The The United States of America — also referred to as the United States, the U.S.A., the U.S., America¹, the States, or (archaically) Columbia — is a federal republic of 50 states located primarily in central North America (with the exception of two states: Alaska and Hawaii... USA's President Dr. Thomas Woodrow Wilson ( December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 45th state Governor of New Jersey ( 1911- 1913) and later the 28th President of the United States ( 1913- 1921). He was the second Democrat to serve two consecutive terms in the White House ( Andrew Jackson was the... Woodrow Wilson delivered a speech to A congress is a gathering of people, especially a gathering for a political purpose. Legislative assembly Congress is the name of the main legislative body in a state that operates under a congressional system of government. A congress is different from a parliament in that legislative initiative is vested into... Congress on January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 357 days remaining (358 in leap years). Events 871 - Battle of Ashdown - Ethelred of Wessex defeats Danish invasion army. 1198 - Innocent III becomes Pope. 1734 - Premiere of George Frideric Handels Ariodante at the Royal... January 8, 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). Events January-February January 8 - President Woodrow Wilson announces his Fourteen Points for the aftermath of World War I. January 24 - a decree of the Council of Peoples Commissars, introducing the Gregorian calendar in Russia since February... 1918, outlining Fourteen Points for reconstructing a new World map showing location of Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is geologically and geographically a peninsula, forming the westernmost part of Eurasia. It is conventionally considered a continent, which, in this case, is more of a cultural distinction than a geographic one. ( National Geographic, however, officially recognises... Europe following Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. Battle aftermath. Remains of the Chateau Wood World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, the War of the Nations, and the War to End All Wars, was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to... World War I. While many of the points were specific, others were more general, including Freedom of the Seas was a point in President Woodrow Wilsons Fourteen Points. It stresses freedom to navigate the oceans. It also disapproved of war fought in water. The freedom was to be breached only in a necessary international agreement. An excerpt from the presidents speech to Congress... freedom of the seas, abolishing secret treaties, Arms control is a broad term alluding to a range of political concepts and aims. In an increasingly pacifistic world arms control has been increasingly emphasised on the international political agenda. The term arms control often alludes to disarmament - whether small arms (handheld), or large scale (often nuclear). The former... disarmament, restored Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme authority over a geographic region or group of people, such as a nation or a tribe. Sovereignty is generally vested in a government or other political agency, though there are cases where it is held by an individual. A monarch who rules... sovereignty of some occupied lands, and the right of national Self-determination is a principle in international law that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structure free from outside influence. This principle was first articulated by Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points; and was important in the Treaty of Versailles for drawing the... self-determination of others. The speech, that was made without prior coordination or consultation with his counterparts in Europe, reached for the highest ideals, and was a precursor to the The League of Nations was an international organisation founded after the First World War with its constitution being approved by the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The Leagues goals included disarmament, preventing war through collective security, settling disputes between countries through negotiation and diplomacy, and improving global welfare. The... League of Nations (see point 14). However, history shows that despite the idealism, the post-war reconstruction of Europe adopted only a few of the points.

An excerpt from the speech outlining the 14 points is given below:

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.
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.
3. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.
4. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
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.
6. The evacuation of all The Russian Federation ( Russian: Росси́йская Федера́ция, transliteration: Rossiyskaya Federatsiya or Rossijskaja Federacija), or Russia (Russian: Росси́я, transliteration: Rossiya or Rossija), is a country that stretches... 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.
7. The Kingdom of Belgium ( Dutch: Koninkrijk België, French: Royaume de Belgique, German: Königreich Belgien) is a country in Western Europe, bordered by the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, France, and the North Sea. Belgium is at a cultural crossroad between Germanic Europe and Romance Europe. It has Dutch speakers... 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.
8. All The French Republic or France ( French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. France is a democracy organised as a... French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia ( German: Preußen or Preussen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: Prūsai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... Prussia in 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). Events January - April January 18 - The member-states of the North German Confederation unite into a single nation-state known as the German Empire. The King of Prussia is declared the first German Emperor as Wilhelm I of... 1871 in the matter of French: Alsace-Lorraine; German: Elsaß-Lothringen) was the territory ceded by France to the newly-unified Germany under the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt (which ended the Franco-Prussian War) and restored to France after World War I by the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. Its legal name is Alsace-Moselle. Area... 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.
9. A readjustment of the frontiers of The Italian Republic or Italy ( Italian: Repubblica Italiana or Italia) is a country in southern Europe. It comprises a boot-shaped peninsula and two large islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia, and shares its northern alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. The independent countries of San... Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.
10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual monarchy (or: the k.u.k. monarchy), was a dualistic state (1867–1918) in which the Kingdom of Hungary enjoyed self-government and representation in joint affairs (principally foreign relations and defence) with the western and northern lands of the Austrian Empire... Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.
11. Romania (formerly spelled Rumania or Roumania; Romanian: România) is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Ukraine and Moldova in the northeast, Hungary in the west and Serbia and Bulgaria to the south along the Danube river. Romania has a stretch of sea coast on the... Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro  -Serbia    - Kosovo and Metohia    - Vojvodina  - Montenegro Official language Serbian 1 Capital Belgrade Area  - Total  - % water 88,361 km² n/a Population  - Total ( 2002) census - without Kosovo  - Density 7.498.001 126.83/km²... Serbia, and This article is about the republic in Serbia-Montenegro, Europe. For the city in Brazil, see Montenegro, Brazil. Serbia and Montenegro  -Serbia    -Kosovo and Metohia    -Vojvodina  -Montenegro Official language Serbian Capital Podgorica Former Royal Capital Cetinje Area  - Total  - % water 13... 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 The Balkans is the historic and geographic name used to describe southeastern Europe (see the Definitions and boundaries section below). The region has a combined area of 550,000 km² and a population of around 53 million. The countries of Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, mainland Greece, the (Former Yugoslav) Republic of... Balkan states should be entered into.
12. The The Republic of Turkey is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part of its territory (3%) in southeastern Europe. Until 1922, the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, forms the core of the country... Turkish portion of the present The Ottoman Empire at the height of its power Imperial motto El Muzaffer Daima The Ever Victorious (as written in tugra) Official language Ottoman Turkish Capital İstanbul ( Constantinople/Asitane/Konstantiniyye ) Sovereigns Sultans of the Osmanli Dynasty Population ca 40 million Area 12+ million km² Establishment 1299 Dissolution October... 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 The Dardanelles (Turkish: Çanakkale Boğazı), formerly Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea with the Marmara Sea. Just like the Bosporus strait, it separates Europe (in this case the Gallipoli peninsula) and the mainland of Asia. The major city neighbouring the strait... Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.
13. An independent The Republic of Poland, a democratic country with a population of 38,626,349 and area of 312,685 km², is located in Central Europe, between Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, and the Baltic Sea, Lithuania... 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.
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.

External links

• Text of Wilson's address to Congress, presenting the Fourteen Points (http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1918/14points.html)