Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Principles announced to the US Congress on January 8, 1918 by President Woodrow Wilson, as a basis for ending world war i . They covered: 1  “open covenants of peace, openly arrived at”; 2  freedom of maritime navigation; 3  removal of economic barriers; 4  guarantees of future armaments reduction; 5  “impartial adjustment of all colonial claims”; 6  evacuation of all Russian territory; 7  full restoration of Belgian sovereignty; 8  French recovery of alsace-lorraine ; 9  readjustment of Italy's frontiers “along clearly recognizable lines of nationality”; 10  “freest opportunity” for the peoples of Austria-Hungary to enjoy “autonomous development”; 11  evacuation of romania , serbia , and montenegro , with international guarantees for the territorial integrity of these Balkan states; 12  secure sovereignty for the Turkish portion of the present Ottoman Empire, coupled with “unmolested opportunity of autonomous development” for its other nationalities, plus freedom of maritime passage through the dardanelles ; 13  establishment of an independent poland , with secure access to the sea; and 14  formation of “a general association of nations” to provide mutual guarantees of independence and territorial integrity for great and small states alike. When Germany and Austria-Hungary sued for an armistice 10 months later, this was the relatively non-punitive scenario to which they ... log in or subscribe to read full text