How we cite our quotes: (Intro, Line Number) (Point Number, Line Number) (Conclusion, Line Number)
Quote #1
We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected and the world secure once for all against their recurrence. (Intro.4)
You smack me, I smack you back. Americans watched the war from the sidelines for years, until Germany's unrestricted submarine warfare finally went too far.
Quote #2
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. (V.1)
Who decides which claims are "equitable" (that is, fair)? Wilson's answer was the League of Nations. The United Nations of today also makes resolutions on the rights of conquered people.
Quote #3
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. (VII.1)
Belgium suffered massive losses of land, material, and humanity during the German invasion. It was the poster child for conquest.
Quote #4
The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development. (X.1)
In his war-speech to Congress, Wilson put Austria-Hungary and the other Central Powers on the back burner. His biggest focus was the aggressive Germans; he said everyone else was just following their lead.
Quote #5
An independent 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. (XIII.1)
Poland continued a tragic historical run when it was re-conquered by Germany during World War II. Nowadays, Wilson's dream of a free and united Poland is a reality.