of the League of Nations, whose establishment was the fourteenth of Wilson's Fourteen Points.

Wilson's Fourteen Points were extremely idealistic, in that he felt Britain and France would embrace his plans to permanently do away with war by following his prescription for peace.

Ultimately, only four of the fourteen were adopted into the final Treaty of Versailles:

1) Freedom of the Seas

2) National Self-Determination (the idea that Poles should be able to live in  Poland, not as part of a larger empire.  Czechs in Czechoslovakia, etc.)

3)  Open Covenants, openly arrived at (no secret treaties)

4) a League of Nations

While these were positive steps and good ideas to promote a more peaceful world and reduce the risk of future wars, they did little to stop the onset of World War II, and some historians argue, may have actually contributed to it.

Compare and contrast Wilson's Fourteen Points with the Treaty of Versailles.

The Fourteen Points were guidelines that Woodrow Wilson wanted to be used for the peace negotiations as World War I was ending. It focused on fourteen different principles that he believed were necessary to build a foundation of global peace. He wanted these ideas to be used when deciding how to end the war and how to treat Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles was the actual treaty that ended Germany's involvement in World War I. Signed in 1918, it has typically been viewed as a poorly handled treaty by many modern historians, as it was unsuccessful in its primary goals of permanently weakening Germany. It required Germany to accept the responsibility of the war and its damages (and therefore required them to pay the cost of all the damage, known as reparations), as well as concede much of their territory and disarm their military. It has been called “too lenient” by some yet “too harsh” by others. Ultimately, it was unsuccessful in its primary goals, and Germany instigated World War II just twenty years later.

The Fourteen Points were a considerable influence on the peace negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles. Eight of the Points addressed basic territorial issues (e.g., how the conquered area should be redistributed). These ideas were largely adopted in the Treaty of Versailles. The first five Points were principles of how the international community should act in a postwar world. It advocated free trade, sea travel, and open treaties (secret/private treaties were a big reason that World War I was such a large conflict). These ideas, while not directly articulated in the Treaty of Versailles, were largely adopted by the global community following the war.

It also advocated for reducing national armaments (e.g., disarming Germany), but this was significantly increased in the actual Treaty of Versailles, which put very strict reductions on Germany’s military. One thing in the eventual Treaty that was not included in the Fourteen Points was the institution of reparations, which were extremely punitive and inspired resentment among Germans.

World War I and the ensuing Treaty of Versailles was perhaps the first example of the global community working together (of course, this is a very Western/Euro-centric view of the global community—most countries in the world were not consulted) and signaled the growing globalization that would continue for the next century.

The final principle in the Fourteen Points was a suggestion for the League of Nations, which was the forerunner to the United Nations. While the League of Nations was never successful (and the United States never joined), Wilson's understanding that nations needed to work together as part of a global community to ensure peace was quite prescient and was nonetheless an important aspect of the peace negotiations that led to the Treaty of Versailles.

Wilson's attempt in his Fourteen Points at allowing nationalities to rule themselves fell apart quickly. While the Allies used a team of academic experts in order to redraw the territorial boundaries of Europe, in many cases it was impossible to divide countries by nationality alone. Even many villagers did not claim a nation; rather, they said that they were from that particular village. Because of this, many German-speakers were estranged from Germany when the Allies created Poland. Yugoslavia would also be a mix of the different groups of the region who still did not have self-rule.

Part of Wilson's attempts at peace did stay in the Versailles Treaty and the immediate aftermath. There was some attempt through the Treaty of Versailles at open negotiations through the creation of the League of Nations, but ultimately the organization had little power and would be proven ineffective before WWII. There was some attempt to disarm through the Washington Naval Conference in the early 1920's but this attempt at arms reduction only angered another rising power, Japan. Wilson's Fourteen Points were cheered by many in Europe who were sick of war, but the leaders of Europe were cynical when Wilson wanted peace without vengeance.

Many of the elements of the Fourteen Points, including freedom of the seas, territorial rearrangements based on nationality in Eastern Europe, restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France, and insistence on open agreements (i.e., no secret alliances) were incorporated into the Treaty of Versailles. But the general spirit of the Fourteen Points, which was that punitive action should not be taken against a defeated Germany, was not observed. Germany was forced to accept blame for the war in the Treaty, and faced major limitations on their armed forces that were not reciprocated by the Allies, particularly France. In addition, the Allies forced Germany to pay billions of dollars in reparations, which contributed to the economic catastrophe in Germany after the war.