The Peace Treaty - Lab Report Example

His 14 points were aimed at improving the conditions of the European states and had little to do with benefiting America. After the war the European countries had no specific direction or plan on what to do. The major concern to the European Allied forces was the division of the lands and reclamation of their own which had been lost to the enemies during the war. They had no idea on how to ensure lasting peace in the world so such an event would never occur again. At such a time America provided a neutral approach to the war as their entrance in the war had put them in the light of a moral crusader attempting to put an end to war as America faced little direct threat from the enemy and no advantage of territorial advances.

So whatever the outcome, America would have had no benefits as compared to the European countries directly involved in the fighting. Perhaps that is why America did not enter the war as an ally but an Associated Power. Wilson wished his country to be a role player in providing peace to the world. (Henig, pp.10, 1995) The 14 points of Wilson could be demarcated into two basic categories. The first category contains those points which were generalized in nature and would require equal participation from all the nations.

These policies aimed at establishing equality and a sense of fairness among the victors and the defeated. The other policies were more specific in nature addressing issues related to countries directly; such as the issues relating to Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Turkey and the Balkan states. The generalized policies proposed by Wilson could be seen as attempts to make the superpowers act more humbly and provide the smaller countries less reason to fear them. He proposed the abolition of hidden treaties which were considered the primary cause for the war in the first place.

Another proposal was to have open sea travel over international waters. Decolonialization and disarmament of all countries aimed at removing the resentful image of the superpowers who had led many smaller countries to enter the war because of their colonial power over them. These measures aimed to cut down the possibility of the superpowers using other nations to aid them in their conflicts. Finally an open trade agreement was proposed which was very much similar to the WTO being implemented today.

This aimed at providing a fair chance to all the countries to do business rather than facing barriers in trade by larger more powerful countries. These policies were not met with much enthusiasm from the British and French as they believed these policies to not recognize the "hard reality of the situation". (Henig, pp.10, 1995) The specific policies were aimed at restoring the lands lost by the warring nations and in introducing an American style of governance in the countries responsible for the war.

But probably the most visionary proposal of the Wilson 14 Points was to have a multilateral international association monitoring the nations and ensuring peace and foreshadowing the League of Nations. This proposal could be seen implemented in the form of the creation of the United Nations in 1945. The proposals made by