Wilson’s League of Nations and Its Legacy

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Wilson’s League of Nations and Its Legacy

As much of the world lay in shambles as the closing to the War to End All Wars approached, President Woodrow Wilson contemplated the global state of affairs. In his Fourteen Points, Wilson expresses his desire for “a just and stable peace” and outlines ways in which to accomplish it. One of his points—the fourteenth—suggests the creation of a group of nations with a common purpose. As his idea took root, it grew into the League of Nations. Despite good intentions, the League of Nations proved too weak to be effective at the outbreak of World War II. Even though the League itself failed, the legacy of its framework and missions live on in the current international system, most obviously in the United Nations.

Stated in The Fourteen Points, Wilson’s idea of the purpose of the proposed “general association of nations” was to “afford mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.” Wilson was of the belief that the victory of democracy over absolute rule would result in the victory ...

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