14 points that became the basis of the New World Order

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Exactly 100 years ago, on January 8, 1918, US President Woodrow Wilson presented to Congress a draft document that formed the basis of the Versailles Peace Treaty, which ended the First World War. Wilson's 14 points determined the fate of Europe for decades to come. In these theses, for the first time, the United States' aspiration for world hegemony took shape, experts say. How a document drafted by an American leader influenced history.

On January 8, 1918, the 28th President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, addressed Congress with an appeal to consider a draft international treaty consisting of 14 points.

The document was intended to take stock of the First World War, creating a fundamentally new system of international relations. Advisors to the head of state took part in the preparation of the plan, including lawyer David Miller, publicist Walter Lippman, geographer Isaiah Bowman and others.

Open door policy

The very first point of the project was a ban on secret negotiations and alliances between states. Washington insisted on openness as a key principle of diplomacy. According to historians, the American side wanted to prevent a repetition of deals similar to the tacit agreement of the European powers - Great Britain, France, the Russian Empire and Italy - from 1916 on the division of zones of influence in the Middle East.

The second point is the establishment of freedom of navigation outside the territorial waters of countries, both in peacetime and in wartime. The only exception could be missions related to the implementation of international treaties. Obviously, this situation was in full accord with the interests of the young maritime empire, which at that time was the United States: the Americans hoped to oust the "mistress of the seas" Great Britain.

The First World War allowed the United States to increase its exports to Europe. Over the years of the conflict, American foreign supplies of both military and civilian products have grown exponentially. According to historians and economists, this was one of the key factors that allowed the US economy to establish itself as the leading one in the world.

However, during the war years, the United States supplied products not only to the Entente countries, but also to the members of the Triple Alliance. Neutral states acted as intermediaries. In this situation, London, much to Washington's displeasure, was forced to tighten control over American supplies, blocking cargo at sea. In addition, the British authorities initiated the introduction of import standards for neutral countries - it was not supposed to exceed pre-war volumes.

According to experts, the third point of the plan, presented by President Wilson, was also aimed at supporting American exports - it was proposed to remove, "as far as possible," economic barriers and establish a level playing field.

Divide and rule

The fourth point was to establish "fair guarantees" for the reduction of national armaments to a minimum.

In addition, according to the plan of the American side, the colonial empires of the Old World had to settle disputes with their foreign possessions. At the same time, the population of the colonies was endowed with the same rights as the inhabitants of the metropolis.

The American president also spoke out against foreign interference in the internal affairs of Soviet Russia and for the liberation of all its territories from German troops.

Russia was promised the right of free self-determination in matters of domestic policy.

Russia can count on "a warm welcome in the community of free nations", as well as "all kinds of support", said in the sixth paragraph.

It should be recalled that back in December 1917, at the negotiations in Paris, France and Great Britain made an absentee division of the possessions of the fallen Russian Empire. So, the French side laid claim to Ukraine, Bessarabia and Crimea. However, the powers hoped at the same time to avoid a direct clash with the Bolshevik regime, covering up their true intentions with words about the struggle with Germany.

Among other things, in 14 points, the American administration defined new borders for Europe, calling for "to correct the evil" inflicted on France by Prussia. It was about Alsace and Lorraine, which became part of the German Empire in the second half of the 19th century. It was also proposed to "liberate and restore" Belgium, and to establish the territory of Italy in accordance with national borders.

In addition, several points about the independence of the territories that were part of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires are devoted to the liberation of the peoples of the Old World.

“There must be international guarantees for the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the various Balkan states,” said Wilson's plan.

"The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place in the League of Nations we want to see protected and secured, should receive the broadest opportunity for autonomous development," reads another point.

The plan also included the creation of an independent Polish state in territories inhabited by an "undeniably Polish population." A prerequisite for this was to provide the country with access to the sea. According to experts, Poland should have become a deterrent to the imperial ambitions of Moscow and Berlin. Recall that in 1795 the third partition of the Commonwealth was carried out, as a result of which Russia received the territories of modern southern Latvia and Lithuania, Austria - Western Galicia, and Prussia - Warsaw.

As Henry Kissinger later noted, speaking of the Rapallo Treaty signed in 1922 by the German and Soviet parties, the Western countries themselves pushed Berlin and Moscow towards reconciliation, forming around them a whole belt of small hostile states, “and also through the dismemberment of both Germany and Soviet Union . The national humiliation that Germany had to go through as a result of the First World War fueled the desire for revenge in the German people, which was then played by Adolf Hitler.

