ABSTRACT
Wilsonian ideas about the self-determination of peoples raised the expectations of colonized
populations around the world. Representatives from Korea, Egypt, India, Vietnam, and the first
Pan-African Congress went to Paris to assert their demands for self-determination, whether of a
nationalist or socialist form. Wilson’s support for the right to self-determination was, however,
limited to territories in Europe, not extended to the colonial world still dominated by Britain and
France. The disappointment throughout the colonies was widespread. Not only did self-determi-
nation not apply to them, but the Mandates System was established, effectively reiterating accep-
tance of the idea of colonial rule. Once articulated and applied as part of the postwar settlement
in Europe, however, the idea of self-determination could not be repressed.
