The terms had to satisfy official interests so as
not to provoke official disunion, and yet they had to meet popular
conceptions so as to prevent the spread of demoralization. They had,
in short, to preserve and confirm Allied unity in case the war was to
go on.
But they had also to be the terms of a possible peace, so that in case
the German center and left were ripe for agitation, they would have a
text with which to smite the governing class. The terms had,
therefore, to push the Allied governors nearer to their people, drive
the German governors away from their people, and establish a line of
common understanding between the Allies, the non-official Germans, and
the subject peoples of Austria-Hungary. The Fourteen Points were a
daring attempt to raise a standard to which almost everyone might
repair. If a sufficient number of the enemy people were ready there
would be peace; if not, then the Allies would be better prepared to
sustain the shock of war.
All these considerations entered into the making of the Fourteen
Points. No one man may have had them all in mind, but all the men
concerned had some of them in mind. Against this background let us
examine certain aspects of the document. The first five points and the
fourteenth deal with "open diplomacy," "freedom of the seas," "equal
trade opportunities," "reduction of armaments," no imperialist
annexation of colonies, and the League of Nations.
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