Question

How did the outcome of the Treaty of Versailles differ from the intentions of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points?

A. It failed to set guidelines for retribution payments from the Central Powers.

B. It set the stage for future war rather than ensuring longstanding peace.

C. It resulted in new national boundaries that did not favor the United States.

D. It allowed the war to come to an end without an official surrender.

Answer 1

B. It set the stage for future war rather than ensuring longstanding peace.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B.

The Fourteen Points were proposed by Wilson with the aim of achieving a longstanding peae and to soften and ultimately end nationalist ambitions of disputes among European Countries. His idea consisted on implementing in the international sphere domestic US policies such opening of borders, democracy, free trade or self-determination.

On the other hand, the other leaders of the victorious powers Georges Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (UK) and Vittorio Orlando (Italy) did not support this initiative that they considered too idealistic and inapplicable in the European scenario.

The spirit behind the Treaty of Versailles, signed in 1919 was totally different. It focused on imposing sanctions on the losers rather than on creating an scenario with ensured peace.