The First World War was the most horrific war that the world had ever seen at that time.

When the conflict ended, there was an effort to make sure that such a thing never happened again.

To that end, a deliberative body was created where nations could come together to debate and

discuss matters before starting in armed conflict.

While having some success, this deliberative body ultimately failed at its stated goal of

avoiding another World War.

Learn more about the League of Nations and why it failed on this episode of Everything Everywhere

Daily. The First World War was devastating to all of the parties which took part.

In the over four years during which the war raged in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa,

most of the belligerent countries were far more focused on winning the war than they were on what would come after its conclusion.

When the United States finally entered the war in 1917, they had been sitting on the sidelines for almost three years watching the various European powers rip themselves apart.

On January 8th, 1918, the President of the United States Woodrow Wilson made an address

before the United States Congress and presented what would become known as his 14 points.

The 14 points didn't deal with the minutia of the war currently being fought in Europe,

but rather it was an outline for what the international system should look like after the war.

The first four points were a statement of general principles.

It stated that all agreements between countries should be public and not secret, that

there should be freedom of navigation on the high seas,

that trade and economic barriers to trade should be kept at a minimum, and that national

militaries should be kept as small as possible.

Points 5 through 13 dealt with the territorial questions of individual countries in the war, including colonial claims, Russia, Belgium, Italy, France, Turkey, Poland, Austria, and the Balkans.

The 14th point, however, was a call to create a, quote,

...