How successful were Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points?

Some of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points were successful in that they were largely implemented after WWI.  They did not really succeed, though, because they did not prevent WWII from occurring.  

The first four of Wilson’s 14 Points were not really successful at all.  Countries did not all stop making secret agreements between themselves.  An example of this is the fact that the Nazi-Soviet Nonagression Pact included secret protocols dividing up parts of Eastern Europe between the two countries.  As we can see from the time between 1939 and December of 1941, freedom of the seas in times of war was not guaranteed.  Free trade was most certainly not established between all countries.  The colonies of the European countries were not allowed self-determination.  This means that the first four of the 14 Points did not succeed at all.

The other ten points did succeed at least to some degree.  Points V through XIII all have to do with restoring the national sovereignty of various peoples in Europe.  All of these things were actually done.  Of course, we can also argue that they did not succeed because they did not prevent conflict over such things as the status of Germans in parts of Czechoslovakia.  As for the last of the 14 Points, the League of Nations was created so we can say that point was a success.  However, the League of Nations was notable for its failure to carry out its mission.  It was never a very strong organization and it completely failed to prevent aggression such as the Italian invasion of Ethiopia or the Japanese invasion of China. 

In these ways, we can say that some of the 14 Points were successful in that they were actually carried out.  However, we can also say they were not at all successful because they did not prevent another major war from breaking out less than 25 years after the end of WWI.

What are the key points of Wilson's Fourteen Points, and were they successful in ensuring peace after WWI?

Each of the Fourteen Points represented an idea that Wilson saw as necessary to structure the postwar order in such a way as to reduce the likelihood that another war would break out. The first said that "open covenants of peace" should follow World War I, which was intended to stop the kind of backroom haggling that often characterized peace conferences, and to keep nations from privately conspiring against each other in the future. Freedom of the seas and free trade were also both understood as measures that would help stop embargoes, blockades, and struggles for "spheres of influence" around the world. Arms reductions sought to reduce the risk that heavily-armed nations would blunder into war with each other. The bulk of the Fourteen Points were aimed at redrawing territorial lines in Europe to comport with the ethnic groups that lived there, respecting the sovereignty of smaller nations like Belgium and dividing up the Ottoman Empire and Austrian Empire. Finally, the Fourteen Points reflected a belief among many diplomats that a League of Nations was necessary to mediate in international disputes. Wilson was successful in establishing some of the Fourteen Points, but not others, and America's failure to ratify the League of Nations, and therefore to join it, was an especially important failure. The spirit as well as the letter of the Fourteen Points were not respected at the Paris Peace Conference. 

How did Wilson's "Fourteen Points" offer hope for lasting peace? Which points could have established global peace?

President Woodrow Wilson’s "Fourteen Points" Speech, made in 1918 while the United States was engaged in World War One, was partly dedicated to ending that war and partly concerned with the ongoing maintenance of peace after it ended. Wilson believed that such a lasting peace could be achieved by relying much more on diplomacy and negotiation than had been customary in the past. Rather than using negotiation to resolve international disputes once military conflicts were already underway, Wilson anticipated that all nations’ ongoing commitment to constantly engaging in such solutions would lead toward a general state of peaceful international relations.

Points one and fourteen were especially focused on diplomacy. Wilson began by advocating for “absolutely open” peace talks rather than closed-door negotiations. The latter, he feared, would promote “secret covenants” from the parties could easily withdraw. This commitment to transparency would be supported in the long term by the kind of permanent international association he envisioned, rather than convening occasional talks when serious situations arose. Point fourteen thus provided hope that peace would become the normal state of affairs, not just a short break between constant wars.

The respect for political sovereignty and territorial boundaries that Wilson advocated had numerous dimensions, as mentioned in various ways in points five through thirteen. Some of these points relate to specific invasions and takeovers that occurred during the war. More generally, however, the consideration he advocates in point five for equal treatment of concerned populations with those of the government would contribute to peaceful coexistence. Similarly, he stresses “friendly counsel” and “international guarantees” as the ways to establish the Balkan states’ “political and economic independence and territorial integrity” (point eleven).

These repeated emphases on discussion, agreements, and “guarantees” all speak to Wilson’s promotion of open, continuous diplomatic relations. In contrast, he cautions against arms build-ups: he advocates in point four the reduction of “national armaments,” seeing their primary purpose as ensuring “domestic safety.” If all nations would agree to such limitations, they would be less inclined to use those arms for aggressive acts, thereby helping continue the general peace.