lease of life. In 1918, the Central powers faced a crushing defeat. After America’s entry into the war, Wilson realized that the Allied nations had made several secret treaties among themselves. This, Wilson felt, would go against the maintenance of lasting peace in the region. On January 8, 1918 he delivered his now famous speech in the Congress on the 14-Point Plan. These points laid down that: there was to be freedom of seas; open covenants to be openly arrived at; to remove economic barriers between nations; to reduce arms; to reach an impartial settlement on colonial claims; to re-adjust boundaries of Europe with special attention to the principle of self determination; and the establishment of a general association of nations.The Peace Conference opened at Paris on January 12, 1919. The conference was dominated by the ’Big 4’ namely Wilson, Lloyd George (Britain), Clemenceau (France) and Orlando (Italy). The peace treaty included several principles of the 14 points. It tried to reconcile its agenda with that of its members’ various secret agreements. However, it was on the whole a dictated peace move. Germany was made to pay heavy war damages and her military strength was drastically reduced. Besides, she was also humiliated for her role in the war.The treaty with Germany was signed at Versailles in June and was sent to the American Senate for ratification. The Senate rejected it. This was mainly due to the fact that many Senators believed that the provisions for the League of Nations were not in the best interests of the U.S. Moreover, many Republicans were upset that the U.S. peace conference did not have a single Republican leader or Senator.Though the treaty was not ratified at home, the main achievements of the peace negotiations were the Genesis of the League of Nations and the Provisions for a separate Court of International Justice. These 2 Covenants initiated by President Wilson were to play a sign...
