Chapter 27 – World War I and Its
Aftermath
Section 5 – Making the Peace
Setting the Scene
Just weeks after the Great War ended, President
Wilson boarded a steamship bound for France.
He had decided to go in person to Paris, where
Allied leaders would make the peace. Wilson was
certain that he could solve the problems of old
Europe. "Tell me what is right," Wilson urged his
advisers, "and I'll fight for it."
Sadly, it would not be that easy. Europe was a
shattered continent. Its problems, and those of
the world, would not be solved at the Paris Peace
Conference, or for many years afterward.
I. The Costs of War
More than 8.5 million people were dead and
over 21 million had been wounded
Let us use arithmetic for World War I –
9,000,000 dead young men equal
1,350,000,000 pounds of bone and flesh
27,900,000 pounds of brain matter
11,250,000 gallons of blood
414,000,000 years of life that will never be lived
22,500,000 children who will never be born
The dry if imposing figure "9,000,000 dead" seems a
little less statistical when we view it from this
perspective.
Dalton Trumbo, author of Johnny Got His Gun
I. The Costs of War
The devastation was made worse in 1918 by
the influenza pandemic, which killed more
than 20 million
Emergency hospital during influenza epidemic, Camp Funston, Kansas
I. The Costs of War
The costs of rebuilding and paying off war
debts were huge, and famine threatened
many regions
Ypres, France
I. The Costs of War
Governments collapsed in Russia, Germany,
Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman empire
I. The Costs of War
Unrest swept through Europe's colonies, who
had hoped for independence
II. The Paris Peace Conference
Woodrow Wilson’s talk of self-determination
and democracy raised hopes for a just and
lasting peace
II. The Paris Peace Conference
Wilson urged "peace without victory," and
wanted the Fourteen Points to be the basis of
the peace
Representatives at the Paris
Peace Conference included,
left to right, British prime
minister Lloyd George,
Italian foreign minister
Giorgio Sonnino, French
premier Georges
Clemenceau, and U.S.
president Woodrow Wilson
II. The Paris Peace Conference
British PM David Lloyd George knew his
people demanded harsh treatment for
Germany
II. The Paris Peace Conference
French leader Georges Clemenceau wanted
to weaken Germany so it could never threaten
France again
III. The Treaty of Versailles
In June 1919 at Versailles, the Germans were
ordered to sign the treaty drawn up by the
Allies
III. The Treaty of Versailles
Germany was forced to assume full blame for
causing the war and pay reparations totaling
over $30 billion
III. The Treaty of Versailles
The treaty limited the size of the German
military, returned Alsace and Lorraine to
France, and stripped Germany of its colonies
Lady Germania
chained to a
torture pole.
German political
picture, June
1919.
III. The Treaty of Versailles
New nations included the Baltic states, Austria,
Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia, and
Poland regained independence
III. The Treaty of Versailles
In the colonies, the treaties created a system
of mandates administered by western powers
League of Nations Mandate - Middle East & Africa
III. The Treaty of Versailles
More than 40 nations joined the League of
Nations and agreed to negotiate disputes
rather than resort to war