Source:Khan Academy- talking about President Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points. |
"Woodrow Wilson attempted to build a more peaceful world after the horrors of World War I. Created by Sal Khan."
From Khan Academy
1917 is huge year in both American history as well as European history, as well as Russian history. The Bolshevik Communists take over Russia and rename the country the Soviet Union of Russia and become a gigantic Marxist/Communist state the largest country in the world at least as far as land with all of these people now being forced to live under Marxist/Communist statism.
Think about North Korea today, but add a couple hundred-million more people to Russia living under this Marxist/Communist system. While President Woodrow Wilson in America attempting to create a new internationalist world order that would be there to protect, defend, and promote liberal democracy over authoritarianism including and even especially communism.
Post-World War II is the start of the Cold War between America and Russia. With Western Europe being on America’s side and the eastern non-democratic countries like China allying with Russia to promote communism in the world. But 1917 and post-World War I starting in 1918 is where you see this competition start. With America and Britain being on the side of liberal democracy or at least democracy in some from. Britain being more of a social democracy than liberal democracy. But both countries believing in at least some levels of personal autonomy and property rights, along with private enterprise. With Russia and their Slavic allies in Europe, prompting this communist form of statism with no personal autonomy or property rights.
President Wilson was a foreign policy liberal internationalist idealist. He wanted World War I to be the war that ended all wars and create a world that was safe for democracy. Safe for private enterprise and free trade. Where people would have personal autonomy and be able to self-govern themselves. He was an idealist especially in a country like America at the time that was very isolationist and not a fan of America’s involvement in World War I.
Woodrow Wilson like with President Richard Nixon, who was twenty years ahead of his time when it came to seeing that the Cold War was destined to end and where America would work with Russia and China, instead of being enemies with them, President Wilson was about thirty years ahead of him time in seeing that there would be an international community with America being one of it’s major players to defend, protect, and promote liberal democracy and private enterprise in the world. Which is what we got with the United Nations in the mid-1940s and the European Union in the 1950s. In this sense at least President Wilson was a brilliant man.