The Big Four (World War I)

The Big Four refers to the four top Allied powers and their leaders who met at the Paris Peace Conference in January 1919. The Big Four is also known as the Council of Four. It was composed of Woodrow Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd George of Britain, Vittorio Emanuele Orlando of Italy, and Georges Clemenceau of France.

Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) was elected President on the basis of domestic issues in 1912, and re-elected in 1916. He based his 1916 re-election campaign around the slogan "he kept us out of war", and had worked hard to broker a compromise peace. In early 1917 Berlin decided to launch all-out submarine warfare designed to sink American ships bringing supplies to Britain; in the Zimmermann Telegram it proposed a military alliance with Mexico to fight a war against the US. The nation was poorly armed when it went to war in April 1917, but it had millions of potential fresh soldiers, billions of dollars, and huge supplies of raw materials needed by the Allies. Officially Wilson kept the US independent of the Allies. In 1918 Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany, including the armistice. He issued his Fourteen Points, his view of a post-war world that could avoid another terrible conflict. It had an enormous impact on both sides in Europe, and made him the man of the hour in Paris. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he assembled a high-powered group of academic advisors to help him in Paris but his distrustful personality led him to break with a series of close advisors, most notably Colonel House. He made a major blunder by refusing to bring along any prominent Republicans to Paris, which politicised the American debate and weakened his support. His main goal was a long-term solution to end warfare based on the League of Nations and self-determination of nations. He paid special attention to creating new nations out of defunct empires, and was opposed to harsh terms and reparations imposed on Germany. A Presbyterian of deep religious faith, Wilson appealed to a gospel of service and infused a profound sense of moralism into his idealistic internationalism, now referred to as "Wilsonianism". Wilsonianism calls for the United States to enter the world arena to fight for democracy, and has been a contentious position in American foreign policy.

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