“German militarism was the result of the Versailles accords, which humiliated the country and brought it to the brink of economic collapse. Everything was done to siphon money out of Germany, which had already been drained of blood by the war. This worked for the interests of the United States, which directly hoped to consolidate their leading role in the restoration of Europe, Viktor Mizin, a political analyst at MGIMO, explained in an interview with RT.

As a final point, Woodrow Wilson called for the creation of a "general unification of nations on the basis of special statutes" in order to guarantee the "political independence and territorial integrity of both large and small states." The League of Nations, founded in 1919, became such a structure.

Isolation of Russia

It should be noted that for the first time, peace initiatives were launched not in Washington, but in Moscow. On November 8, 1917, the Second Congress of Soviets of Workers', Peasants' and Soldiers' Deputies unanimously adopted the Peace Decree developed by Vladimir Lenin - the first decree of the Soviet government.

The Bolsheviks appealed to all "belligerent peoples and their governments" with an appeal to immediately begin negotiations on a "just democratic peace", that is, a world "without annexations and indemnities."

In this case, "annexation" meant the forcible retention of nations within the boundaries of a stronger state, including foreign possessions. The decree proclaimed the right of nations to self-determination within the framework of free voting. Lenin proposed to end the war on equally fair conditions, "without excluding the nationalities".

Let us recall that subsequently Germany and Russia - key participants in the First World War - were not even allowed to discuss the conditions of peace.

The reason for the exclusion of Russia from the negotiations was the outbreak of the Civil War in it. Neither the Bolsheviks nor the White movement were recognized by parties capable of representing Russian interests. In addition, Moscow was accused of treason - on March 3, 1918, Soviet Russia signed a separate peace with Germany and its supporters.

However, this happened only after the former allies ignored Lenin's initiative for an armistice and negotiations, although the Peace Decree emphasized that the proposed conditions were non-ultimatum.

Also, the Bolsheviks abolished secret diplomacy, expressing a firm intention to conduct all negotiations openly. The concluding part of Lenin's decree spoke of the need "to complete the cause of peace and, at the same time, the cause of freeing the working people and the exploited masses of the population from all slavery and all exploitation."

According to Viktor Mizin, there was no reason to expect that the West would respond to Lenin's call. “The Bolshevik regime was a devil in the eyes of the West, and simply by definition no political alliance with it was possible,” the expert explained. - Only Hitler's aggression forced the Anglo-American leaders to enter into an alliance with the Soviet Union, albeit fragile. Although the West helped the Whites, it also did it not very willingly. They simply gave up on Russia, excluding it from all processes. The intervention was also quickly curtailed - the West chose to isolate Russia."

Doctrine of world domination

The ideas of the American side formed the basis of the Treaty of Versailles, signed in June 1919. Interestingly, the United States subsequently refused to participate in the League of Nations created at the initiative of Woodrow Wilson. Despite all the efforts of the President, the Senate voted against the ratification of the relevant agreement. Senators felt that membership in the organization could pose a threat to American sovereignty.

“The fact is that the American people at that time were not yet ready to give up isolationism. The ideas of world domination, popular with the political elite, were not close to him, Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society, Doctor of Historical Sciences, explained in an interview with RT.

Also outside the League of Nations due to the inadmissibility was Germany. The Soviet Union was admitted to the organization in 1934, but already in 1939 - expelled from it. The reason for the expulsion of Moscow was the Soviet-Finnish war. As historians note, the League of Nations did not try to either prevent or stop the conflict, choosing the simplest path - the exclusion of the USSR from its ranks.

Without joining the League of Nations, the United States only won in the end - without taking on any obligations, the country took advantage of the results of the agreements reached, experts say.

According to Mikhail Myagkov, Wilson's 14 points were largely a reaction to Lenin's Peace Decree. The initiatives of the American president were fully and fully consistent with the tasks of US foreign policy.

“The policy started under Wilson was continued by Franklin Roosevelt. The states entered wars only when it was beneficial to them, closer to the end, but then tried to impose their conditions on the rest of the countries,”explained Myagkov.

Viktor Mizin adheres to a similar point of view.

“This was especially evident during the Second World War, when American industry took off due to supplies to Europe. This not only helped the United States to recover its economy after the Great Depression, but also ensured the role of the United States as the dominant power in the West,”Mizin summed up.