Chapter 19 Section 5
Global Peacemaker
Path to Peace
• President Wilson stood before Congress on January 8, 1918
and presented his Fourteen Points – 14 provisions that
assured peace after the War
• Called for Austria-Hungary’s ethnic groups to selfdetermination – power to make decisions about one’s own
future
• The Allies, however began to discard point by point
• In January 1919, Wilson headed to a peace conference in Paris
• Wilson wasn’t interest in spoils – rewards of war
• Sought an community of power after the War
• Not Wilson, but the Allies wanted to divide up Germany’s
colonies – Wilson was left with no choice but to accept
Path to Peace (Continued)
• At the peace conference, Wilson produced a plan for The
League of Nations – organization in which the nations of the
world would join together to ensure security and peace for all
its members
• Congress, however, mostly Republican, declined the proposal
• In March 1919, the Allies accepted Wilson’s plan, but Wilson
appeared weak without the support of Americans
• The other Allies insisted on redrawing Europe (see next slide
for what happened)
• 9 new nations were created out of the territory of AustriaHungary, Germany, and Russia
• The Ottoman Empire was reduced to today’s Turkey while the
British took control of Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq
• France took control of Syria and Lebanon
Peace
• Wilson gave into France and Britain’s idea of crippling
Germany
• Insisted on Germany paying reparations – payment for
economic injury suffered during the war
• By 1921, Germany owed $33 billion to the Allies – they never
forgot this
• Allies presented the treaty to Germany on May 7, 1919
• What became known as the Versailles Treaty – because it was
signed in Versailles Palace, it was accepted on June 28, 1919
You’ve got to swallow it
whether you like it or
not
--------->
The Germans are on the
left, while the Big Four –
France, Britain, Italy, and
the US are on the right
Reactions at Home
• Many senators opposed the treaty because it committed the
US to the League of Nations
• In September 1919, Wilson took to the road to raise support
for the League, but 23 days in he suffered a stroke – paralyzing
one half of his body
• The Senate voted on the treaty but rejected it three times
• On May 20, 1920 Congress voted to disregard the treaty;
Wilson vetoed; Congress overturned it on July 21, 1921 under
new republican President Warren G. Harding – he signed it
• Congress ratified separate peace treaties with Germany,
Austria, and Hungary that October
Postwar Adjustments
• In 1922, the Senate calculated European countries owing the
US $11.5 billion
• This thrust the US into unexpected power
• Still, the US turned away from international affairs
• Returning serviceman faced readjustment to home life