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Objectives
• Examine Woodrow Wilson’s plan for a lasting
and just peace.
• Understand how the Treaty of Versailles
punished Germany.
• Explain why many Americans opposed
membership in the League of Nations.
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Chapter
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Terms and People
• self-determination– the right of a group to
decide its own form of government
• reparations– payments to cover damages
• Henry Cabot Lodge– a powerful Republican
Senator who opposed U.S. membership in the
League of Nations
• deport– to forcibly return an immigrant to his
or her home country
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How did the Treaty of Versailles and
the League of Nations disappoint
President Wilson?
After World War I, President Wilson wanted
the U.S. to approve the Treaty of Versailles
and join a worldwide peacekeeping
organization, the League of Nations.
Congress rejected both of these plans.
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Chapter
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Before the war ended, President Wilson had
presented a peace plan to Congress.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
These points targeted the
causes of the war.
They included free trade
among nations and a
reduction of military forces.
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Chapter
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6.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
These points addressed
territorial issues.
Wilson called for selfdetermination for minority
groups in Austria-Hungary
and the Ottoman Empire.
Shaping the Peace
Chapter
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Wilson’s Fourteen Points
14.
This was Wilson’s most
important point.
He wanted to set up an
international organization
to guarantee world peace.
Shaping the Peace
Chapter
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Wilson presented his plan at a peace conference in
Paris attended by the “Big Four.”
The Big Four included
Vittorio Orlando of Italy (not
pictured) as well as Lloyd
George of Britain, Georges
Clemenceau of France, and
Woodrow Wilson (pictured
left to right).
But, the other Allies wanted
to punish Germany.
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Chapter
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After much debate, the Big Four drafted the
Treaty of Versailles.
German’s military
would be limited.
The Germans
accepted full
responsibility for
the war.
Treaty Terms
The Germans had
to pay full
reparations to
the Allies.
Germany lost some
territory and colonies.
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Chapter
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Wilson opposed the treaty’s harsh demands.
He agreed with it to form his peacekeeping
organization, the League of Nations.
On June 28, 1919,
German delegates
signed the treaty.
Shaping the Peace
German anger at the
treaty was one cause
of World War II.
Chapter
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Other peace treaties applied the principle of selfdetermination to some of the Central Powers.
Austria-Hungary was divided.
Austria
Hungary
Czechoslovakia
Austria-Hungary
Yugoslavia was formed.
Other Balkan
Yugoslavia
Serbs of Serbia
Peoples
Shaping the Peace
Chapter
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The peacemakers did not apply self-determination
to non-Europeans. Britain and France divided
Germany’s African colonies and the Middle East.
Germany’s African
Colonies
Britain
France
Middle Eastern lands
of Ottoman Empire
Residents of these lands felt betrayed.
Shaping the Peace
Chapter
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After the war,
Europe’s borders
were redrawn.
In 1918, Russia
had given territory
to Germany.
The 1919 peace
treaties brought
more changes.
Shaping the Peace
Chapter
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Wilson’s idea for the League of Nations
sparked heated debate in America.
The U.S. must
accept its
“destiny” to lead
the world on a
new path.
Membership in
the League will
restrict the U.S.
from acting in its
own interest.
President Wilson
Senator Henry Cabot
Lodge
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Chapter
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President Wilson lost his battle for the
League of Nations.
He toured the country to promote his plan.
He suffered a massive stroke, but continued to
support his plan from his sickbed.
In November 1919, the Senate voted to reject the
treaty.
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The absence of the U.S. crippled the League’s
ability to solve worldwide crises in the 1930s.
Cartoons like this one criticized America’s decision.
U.S.
participation
is key to
building the
League of
Nations.
The keystone is not in place.
Shaping the Peace
Chapter
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The postwar years brought troubles
to the U.S.
An influenza
epidemic killed
over 500,000
Americans in
1918 and 1919.
Peacetime
brought high
unemployment.
In 1919, four
million U.S.
laborers went on
strike.
Shaping the Peace
Fear of
communism led
to the “Red
Scare.” Many
immigrants
were rounded
up and
deported.
Chapter
21 Section 4
Section Review
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