The End of Fighting

I. Germany Collapses

• Germany needed to deal a decisive blow to the allied powers before the U.S. had time to raise an army, train soldiers, and get to the front line

• German troops no longer needed to fight Russia so in March 1918 troops were transferred to France and German forces came within 40 miles of Paris.

• U.S. troops arrive and in the Second Battle of the Marne the German assault is stopped.

 

Armistice or peace signed on the 11th hour of the 11th month on the 11th day- November 11, 1918

II. What was the impact of World War I?

• The war killed 14 million people (350,000 Americans) and left 7 million men disabled.

• The war drew more than a million women into the U.S. workforce, which helped to pass the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.

Paris Peace Conference“Putting the World Back Together”

The Major Players - “The Big Four”

Woodrow Wilson - USA

George Clemenceau “The Tiger” - France

David Lloyd George “The Welsh Wizard” - GB

Vittorio Orlando - Italy

Wilson’s 14 PointsPeace and Reconciliation

• 1) Restoration of social order, world trade

• 2) National self-determination– Right to your own country and the right to

choose your own government

• 3) Leniency toward Germany

• 4) Establish a League of Nations

Clemenceau Security and Reparations

• 1) Wants reparations to pay for damages to their country– At the end of WWI Germany had a “scorched

earth policy”

• 2) Weaken Germany to make sure they won’t be a threat again

David Lloyd GeorgeColonial Domination

• 1) Reduce Germany’s navy

• 2) Reduce Germany’s colonial empire

• 3) Protect Europe from spread of Communism– Wanted Germany to be a barrier to

Communism – But felt the pressure from British citizens to

punish Germany

Vittorio OrlandoGive Us Land

• 1) Territory– He wants to get his “fair share” of the spoils

The Decision Making Process

• Large group proved too troublesome

• Big 4 meet secretly in Wilson’s plush Parisian apartment– It is here that they hash

out the specifics of the treaty…

What They Decide to do With Germany

• 1) Pay reparations-32 billion• 2) Army reduced to 100,000

men• 3) No air force or subs

– Only allowed 6 ships

• 4) Lose Alsace and Lorraine (west) Polish territory splits country in east

• 5) Rhineland demilitarized• 6) Saar Basin goes to France

for 15 years - mineral rich basin

• 7) Lose all overseas colonies• 8) Held responsible for the

whole war

Article 231 “War Guilt Clause”“Stabbed in the Back”

• Germany was never allowed to negotiate

• At the end of the war, Germany still had men fighting on foreign soil– Our allies lost, not us!– That means we didn’t really

lose!

• German people never really accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles– It was our government that

signed an unjust treaty…stabbing us in the back!

"Had our army had our workmen, on the 5th and 9th of November, known that peace would have looked that way, the army would not have laid down its arms; it would have held out."

-Conrad Haussmann (Vice President of the German National Assembly)

Why does Germany Sign?

• Told to sign and if not…they would be invaded by the Allied powers

• What does this cartoon seem to be saying?

Europe’s New Boundaries

1914 1919

You be a Delegate

• Whose goals were met the most?

• As a delegate not from France, Great Britain, Italy, or the United States, how do you feel about what is going on?

• As a German delegate what is your reaction to the treaty process and the final version of the treaty?

“War to end all wars” or “Twenty year truce?”

You know what happened in 1939, why do you think the Treaty of

Versailles failed?