Wilsonianism or Wilsonian are words used to describe a certain type of ideological perspectives on foreign policy. The term comes from the ideology of United States President Woodrow Wilson and his famous Fourteen Points that he believed would help create world peace if implemented. A quote shows the basic effort of the Wilsonian movement “The first (and for some the only) defining element of Wilsonianism is the conviction that a leading priority of U.S. foreign policy should be the promotion of democratic government the world around—"national self-determination," as Wilson put it (Wilson, 2000). This means in its most basic definition, the ability of a community to choose its political destiny. Woodrow Wilson also believed that any legitimate government should be derived from the consent of the people it governs. Besides the literal definitions of Wilsonianism, there is much more meaning and context when it comes to the wilsonian movement that the ideology seemed to spark. The fourteen points were the original introduction of the wilsonian ideals, and were brought upon by fear of worsening global relationships, especially with European countries such as Great Britain. The fourteen points speech was given after the U.S. joined the allied powers and joined the World War. After remaining neutral for quite some time, the U.S. was essentially forced into joining the cause and listed out the fourteen points so as to not worsen relations after the war would be complete. The fourteen points were an outline of how postwar peace amongst the world could be achieved, and how Woodrow Wilson planned to kick-start this effort. Wilsonianism could also be loosely defined as a time in which foreign policy was viewed as a top priority, not only by internal views in the U.S. but worldwide, as nations attempted to come together to resolve any further or residing conflicts and work towards peace. The Paris Peace Conference was brought about as a meeting with the allied powers to set the terms of peace for the central powers, who were defeated in their war efforts. This was the first real effort of nations to come together and agree on terms of peace. Woodrow Wilson, as a leader of the top country at that point in time, had much influence over these proceedings, and was a major factor in the original formation in the idea of the meeting itself. A quote from The wilsonian Moment expresses the international positive feelings towards Wilson, “The next morning, as the president drove down the Champs Élysées in an open-top automobile, girls in Alsatian costumes threw flowers on him and the cheering crowds called, “Vive Wilson! Vive l’Amérique! Vive la liberté!” (Manela, 2007). Following the introduction of The Fourteen Points to the world, His ideals seemed to have an increasingly important role throughout the colonized world. The points that he outlines seems to directly disagree with the idea of colonization in the world, and colonized areas such as India and Korea took head of these principals. Under rule of separate countries, these colonized areas did not feel they had proper freedoms or representation in world affairs. In the fall and winter of 1918–1919, such perceptions of Wilson and the United States reinforced the sense that a chance for colonial liberation could be achieved. The demands for self-determination set forth seemed to create a domino effect throughout the world. Self-determination became incredibly important in colonized areas. Leaders such as Zaghlul who was the leader of the Egyptian Wafd party, who were previously not opposed to colonization, now came out against it in an effort for independence. Egypt for example, who was under colonial rule of the British, was a main participant in what seemed to be a revolution for independence from colonial rule brought upon by Wilsonian ideals. They began a social uprising in an effort to restrain from British protectorate. After the arrest of Sa’d Zaghlul by the British officials, a quote from Worlds Together, Worlds Apart shows the social unrest that followed, “When news of this action came out, the country burst into revolt. Rural rebels broke away from the central government, proclaiming local republics. Villagers tore up railway lines and telegraph wires, the symbols of British authority” (Tignor, 2013). Protest demonstrations broke out throughout the country, sometimes accompanied by small-scale violence in the form of rioting such as in Cairo, the city of Tanta, and in Asyut Province. The British violently suppressed demonstrations and killed hundreds of protestors. Korea also was under the control of another nation. Japan had control over Korea, and Korea, wanting a voice in national affairs, found this task difficult under Japanese control. “During the war the censors tried to keep the language of self-determination out, but during the last months of the war, Koreans seized on Wilson and his principles as they began to contemplate the possibilities of the postwar world.” (Tignor, 2013). As the peace conference began, they did all they could to make sure the transformation proposed by Wilson would occur. On the morning of