ted opportunity of autonomous development, and the
Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships
and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

XIII. 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.

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific
covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political
independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

In February negotiations at Brest-Litovsk were broken off as a result
of the excessive demands of the Germans and the armistice was declared
at an end. The Germans quickly overran Poland and the Baltic provinces
and occupied Ukraine under a treaty which virtually placed the material
resources of that country at the disposal of the Central Powers. In an
address at Baltimore, April 6, the anniversary of our entrance into the
war, President Wilson denounced the insincerity and perfidy of the
German rulers, who, he said, were "enjoying in Russia a cheap triumph
in which no brave or gallant nation can long take pride." He concluded
with these strong words: "Germany has once more said that force, and
force alone, shall decide whether justice and peace shall reign in the
affairs of men, whether right as America conceives it or dominion as
she conceives it shall determine the destinies of mankind. There is,
therefore, but one response possible from us: Force, force to the
utmost, force without stint or limit, the righteous and triumphant
force which shall make right the law of the world and cast every
selfish dominion down in the dust."

Between the addresses of January 8 and the Armistice, the President
delivered other addresses in which he elaborated some of the principles
of the Fourteen Points. Of special significance were his speeches of
February 11, July 4, and September 27. In the last his mind centered
on the League of Nations. "There can be no leagues or alliances or
special covenants and understandings within the general and common
family of the League of Nations," he declared, and "there can be no
special selfish economic combinations within the League, and no
employment of any form of economic boycott or e