A Review
• Russia left the war by 1917, as the Communist
Revolution of Lenin’s Bolsheviks took hold
• War of Attrition continued (more than 9 million
soldiers died and huge amounts of products were
expended in the war efforts)
• USA entered the war, with fresh men and resources in
late 1917
•Germany decided to surrender from a position of
strength (it could have still kept fighting!) Goal: get good
treaty results
•Kaiser is no longer the
emperor of Germany!
Abdicated and exiled.
•Weimar Republic of
Germany, the new
democratic government.
The Treaty of Versailles
In Paris 1919, the leaders of the victorious countries
met to discuss peace settlement. They were dominated
by “The Big Three.” Germany and Russia were not
invited to the peace conference.
Georges Clemenceau
[France]
David Lloyd-George
[Great Britain]
Woodrow Wilson
[USA]
Treaty of Versailles








Allies have a desire to “get back at Germany” =
reparations
Flaws in the treaty sowed the seeds of postwar
international problems that eventually lead to WWII
Treaty humiliated Germany
War-Guilt Clause-forced Germany to admit sole
responsibility for starting WWI
No way Germany could pay the bill- $33 Billion
Dollars!!!!!
Russia was excluded from the peace conference
and lost more territory than Germany (Russia had
the most causalities in war and fought for 3 years)
Some believed treaty was too harsh
Officially signed on June 28, 1919-- !!!
1914
1919
When
did Germany
make the last payment
for it’s WWI reparations?
October
th
10
….
Guess The Year
…2010
The
German’s made the
final payment of 60
million dollars on
th
October 10 , 2010.
Discontent

Germans were bitter!

Arabs upset that Ottoman rule was replaced by
British and French control rather than
independence (Mandate System)

Colonial people who fought in the war were
angry that their nations remained colonies
(wanted nation-states).
What is the
political
message of
this
cartoon?
What is
being
represented
by the
‘hand’?
‘Who’ / or, ‘what’
is the man
representing?
What does
the plank
represent
THE FINISHING TOUCH
Vengeance! German
Nation
Today in the Hall of Mirrors of Versailles the disgraceful
Treaty is being signed. Do not forget it! The German
people will with unceasing labour press forward to
reconquer the place among nations to which it is entitled.
Then will come the vengeance for the shame of 1919.
From the ‘Deutsche Zeitung’ [‘The German Express’] newspaper.
Only fools, liars and criminals could hope for mercy
from the enemy. In these nights hatred grew in me,
hatred for those responsible for the dead.
By Adolf Hitler, who had served in the army.
Wilson Presents His Plan
Fourteen Points-Plan for World Peace
 14 Points = document giving 14 points to
ensure peace after WWI’s end

Self-determination- what is this?
 League of Nations

The League of Nations
Encourage
cooperation
Stop aggression
AIMS
Disarmament
Improve
social conditions
Powers of the League
 If
a country ignored the ruling of the
League it could:
 Put
pressure on
 Refuse to trade - sanctions
 Send in troops (but no fighting) member countries join together
 Many countries supported it in early
days - they wanted peace
U.S. Response
A few felt that the League of Nations
threatened US isolationism and the
constitutional right of Congress to declare
war
 Wilson set out in the US and spoke about
the League of Nations
 Became ill on October 2,
1919 and suffered a stroke
 US Senate rejected the
League of Nations and
signed a separate treaty
w/ Germany in 1921

Membership
42 members - by 1930’s 59
 Defeated countries could not join (e.g.
Germany)
 Russia excluded because communist
 USA did not join - isolation from world
affairs
 A club for the victorious?

Weaknesses of League
USA didn’t join
 No real power - relied on goodwill and
persuasion
 No permanent army
 Disarmament not realistic
 Structure a disaster - everyone had to
agree before any action taken!!!

The Great Depression
Financial Crisis In Germany
Inflation
•During the war the
German gov’t didn’t
raise taxes
•Government simply
printed money to
pay for wartime
expenses
• This drastically
lowered the value of
the peoples’ money.
The Cost of Bread in the
German Weimar Republic
1918- less than 1 mark
 1922- 160 marks
 1923- 200 billion marks

Causes of the Global Great Depression
WWI Ends, production shrinks, men become
unemployed
- European countries in debt to US
- Germany cannot pay reparations or the loans for
the reparations
 High inflation
2. Crash of the U.S. stock market
- Panic about the economy
3. Overproduction
 Mass production plus shrinking
wages after WWI meant factories couldn’t sell all of the
goods they made
 Example: Unemployment reached 50% in Germany
and 36% in USA
1.
Capitalism Challenged


Major result of the Great Depression = capitalist
countries were challenged and criticized
Capitalist countries = claimed the economy would
regulate itself and self-correct itself if any problems
arose
 But this wasn’t
happening during
the Great Depression
The Great Depression: Capitalism
Challenged

Some countries became
interested in communism and
looked twice at the Soviet Union

USSR continued to
experience economic growth
throughout the Depression
because of 5 Year Plans
(centralized gov’t control)
III. Government Reactions



Some governments became less laissez faire
Governments that held colonies exploited them
even more to try to improve their own economy
Governments of non-industrial countries became
even stronger autocratic gov’t’s to try to keep
control
 Ex: Latin America- military
officers (caudillos)
seized power