President Wilson's Fourteen Points

Wilson’s second point still exists today:

II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

There is freedom of navigation upon the seas around the world, although the bodies of water have countries that are in control them. For example, the United States (as well as other nations) controls a certain amount of the surrounding water; otherwise it’s free to roam on. Unfortunately though, there has been an increase of piracy which is an opposition to Wilson’s second point. When the pirates see ships approaching their lands, they attack them even if they are of no harm to take their goods. The pirates request a ransom for the release of the ship and its contents. A lot of times this happens to ships carrying oil which is of extreme value, so the pirates get their requested ransom because it would be unfortunate to have a ship sink that is full of oil.

Wilson’s fourth point still exists today:

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

There is a United Kingdom-based organization that is non-profit and non-governmental which campaigns for a reduction of money spent on arms and the military and that the money saved should be diverted to programs that benefit humanity and the earth. This organization is known as the Arms Reduction Coalition (ARC). ARC wants the United Nations to agree to a legal act stating that the UN member states are to reduce the amount of resources spent on arms between one and five percent per year over a time span of ten to twenty-five years. The United Kingdom decided to take up on the offer of what is stated in Article 26 of the United Nations Charter; that the UN Security Council is responsible for allowing input for the “establishment of a system for the regulation of Armaments.”

Wilson’s thirteenth point still exists today:

XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.

In 1918, Germany surrendered, giving Poland its independence. Still today, Poland is independent.

Most of Wilson’s fourteenth point exists today:

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

Wilson’s last point created a League of Nations. This league was an international association formed with the goal of keeping peace among nations. In 1945, the United Nations was created, replacing the league. The United Nations, although a completely different association, has the same main goal that Wilson’s league had: to keep peace and security throughout nations of the world.

I think that the most effective at preventing war is the one Wilson was most proud of; the fourteenth point. The fact that supports my belief is that even today, we have an organization based off of his League of Nations; the United Nations. If there were no such thing today, our world would most likely be facing more problems than there already is and creating more war because there wouldn’t be the effort of the international organization to strive for world peace.

President Woodrow Wilson

Political Cartoon

In this political cartoon about World War I, President Wilson is seen steering a boat through rocks to on his way to a lighthouse at the end. The rocks are labeled as "war" and "intervention" and the lighthouse is shining off a light that reads "justice." On January 8, 1919, President Wilson introduced his points through a speech he gave to the American Congress. The goal he wanted to achieve through his Fourteen Points was peace, or as in this cartoon, justice. The artist of this cartoon was making the point that it was going to be a struggle to make it to justice; we still haven't achieved world peace today.

In the cartoon, the steering wheel is very large, showing that making it through war and intervention was going to be very difficult.

I like this comic because I think it's true. It's almost impossible to achieve world peace beacuse when conflicts arise, people believe that going to war will help stop things. Usually all that war does is negative things such as cause more problems and leave many people injured or dead.

President Wilson "Steering Clear of the Rocks"

Women During the War

Women were relied on during World War I like never before. Because it was declared as "total war", men went overseas to fight, so the women had to fill their spots in factories, offices, and shops. Traditionally, women were the "homemakers" who had the duties of taking care of the family and children, cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the yard. A lot of time they were judged by beauty, not ability. Because of the war, many domestic jobs were created for women, such as helping children with homework, and everyday work around the house. Women in numbers also began enlisting in the Navy and the Marine Corps soon after. There were nearly 13,000, who were all on the same status as men; this had never happened before. Also, Physical and Occupational Therapists saw service by working in hospitals in the United States as well as overseas, and organizations such as the Red Cross, Partiotic League, and WYCA also made efforts in supporting wartime hardships that the nation might face. Unfortunately for the women, the end of the "War to End All Wars" on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, boondoggled all of the plans that were made for the women. Men who had left for war returned to take their jobs back in factories, offices, and shops, but due to the bravery of women serving on the front and their proven abilities amazed President Woodrow Wilson. In September of 1918 he asked the Senate to follow the House in passing the 19th Amendment, allowing women to vote. The striving of women during World War I has had an impact on today because now women are able to have the same jobs as men and are allowed to vote as well.

Seven women being inducted into the Women's Marines

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide is widely regarded as the first modern genocide. This horrifying experience occurred in 1915 and 1916, carried out by the "Young Turk" government of the Ottoman Empire. The "Young Turks" were a group of racist people who didn't like the Armenians. In all, there was a total of about one and a half  million Armenians killed out of the total of two and a half million in the Ottoman Empire. The first thing that happened was that Armenians whom were previously in the army or drafted into the Ottoman armed forces were disarmed and then told to go out and find arms to help support Turkey's wartime effort. If they would not return their weapons, they were severely punished by the Turks. Secondly, on April 24, 1915, Armenian political leaders, writers, and thinkers were rounded up, deported and killed. After those people were the men and teenagers. Lastly were the women, children, and elderly. The men and teenagers were tied together into groups with ropes and taken to the outskirts of their town where they were then shot dead. The women, children and elderly were told to bring a few belongings to be relocated to a non-military zone for safety. They soon found out that they were being taken on death marches toward the Syrian Desert. Along the way, the Armenian's had to walk naked. They starved to death and died of hydration because they were denied food and water, and they were murdered by their "guards", all in the burning sun.

Today, there are children and grandchildren of the survivors from the Armenian Genocide. Also, the Turkish government still denies that there was even such a genocide; they claim that the Armenians were only removed from the eastern “war zone”. During the time, the British, French, Russian, German, and Austrian governments all believed this was wrong, as well as the United States. Missionaries from the United States tried to save the orphaned children who were remnants of the marches.

To me, the Armenian Genocide is an extremely appalling occurrence. I personally don't understand why people are discriminated against; it's morally wrong for people to believe they are better than others. While I was doing some research on this topic, I found that the Armenian Genocide is compared to the Holocaust in many ways. The Holocaust is a more widespread event than the Armenian Genocide but to compare it to something as horrendous as that makes it obvious of how wrong it was. We see how Hitler had Jewish people killed, just like the "Young Turks" had Armenian people killed. To know that people were lied to and then killed makes me sick to my stomach. They also were raped along the way, denied food and water, and murdered. All of those things are horrible things that I would never wish upon anyone.  

A starved mother and her two starved children