What were the main features or objectives for Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points?

Woodrow Wilson proposed a peace plan at the end of World War I. This plan was called the Fourteen Points. The purpose of President Wilson’s peace plan was to secure a peace that wouldn’t be too harsh on the defeated Central Powers and would allow them to get back on their feet again. Unfortunately, the leaders of Great Britain, France, and Italy wanted to harshly punish the defeated nations in the Central Power alliance.

President Wilson’s Fourteen Point peace plan can be divided into five major themes. One theme was to end the practice of having secret treaties. When the Soviet Union pulled out of World War I, they published the secret agreements the Allies had made regarding various issues, including the dividing up the land, after World War I. This didn't reflect well on some of the Allied countries.

President Wilson wanted countries to be ruled by people of their own ethnic group. This concept, known as self-determination, would hopefully avoid some of the issues that led to the start of World War I. When a group of Serbians carried out their plan to kill Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, the lack of self-determination was part of the reason for this attack.

President Wilson also wanted to promote the concept of freedom of the seas. The attacking of American shipping before we joined World War I was a major factor in our decision to join the war and fight against Germany and the countries in the Central Power alliance.

President Wilson also wanted to reduce the number of weapons that existed. He believed that lots of weapons and powerful armies were ingredients that could lead to war.

The most important point to President Wilson was the creation of the League of Nations. This organization would be a place where countries could take their disputes and try to settle them peacefully through discussion and negotiation. President Wilson believed this organization would go a long way toward preventing wars from occurring in the future.  

President Wilson’s Fourteen Points peace program was viewed as a very idealistic peace plan by the other Allied nations. They wanted a harsher peace, which was what was eventually created by the Treaty of Versailles.