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Person1856 – 1924

Woodrow Wilson

28th US president (1913–1921) who took America into the war in 1917 and proclaimed national self-determination and a League of Nations in his Fourteen Points; Nobel Peace Prize 1919

A political scientist and president of Princeton University, he became governor of New Jersey and then president. His “New Freedom” reforms lowered tariffs, created the Federal Reserve and strengthened antitrust law. Neutral at first, he led America into the war in 1917 and set out the principles of the post-war order in the Fourteen Points. He went to the Paris Peace Conference in person and wrote the League Covenant into the treaty, but the Senate refused to ratify Versailles and the US never joined the League. He collapsed during a speaking tour to rally support for ratification.

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5 related events

  1. 1
    1917Unrestricted Submarine Warfare and US Entry into the Warleader

    When Germany declared that its submarines would sink without warning any ship in the waters around Britain, the neutral United States declared war on Germany — a turning point that secured the Allied victory.

  2. 2
    1918Wilson’s Fourteen Pointsleader

    In a speech to Congress, President Wilson set out fourteen principles for the post-war peace — an end to secret diplomacy, national self-determination, a League of Nations — raising great hopes among colonial peoples.

  3. 1919 – 1920Paris Peace Conferencediplomat

    Delegates of the victorious powers met in Paris to draw up the peace treaties with the defeated states. Led by Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George, the conference created the Versailles settlement.

  4. 3
    1919Treaty of Versaillesdiplomat

    The peace treaty between the Allies and Germany signed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Germany accepted responsibility for the war, lost territory and colonies, had its armed forces restricted and was saddled with huge reparations.

  5. 4
    1920 – 1946Founding of the League of Nationsleader

    Proposed by Wilson, the first international organization to keep world peace was set up in Geneva, Switzerland. But the United States stayed out and the League had no military means of enforcement, so it failed to stop aggression.

People who appear alongside

  • Georges Clemenceau1841 – 1929

    French prime minister (1906–1909, 1917–1920), nicknamed “the Tiger”, who led France through the last year of the war and, as president of the Paris Peace Conference, pressed for harsh terms on Germany

  • David Lloyd George1863 – 1945

    British prime minister (1916–1922) who introduced social insurance as chancellor, led the wartime coalition and represented Britain at the Paris Peace Conference

  • Wilhelm II1859 – 1941

    Last German emperor (1888–1918), whose Weltpolitik and naval build-up set Germany against Britain; he abdicated in the German Revolution of 1918 and went into exile in the Netherlands

  • Kim Kyu-sik1881 – 1950

    Envoy of the New Korea Youth Party to the Paris Peace Conference, later Vice-Chairman of the Provisional Government

Themes this person appears in

  • World War I and the Russian Revolution1908 – 1923

    From the Balkan crises to a war of trenches and total mobilization that toppled four empires; the Russian Revolution it unleashed, which created the first socialist state; and the Versailles settlement of national self-determination and the League of Nations