Description

A broadside in Russian Cyrillic lists the so called Fourteen Points, outlined in a January 8, 1918 speech to the United States Congress by President Woodrow Wilson, as a statement of principles how to end World War I in a peaceful way. The broadside was published by the American Press Office in Saint Petersburg in early 1918, only two months after the beginning of the October Revolution.

The Fourteen Points called for the abolition of secret treaties, a reduction in armaments, an adjustment in colonial claims, and freedom of the seas. They were also a direct response to Vladimir Lenin’s Decree on Peace of November 1917, following the success of the October Revolution, which proposed an immediate withdrawal of Russia from World War I.

Wilson’s speech was well received by Vladimir Lenin, as it promised the Bolsheviks they would receive a better peace from the Allies, to undermine the German support.

The broadside was published by the American Press Office in Saint Petersburg. The office was a part of Public Information Committee, established on April 14, 1917, a week after the United States joined the First World War, and it was an official propaganda agency of the US government. According to the imprint, free copies were only obtainable at the American Press Office.

The broadside is very rare. We could not trace any other examples in institutions worldwide.