Vocabulary from Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" (1918)

Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" was an international relations plan, both in specific terms and general philosophical ones. The specific terms involved settling old grudges in Europe, but the general tone is one that demanded absolute transparency in dealings between nations. Wilson's vision is one of freedom with limits and equality among nations, and he refrains from advocating severe punishment for even World War I foe Germany. E-text available here<\a>
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. aggrandizement
    the act of increasing the prestige or power of something
    The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world.
  2. linger
    remain present although waning or gradually dying
    It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow nor or at any other time the objects it has in view.
  3. avow
    declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
    It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow nor or at any other time the objects it has in view.
  4. recurrence
    event of happening again, especially at regular intervals
    We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected and the world secure once for all against their recurrence.
  5. consenting
    having given agreement
    The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.
  6. adequate
    having the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task
    Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
  7. armament
    weaponry used by military or naval force
    Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
  8. impartial
    free from undue bias or preconceived opinions
    V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
  9. colonial
    relating to a body of people who settle far from home
    V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
  10. sovereignty
    the authority of a state to govern another state
    V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
  11. equitable
    fair to all parties as dictated by reason and conscience
    V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
  12. accord
    concurrence of opinion
    The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.
  13. autonomous
    existing as an independent entity
    X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development.
  14. allegiance
    the act of binding yourself to a course of action
    Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.
  15. indisputable
    not open to question; obviously true
    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.
  16. assertion
    a declaration that is made emphatically
    In regard to these essential rectifications of wrong and assertions of right we feel ourselves to be intimate partners of all the governments and peoples associated together against the Imperialists.
  17. prevail
    be larger in number, quantity, power, status or importance
    For such arrangements and covenants we are willing to fight and to continue to fight until they are achieved; but only because we wish the right to prevail and desire a just and stable peace such as can be secured only by removing the chief provocations to war, which this programme does remove.
  18. provocation
    a means of arousing or stirring to action
    For such arrangements and covenants we are willing to fight and to continue to fight until they are achieved; but only because we wish the right to prevail and desire a just and stable peace such as can be secured only by removing the chief provocations to war, which this programme does remove.
  19. pacific
    disposed to peace or of a peaceful nature
    We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable.
  20. enviable
    causing desire to have something possessed by another
    We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable.
Created on Tue Nov 19 18:44:04 EST 2013 (updated Tue Nov 19 20:48:24 EST 2013)

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