The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

The Paris Peace Conference and the Versailles Treaty 631

Wilson reluctantly deleted explicit references to self-

determination from the postwar settlements. Rather

than grant the Arab peoples independence, Britain

and France themselves seized Arab lands that had

been ruled by the Turks. This land grab was “legal-

ized” through the device of a mandate to rule the

region issued by the League of Nations.

Similarly, Ho Chi Minh, a young Vietnamese

nationalist, was embittered by the failure at Versailles

to deliver his people from French colonial rule. He

decided to become a communist revolutionary. The

repercussions of Arab and Vietnamese discontent,

though far removed from American interests at the

time, would be felt in full force much later.

To those who had taken Wilson’s “peace without

victory” speech and the Fourteen Points literally, the

Versailles Treaty seemed an abomination. The com-

plaints of the critics were individually reasonable, yet

their conclusions were not entirely fair. The new map

of Europe left fewer people on “foreign” soil than in

any earlier period of history. Although the Allies

seized the German colonies, they were required,

under the mandate system, to render the League of

Nationsannual accounts of their stewardship and to

prepare the inhabitants for eventual independence.

Above all, Wilson had persuaded the powers to

incorporate the League of Nations in the treaty.

Wilson expected the League of

Nations to make up for all the inad-

equacies of the Versailles Treaty.

Once the League had begun to

function, problems like freedom of

the seas and disarmament would

solve themselves, he argued, and

the relaxation of trade barriers

would surely follow. The League

would arbitrate international dis-

putes, act as a central body for reg-

istering treaties, and employ

military and economic sanctions

against aggressor nations. Each

member promised (Article 10) to

protect the “territorial integrity”

and “political independence” of all

other members. No nation could be

made to go to war against its will,

but Wilson emphasized that all

were morallyobligated to carry out

League decisions. By any standard,

Wilson had achieved a remarkably

moderate peace, one full of hope

for the future. Except for the war

guilt clause and the heavy repara-

tions imposed on Germany, he

could be justly proud of his work.

Bucharest

Sofia

Athens

Istanbul

Baghdad

Mosul

Damascus

Gaza

Jerusalem

Aleppo

Cairo

Basra

EGYPT

TRANS-

JORDAN

Arabian

Desert

Cyprus

BULGARIA

OTTOMAN

EMPIRE

RUSSIA

Ottoman Empire in 1914

Mediterranean Sea

Suez

Canal

Black Sea

Ca

sp

ia

n

S

ea

Pe

rsia

nG

ulf

PERSIA

Euph

rat

es

R.

Tig

ris

R.

Re

d

Se

a

Ottoman Empire and the Arab World, 1914In 1914, the Ottoman Empire, also known as
Turkey, controlled much of the Arab world, stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea.

Wilson himself backtracked on his pledge to
honor the right of self-determination. The fate of
Arab peoples eventually proved to be of particular
significance to Americans, especially after the events
of September 11, 2001. For centuries, most Arabs
had lived under the Turkish rulers of the Ottoman
Empire. When the Ottoman Empire joined Germany
and Austria-Hungary in World War I, Arab national-
ists looked to the Allies and eventually worked out a
deal with Britain. In return for Arab military support
against the Ottoman Empire and the Germans,
Britain would endorse Arab independence after the
war. Wilson seemingly concurred, for Point Twelve
of his Fourteen Points called for the “autonomous
development” of Arab peoples. But in 1917 the
British issued the Balfour Declaration in support of
“a national home” for the Jewish people in Palestine,
land mostly occupied by Palestinian Arabs. How
could Palestinian Arabs be granted independence if
Palestine was to become the home of Jewish settlers?
In the postwar negotiations, Britain retreated
from its earlier promise to the Arabs. Wilson, too,
had second thoughts about granting the Arab peo-
ples self-determination. Secretary of State Lansing
worried about the “danger of putting such ideas into
the minds of certain races,” particularly the
“Mohammedans [Muslims] of Syria and Palestine.”