March 1, 1919, thirty-three prominent religious and civic leaders in Seoul gathered to sign a document they called Korea’s Declaration of Independence. This sparked vast anti-colonial nationalism and led to The March First movement, which was a mass movement of all social groups of society, and represented the building resistance toward Japanese control. Colonies such as Korea and India who were under foreign rule were very much in favor of Wilsonian ideals, and Wilsonianism seemed to be very popular amongst them. Wilsonianism seemed to be popular due to the fact that they had never had representation on such a major scale like they had with the president of the most powerful country in the world at the time. Once introduced to these ideas, colonies seemed to have a voice for their liberation, and a backing from a major political, international power. A quote from The Wilsonian Moment shows how much the U.S. was relied upon for international affairs ” the American people had come to lead all nations in freedom, prosperity, education, and culture (Manela, 2007). Wilson seemed to instill much anti-colonial nationalistic pride in all of these colonies and brought about a sense of pride that had never been seen before. These colonies had a unifying force, and this led to much social unrest with the objective of political reform. The U.S. stating its goals for international political independence and representation not only brought about nationalistic feelings, but instilled a glimmer of hope in international affairs, as they had another country also fighting for independence of colonial rule. With the U.S. also fighting for liberation, they could fight their battles on the home front directly against their ruling nation, while the U.S. and other nations also fought for independence on a global political scale. The combination of these factors made Wilsonianism incredibly popular in colonial nations. Although Wilsonianism had a vast global effect, in the long run, after everything was said and done with the Paris Peace Conference, the Wilsonian movement failed. The major problem was that the movement was mainly based on ideas that other major political players such as France and Britain were not on board with. Fighting this opposition proved to be too tall of a task for Wilsonianism to triumph. Liberals and radicals didn’t think Woodrow Wilson went far enough to implement these ideas, and conservatives and imperialists thought he went too far. There was no pleasing everyone, and worldwide peace was not accomplished. Among the many factors for the failure of these ideals is the decision of the U.S. to side with the British protectorate in Egypt. After all the social unrest and uprisings in Egypt, Woodrow Wilson seemed to go directly against his ideals set forth in the fourteen points when he sided with the British in control over Egypt. This decision came as a major shock but was ultimately arrived upon due to too much political power and pressure from the British. Another major factor in the failure of these ideas was The U.S. deciding to side with Japan over the conflict of returning Shandong, a coastal region that had previously been part of China. Japan had taken this area during the war and China was almost in agreement to sign the treaty if Japan would return this province. After the U.S. sided with the Japan, it caused another upheaval of insults towards Wilson. It seemed as though he had been hypocritical and gone against what he claimed to have stood for again. Basically, Wilsonianism failed because it was too idealistic. None of the other countries at the Paris Peace Conference were interested in trying to have a perfect world that was based on everyone being nice to one another. The other countries wanted to either get rewarded for fighting in WWI, get revenge on their enemies, or both. For example, both France and England wanted to make Germany pay for starting the war. Italy wanted to be given an empire. So did Japan. Only Wilson wanted an ideal world order based on countries foregoing their selfish interests and acting in ways that would be best for the world as a whole. The treaty of Versailles was basically a settlement and did not accomplish what was originally intended. The political fading of Woodrow Wilson after his stroke also did not help in the diminishing of Wilsonian ideals Although Wilsonianism did fail at the time, it did provide future generations with a basis for political and social change on an international scale. It did not accomplish what wanted to be accomplished originally, but it gave nations under strife a reason to be nationalistic and gave future colonial or oppressed areas a basis for which to fight for independence and liberation from foreign influence.

Works Cited
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Manela, E. (2007). The Wilsonian Moment. New York: Oxfor University Press.
Tignor, R. (2013). Worlds Together, Worlds Apart. Norton Publishing.
Wilson, T. (2000). Wilsonianism. Retrieved 04 20, 2015, from Encyclopedia of the new American Nation: http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Wilsonianism.html