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Fourteen Points: Community Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Intro, Line Number) (Point Number, Line Number) (Conclusion, Line Number)

Quote #4

A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality. (IX.1)

Wilson uses words like "clearly recognizable" to strike a compromising tone; he seems to think that everyone will be able to agree on what land everyone should get. He might have overestimated other peoples' taste for a global community.

Quote #5

We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the world, the new world in which we now live, instead of a place of mastery. (Conclusion.9)

For centuries, some leaders had dreamt of world domination. Whether it was the German emperors, Napoleon, or British imperialists, the name of the game was mastery. With these words, Wilson wagged his finger not only at Germany, but also at European history itself.