At 11:00 on November 11th, 1918, after four years of unprecedented bloodshed, Germany and the Allies signed an armistice to end the fighting of WWI and began the process of negotiating a final peace treaty. President Woodrow Wilson wanted to, in his words, make the world safe for democracy. And he developed a 14-point Plan that he felt would ensure such a conflict would never happen again. The first 5 points were aimed at eliminating the causes of the war, namely ending secret alliances, guaranteeing freedom of the seas and free trade among nations as well as reducing armed forces as much as possible. The next 8 points attempted to adjust political borders based on the concept of national self-determination. Political borders, Wilson felt should reflect ethnic borders. For instance Austria-Hungary, an empire encompassing many different nationalities was broken up into several smaller nations based on nationality. Wilson's final point was the creation of a cooperative LEAGUE OF NATIONS. Members of the League would promise to come to each other's aid if a crisis or dispute arose. This type of international cooperation Wilson felt, would contain any international disputes before they got out of hand. The negotiations for the TREATY OF VERSAILLES began in January 1919. The other major diplomats, David Lloyd George of Britain, George Clemenceau of France and Vittorio Orlando of Italy, had their own ideas about the type of treaty they wanted. Despite Wilson's objections, the European leaders wanted a more punitive treaty. Germany had to accept full responsibility for the war. They wanted to strip Germany of its military, take away its colonies and force it to pay thirty $33 Billion in war reparations. The final treaty did not address all of Wilson's 14 points, but he did succeed with his 14th and final point which was the creation of the League of Nations. Selling this treaty to the American Senate however would be a much more difficult task for Wilson. According to the Constitutional rules of CHECKS & BALANCES, the President of the United States is authorized to negotiate treaties with foreign governments, however the Senate must be the body to ratify the treaty. And there was a lot of opposition to the Treaty of Versailles in the Senate. The main sticking point was U.S. membership in the League of Nations. Senators feared that membership in the league would threaten America sovereignty. After the war, the foreign policy mood in Congress was one of ISOLATIONISM. Many in the U.S. wanted to avoid any future international conflicts. Membership in the League of Nations could mean that the United States would have to commit American forces to conflicts abroad. Wilson went on a nationwide tour in order to sell the treaty directly to the American public. During the tour Wilson suffered a debilitating stroke. And it was not enough to pressure the Senate into accepting the treaty. In two separate votes, the United States Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles. After Wilson left office in 1921, the United States negotiated a separate treaty with Germany. The League of Nations was created, but without the leadership of the United States it had very little influence. This would prove to be a disastrous outcome as the world was once again embroiled in a much more deadly conflict less than 20 years later.