Wilsonianism

"The World must be safe for democracy"

The statements that president Woodrow Wilson made during the Paris Peace conference shocked people across the globe. It sparked revolutions in all corners of the world. People began to regard him as a hero. All around the world, countries were inspired from his beliefs in the self-determination, and equality of individual nations both large and small. In Eastern Europe, seeking to carve out sovereign states from the former Austro-Hungarian empire, he was regarded as a saint. Egypt's leading newspaper extensively covered his speech and the Fourteen Points, and even translated the Declaration of Independence in Arabic. Japan considered including a charter of the new League of Nations, where all races were considered equal. And in Beijing, students who wanted China free from the clutches of foreign domination shouted " Long Live Wilson!" in front of the U.S embassy. Hundreds of letters, petitions, and declarations were sent to Wilson at the Paris headquarters of the American delegation of the peace conference, but few ever reached the President himself, as his mail was carefully screened by his secretary.  Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and Irish people also started to press for self determination. In movements everywhere, the language of Wilson and the Declaration of Independence were often used.

Not everyone shared the same ideas. For example, former Secretary of State Robert Lansing warned that the phrase was "loaded with dynamite", and would "raise hopes which can never be realized". He feared that Wilson "had put dangerous ideas into the minds of certain races", and would inspire "impossible demands, and cause trouble in many lands." What he anticipated soon proved to be correct, the pressure from some movements caused Britain to grant independence to Afghanistan the same year, the Irish free state in 1921, and Egypt in 1922.

France and Britain didn't want to apply the idea of self-determination to their own empires. They were totally fine with Self determination in Germany's former territories, but not in their own colonies. The vast amounts of resources and wealth in the areas they controlled would be gone in an instant, if they were to give their colonies up. Britain and Japan proceeded to gobble up former German colonies in Asia and Africa. It's clear that the other powers were more interested in taking advantage of Germany's wealth.

Aside from a couple places, many people were dissapointed as their dreams of self determination didn't become a reality. The vast majority of the Eastern Hemisphere was still controlled by France, Britain, and Japan. W.E.B Du Bois (who was also inspired by Wilson) made a memorable predication that "the problem of the twentieth century is the color line" Angry, he concluded that Wilson's ideals never intended to include "Black Americans and other colonial peoples of the world." Many people continued to the fight for freedom up until the end of World War 2, when finally (for real this time), much of the world started to become free from colonial rule. The Roosevelt and Truman Administrations continued Wilson's legacy during this time, as they supported the decolonization of European Empires during and after WW2.

When people think about American culture, they usually think of Fast Food and Hollywood. Both these things were born in America, and spread across the globe. A modern democratic government and the ideal of Self-Determination is no different, and is one of our most important cultural exports of all time.

Sources:
Foner, Eric - Give me liberty!: an American history/Eric Foner. - AP 3rd ed.
https://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Wilsonianism.html