Abstract
This study of the war aims pronouncements of the Allied and Associated Powers of World War I was made primarily to see whether there actually was clarification of aims on the part of the warring nations. All the pronouncements that were made had an intricate chain of causes behind them. Great speeches that were given on the subject were brought forth to meet some exigency of the moment, either political, military, or diplomatic. A careful study of the question of clarification necessarily leads into an examination of some of the forces struggling to shape future peace policies. The ageless clash of the conservative versus the liberal manifests itself in far-flung capitals of the world. Though vociferous, the liberal here was not victorious. His attempts to force the spokesmen for the ”old order” to denounce greedy territorial and economic aspirations by a united, liberal set of war aims were largely disregarded.