The Final Days of WWI - George Washington High School
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The Final Days of WWI IB 20th Century History
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
Armistice
– an agreement to stop
fighting November
11, 1918 at 11:00 a.m. all fighting stops and WWI comes to an end
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
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
War Deaths by Country
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.
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
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)
Conflict of Interests France
wanted security over another German attack, return of Alsace-Lorraine
Britain
wanted Germany’s African’s colonies & destruction of Germany’s navy
Italy
also wanted land
Japan
wanted German colonies in the Pacific
“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
Woodrow’s 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)
Unsatisfied with Wilson’s plan
Plan threatened national security
Plan was too nice– GB and France thought it lacked punishment against Germany
Wanted to take away Germany’s power Clemenceau wanted Germany to pay for France’s suffering
France lost more than 1,000,000 soldiers and civilians during wartime. This was about 11% of the population. France’s land was destroyed and devastated.
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.
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?
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.
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 Wilson’s 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.
Treaty of Versailles 1. Pay reparations 2. Admit guilt
7. Allow allied troops in Rhineland
3. Give up territory
8. Establish “Polish Corridor” to sea
4. Not build up Rhineland
9. Not manufacture war materials
5. Free Poland
10. Make army smaller
6. Make Danzig a free city
11. Establish League of Nations
Punishments Against Germany
Treaty of Versailles also punished Germany: Portions of Germany’s 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. AlsaceLorraine is given up to France
Germany
Major Provisions League of Nations
Germany Loses Territory
Germany is restricted in its military
War Guilt
32 Allied Nations,
Germany has to return AlsaceLorraine to France
Cannot buy/build military weapons or war machines
Is declared totally responsible for World War I
But… Germany & Russia are excluded
Germany loses all of its overseas territory in Africa & Pacific
Set limit to size of army
Has to pay the equivalent $33 Billion to Allies in 30 years
End of World War I > Europe in 1914
End of World War I > Europe in 1919
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
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 war—land, 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.”
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.
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
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