Opinion of Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Very negative.

Neocon crap.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Lean positive.

[Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.]

Very negative.

Neocon crap.

Wilson was not a neo-conservative because the guy actually respected international law, and helped to create the league of nations. Neo-Conservatives on the other hand do not respect international law because they claim that nobody actually uses it.

[k-onmmunist]

Nothing but mindless idealism.

[The Mikado]

I opposed the First World War, so I might not be the best person to judge this.  That said, taking them as points of an acceptable peace settlement, let's look at them:

1.  Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

Needless to say, this didn't happen in any way, shape, or form.  Many nations found that their peace deals were already struck for them (China was certainly surprised to find that Japan was taking Qingdao without China's imput).  Italy walking out in the middle of the conference, the absence of the Soviet Union, the handing of the peace terms as a fait accompli to Germany, the Sikes-Picot agreement meaning that Sevres was determined beforehand without the Arabs' say, etc.  Complete failure.

That said, it wasn't a bad idea.  +1 for idea, -2 for execution.  -1.

2.  Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

It's a damn good idea.  +1 for idea.  Total score now 0.

3.  The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.

+1 for idea, -1 for execution.  The exclusion of the Soviet Union from the post-war economic sphere and the destruction of the common markets of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires put the lie to this proposal.  Total score 0.

4.  Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

0 for idea, -1 for execution.  The spirit of this point would live on in the Washington Treaty and the Kellogg-Briand Pact, alienating Japan and hindering the Anglo-Americans for no reason.  Total score -1.

5.  A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

+1 for idea, -2 for enactment.  This point is blatantly hypocritical, and it's hardly even worth explaining why.  Total score -2.

6.  The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

+1 for idea, -2 for execution.  If Wilson had actually stood by his own policy, rather than done stupid things like the Siberian Intervention (along with Japan and the UK), we might have had an easier time integrating the Soviet Union into the world community.  -3.

7.  Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.

+1 for idea, +1 for enactment.  He promised it, he did it.  New score -1.

8.  All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.

0 for idea, +1 for enactment.  Both France and Germany's claims to Alsace-Lorraine are questionable and I don't really want to weigh in, but he did what he said he would do.  0

9.  A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

+1 for idea, -2 for enactment.  No comment other than "Hah" is necessary.  -1

10.  The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.

0 for idea, -2 for enactment.  Creating a bunch of weak, mutually-hostile Central European states to be gobbled up by Germany and the USSR?  Great thinking there, Woodrow.  Also, the less spoken about Frankenstein countries like "Czechoslovakia" and "Yugoslavia," the better.  -3

11.  Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.

+1 for idea, -1 for execution.  If by ensuring their integrity, you mean creating an unwieldy Balkan state named Yugoslavia, then mission accomplished.  As for Romania, I have no comment. -3

12.  The Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

+1 for idea, -1 for execution.  First off, is this the same Woodrow Wilson that was calling for unimpeded naval access outside of territorial waters?  The Dardanelles are quite clearly Turkish, and if the Turks want to close them or the Bosporus, that's nobody's business but the Turks.  The attempted emasculation of Turkey in the peace deal went far, far beyond this, and if not for Ataturk, Turkey would be a pathetic rump state today.  -3

13.  An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.

+1 for idea, -1 for execution.  Refer to what I said earlier about creating petty Eastern European states to be gobbled up by Germany and the USSR.  -3

14.  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.

+1 for idea, -3 for execution.  I'm tired and I don't want to get into a subject you all know a lot about, so I'll stop there.

Total score, -5.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

Single handedly won the cold war while wresting naked with bears.

[Bo]

Very positive, since they were good ideas. It's a shame most of them weren't enacted, though.

[Free Trade is managed by the invisible hand.]

Very positive, since they were good ideas. It's a shame most of them weren't enacted, though.

what were the ones that did not get enacted?

[The Age Wave]

Very negative.

Neocon crap.

I agree.

[Bo]

Very positive, since they were good ideas. It's a shame most of them weren't enacted, though.

what were the ones that did not get enacted?

1-6, 9-14.

[Beet]

Very positive. Foresaw one of the most positive human developments of the 20th century-- the liberation of the masses of Europe, Asia, and Africa from the clutches of imperialism.

In the long run, it was the most successful foreign policy doctrine in US history.

[Bo]

In the long run, it was the most successful foreign policy doctrine in US history.

Monroe Doctrine?

[Хahar 🤔]

5.  A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

+1 for idea

wtfwtfwtf

[Chaim]

Very negative.

[King]

Mixed.  Woodrow Wilson's Presidency was that of a man with a great vision, but a poor plan.  And it showed here.

[The Mikado]

5.  A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

+1 for idea

wtfwtfwtf

By the standards of the time, that is.  I did point out that he was a blatant hypocrite on that front, not only denying colonies the right of any sort of self-determination, but giving away German colonies as spoils of war.