Fourteen Points: Paris Peace Conference

    Fourteen Points: Paris Peace Conference

      With the benefit of hindsight, historians now mostly think that the peace negotiations after World War I were a disaster. Considering they just came off a disaster—you know, the actual war—that's pretty bad.

      The negotiations culminated with the Treaty of Versailles, which incorporated some of Wilson's ideas. However, the Allied Powers also made claims that went way beyond Wilson's vision. France and England demanded massive payments from Germany and imposed restrictions on the German military. They also forced Germany to give up all its overseas territories. (Source)

      The smackdown of Germany embarrassed the German people and sent them into an economic tailspin. Arguably, these factors contributed to the rise of the Nazi Party and led to World War II (source). It didn't help that some of Italy's land claims were repudiated: Italy later allied with Germany and created a fascist government of its own (source).

      The Germans rose like a phoenix, only if, you know, a phoenix wanted to conquer the earth.

      Wilson envisioned a free world working together in harmony, but the actual result had more enmity than harmony. The peace negotiations ended the era of empires and monarchies, but it set the stage for the rise of nationalism and fascism. Whoopsy-daisy.