The End of World War One
GCSE MODERN WORLD
HISTORY
The End of WW1 and the Treaty
of Versailles
• Why do countries go to war? – List as
many reasons as possible
Devastation
• Much of north-eastern France and
Belgium had been devastated
• Britain and France were in severe debt
and their economies ruined
YPRES 1918
Ypres recently
Casualties
• Over 9 million had been killed
• One quarter of all French men aged 18-27
had been killed
• Four million Frenchmen had been
wounded
La Targette British Cemetery
Thiepval, the Somme
German cemetery at Langemarck
Treaty of Versailles
WW1 has just finished and Britain has finished on the
winning side. What is your immediate reaction? Consider
the advantages and disadvantages and explain your
choice.
a. Go ahead and
invade Germany
b. Demand lots of
money as
compensation
c. Forgive and hope for
better relations in the
future
The Key Points: 1.
Territory
Alsace Lorraine
Should Alsace-Lorraine be returned to France? (Alsace-Lorraine has both
French and German people living there and has lots of natural resources like
iron).
Rhineland
Should Germany be allowed to keep the Rhineland? If so should they be
allowed to place troops on it? If not, who should be given the Rhineland?
Alsace - Lorraine
Rhineland
The Key Points: 2. Army
Armed Forces
The Allies debated whether Germany should be prevented from fighting again
by taking away their army.
Should Germany be allowed to keep her army, navy and air force? Should
just the navy and air force be taken away? Should the Germany army be
reduced to the point where it can only be defensive not offensive?
The Key Points: 3. Prevention
of Future Wars
Prevention of Future War
Should there be an international
council set up to preserve peace
through negotiation? How will this
council have any power? Will it
have an army? Should Germany
just be left to fend for itself now?
The Key Points: 4. Guilt
War Guilt:
Which country should be blamed for
starting the war? Would it be fairer to share
the blame or to entirely blame Germany?
The Key Points: 5.
Reparations
War Guilt:
Should Germany have to pay money to the
Allies for the damage it caused or should it
be equally shared? How much should they
pay?
• Explain why some people wanted to
punish Germany after WW1.
• Explain what could happen if Germany
was punished too harshly.
The Big Three
• Lloyd-George
• Woodrow Wilson
• Georges Clemenceau
British Prime
Minister
Lloyd George
The British attitude
• Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister,
wanted a compromise peace
• Public opinion demanded he punish the
Germans
• But a stronger Germany could stand up to
the French and resist Communism
• He wanted German colonies and an end
to the naval threat
French Prime Minister
Georges Clemenceau
The French attitude
• He wanted revenge on the Germans
• Germany should pay for the war through
reparations
• Germany had to be permanently
weakened both financially and militarily
• Germany should be occupied
American
President
Woodrow Wilson
The American attitude
• He hoped the Fourteen Points would serve
as the blue-print for a new world peace
• The War had helped the economy and
much of the Allied side was in debt to the
USA
The Fourteen Points
1. No secret treaties: all diplomacy should
be open
2. Freedom of the seas in peace and war
3. Free trade between all countries: no
customs barriers
4. Disarmament by all nations
5. The wishes of people in colonies should
be listened to when deciding their future
6. German forces to leave Russia
7. Belgium should be independent
8. Alsace-Lorraine, taken by Germany in
1871, to be returned to France
9. Italy’s frontier with Austria to be changed
10. Self-determination for the peoples of
eastern Europe.
11. Serbia to have access to the sea
12. Self-determination for peoples of the
Turkish Empire
13. Poland should become independent, with
access to the sea
14. An international organisation to be set up
to settle disputes between countries,
called the League of Nations
Other factors
• The impact of the Russian Revolution and
the possible spread of Communism
• The collapse of eastern Europe into
anarchy
• The Allies had made secret deals with Italy
and Japan
• The Allies had no real plans for the future
of the world
• Over a million died from the flu in 1919
The Versailles Conference
January-June 1919