evacuation of Russian territory, and Wilsons greatest thought, the establishment of an international organization, the League of Nations. The thought of an international organization based on the ideology of peace was not Wilsons original idea; many had found collective security valuable. Theodore Roosevelt gave a speech in 1910 to the Nobel Prize committee in which he proclaimed it would be a master stroke if those great Powers honestly bent on peace would form a League of Peace, but to prevent, by force if necessary, its being broken by others. Roosevelt merely made speeches on the idea, whereas Wilson made the idea a reality. The League of Nations would fail, however the idea still burned on, and the United Nations would be formed after the Second World War. The immediate conception is that it wasnt Woodrow Wilsons doing that created the successful United Nations. However, the idea of an international organization that Wilson proclaimed and it unsuccessfulness, can be compared with the Articles of Confederation; both were stepping stones on the path to success, and without Wilsons initiation of the League of Nations the triumph of the United Nations may never have occurred. Wilsons use of an international organization to benefit the peace and security of the world, and more importantly the United States, was an action that was taken by most presidents in post-World War II. The other six points, which were up for negotiation, were the restoration of Alsace-Loraine to France, self-determination in the remains of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, evacuation of the Balkans, readjustment of Italys frontiers, internationalization of the Dardanelles, and the creation of Poland with access to the sea. Wilson went to the peace conference at Versailles to present the points himself. In a time when it took one week to travel across the Atlantic, this was a rarity. Future presidents would follow his lead. Especially with the...
