Fourteen Points
Preserved but no longer current.
Conditions laid down by President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) as those on which the Allies were prepared to make peace with Germany. He outlined them in a speech to Congress on January 1 1th, 1918, and at the end of the war they were accepted as the basis for the peace. They included the evacuation by Germany of all allied territory, the restoration of Poland, freedom of the seas, reduction of armaments, and open diplomacy.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Fourteen Points” mean?
Conditions laid down by President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) as those on which the Allies were prepared to make peace with Germany. He outlined them in a speech to Congress on January 1 1th, 1918, and at the end of the war they were accepted as the basis for the peace. They included the evacuation by Germany of all allied territory, the restoration of Poland, freedom of the seas, reduction of armaments, and open diplomacy.
Is “Fourteen Points” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.