The Final Days of WWI

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The Final Days of WWI

• IB 20th Century History

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Defeat of Central Powers

• 1918 Russia was out of the War (Russian
  Revolution)
• Central Powers focus on taking over Paris
• May 1918 just 37 miles from Paris but U.S. troops
  arriving everyday.
• End of September 1918
• Turkey asks for peace
• Austria-Hungarian empire breaks up

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• Armistice an agreement to stop fighting
• November 11, 1918 at 1100 a.m. all fighting
  stops and WWI comes to an end

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Terms of Armistice

• Germany agrees to
• Cancel treaty with Russia
• Give up a large part of its navy including all
  submarines
• Turn over much of its munitions
• Release war prisoners

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Cost of WWI

• 8.5 million dead
• 1.8 million Germans, 1.8 million Russians
• 1.4 million French
• 1 million Austria and Hungary
• 1 million British
• 110,000 U.S.
• 21 million wounded
• Total cost was more than 300 billion

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War Deaths by Country
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The Story so far

• World War I is over, the killing has ceased.
• January 18, 1919, a conference was built at the
  Palace of Versailles.
• The Allied powers, the victors of WWI, meet to
  clean up the war mess.

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Paris Peace Conference

• Where Versailles (outside of Paris)
• When January 1919
• Why To arrange terms of peace
• Who
• British Prime Minister David Lloyd George
• French Premier Georges Clemenceau
• Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando
• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson

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Meeting at Versailles

• Paris Peace Conference
• Delegates representing 32 countries
• Major decisions were made by the Big Four
• Woodrow Wilson (U.S.)
• Georges Clemenceau (France)
• David Lloyd George (Great Britain)
• Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

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Conflict of Interests

• France wanted security over another German
  attack, return of Alsace-Lorraine
• Britain wanted Germanys Africans colonies
  destruction of Germanys navy
• Italy also wanted land
• Japan wanted German colonies in the Pacific

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I can predict with absolute certainty that
within another generation there will be another
world war if the nations of the world do not
concert the method by which to prevent it."
Woodrow Wilson, 1919
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The League of Nations
Wilson's 14 points
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Woodrows Plan 1918

• Woodrow proposed his Fourteen Points
• Outlined a plan for maintaining peace
• Proposed the following points
• 1st Point End all secret treaties
• 2nd Point Freedom of the Seas
• 3rd Point Free trade
• 4th Point Reduce national armies (trying to stop
  militarism)
• 5th Point Colonial Fairness (trying to stop
  harsh imperialism)
• 6th-13th Points Rearranging borders
  (self-determination)
• 14th Point Create a general association of
  nations that would negotiate solutions to world
  conflicts (The League of Nations)

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Unsatisfied with Wilsons plan

• Plan threatened national security
• Plan was too nice GB and France thought it
  lacked punishment against Germany
• Wanted to take away Germanys power
• Clemenceau wanted Germany to pay for Frances
  suffering
• France lost more than 1,000,000 soldiers and
  civilians during wartime. This was about 11 of
  the population.
• Frances land was destroyed and devastated.

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Germany/Full Blame for the War
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Waging Peace/Post WWI
How did America react to the Treaty of Versailles?
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Why did the US Reject the Treaty of Versailles?

• Critics of the Treaty believed that the League
  would drag the US into future European wars
  (Senator Henry Cabot Lodge)
• Americans were war weary and wanted to return
  to isolationism
• Wilson suffered a stroke and was unable to sell
  the treaty to the people
• The US refused to join the League of Nations,
  making the League a paper tiger or weak on the
  world stage.

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America's Reaction
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• U.S. Wanted organization to maintain world
  peace called League of Nations
• Idea was well liked
• Many thought it was not realistic
• Reparations payment for war damages
• Who should pay? How much?

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What Kind of Peace?

• Option 1 Fair and not so harsh that it would
  kindle future wars
• Option 2 Germany caused the war, should be
  punished harshly to prevent them from ever being
  powerful again.

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Treaty of Versailles 1919

• French, British, and U.S. argued and finally
  compromised. The product was The Treaty of
  Versailles.
• Signed between Germany and the Allied powers,
  June 28. 1919.
• Adopted Wilsons 14th point, created League of
  Nations
• Aimed for world peace, stopping further wars
• General Assembly, 32 allied and neutral nations
• Executive Council, the 5 Allied Powers
• U.S.
• Great Britain
• France
• Italy
• Japan
• Germany and Russia were left out of the League of
  Nations.

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REPARATIONS
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Treaty of Versailles

• 7. Allow allied troops in Rhineland
• 8. Establish Polish Corridor to sea
• 9. Not manufacture war materials
• 10. Make army smaller
• 11. Establish League of Nations

• 1. Pay reparations
• 2. Admit guilt
• 3. Give up territory
• 4. Not build up Rhineland
• 5. Free Poland
• 6. Make Danzig a free city

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Features of the Treaty of Versailles
Very Limited German Military
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Punishments Against Germany

• Treaty of Versailles also punished Germany
• Portions of Germanys territories were taken
  away, colonies in Asia and Africa were given to
  League of Nations to be administered.
• Military restrictions
• Article 231- Germany was solely responsible for
  the war, therefore, had to pay reparations to
  the Allies.

Major Provisions
League of Nations Germany Loses Territory Germany is restricted in its military War Guilt
32 Allied Nations, But Germany Russia are excluded Germany has to return Alsace-Lorraine to France Germany loses all of its overseas territory in Africa Pacific Cannot buy/build military weapons or war machines Set limit to size of army Is declared totally responsible for World War I Has to pay the equivalent 33 Billion to Allies in 30 years
Alsace-Lorraine is given up to France
Germany
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End of World War I gt Europe in 1914
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End of World War I gt Europe in 1919
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New Nations Formed

• Negotiated between Allies and defeated nations
  (Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Ottoman Empire)
  1919, 1920. It literally broke down Europe into
  many tinier new nations.
• Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken down into
  independent nations Austria, Hungary,
  Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia
• Ottomans had to give up all the land lost in
  Southwest Asia, losing Palestine, Iraq, and
  Transjordan to British rule. Syria and Lebanon
  went to France. The Ottomans could only keep
  Turkey.
• Russia lost territory to Romania and Poland.
  Also, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
  (formerly part of Russia) become independent
  nations.

Europe Before WWI
After WWI
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Unlasting peace

• U.S. rejected the treaty
• Americans thought that if they wanted peace, they
  should get themselves out of European affairs.
• Germany is upset
• War-guilt clause caused them to hate the Allies.
• Economically devastated
• Militarily restricted
• In their point of view, unfairly sanctioned
• Colonies were unsatisfied that they could still
  not gain independence
• Japan and Italy did not get what they wanted out
  of the warland, so also backed out.
• Without consent or support of U.S., the League of
  Nations could not do anything to amend or take
  any action.
• Observer at Versailles noted the treaty was
  merely, a peace built on quicksand.

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Legacy of WWI

• This was a New kind of war. New weapons and
  technology were introduced killing people faster,
  and more efficiently than ever before.
• War was brought to the global scale
• People could see that war could get extremely
  destructive.

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Causes of WWI

• Nationalistic pride
• Competition for colonies
• Military buildup
• Tangled web of alliances
• Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Effects of WWI

• Destruction in Europe
• Boom in American economy
• Suppression of dissent in the U.S.
• Allied victory
• Defeated empires lose their colonies
• The U.S. emerges from the war as a
• world leader and an economic giant