Chp. 14 section 5 pp. 388-391
Setting the Scene*
•Just weeks after the 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… and I will
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.
5
The Costs of War
• More than 8,500,000 million people died. Twice
that number had been wounded.
• Europe's devastation was worse when in 1918
there was a deadly Pandemic, or spread of a
disease across an entire country, continent, or
in this case the whole world, of Influenza.
• In just a few months 20,000,000 people died
from the flu, twice as many as the war!
5
Deaths
in Battle
Wounded
in Battle
Allies
France
British empire
Russia
Italy
United States
Others
1,357,800
908,371
1,700,000
462,391
50,585
502,421
4,266,000
2,090,212
4,950,000
953,886
205,690
342,585
Central Powers
Germany
Austria-Hungary
Ottoman empire
1,808,546
922,500
325,000
4,247,143
3,620,000
400,000
Financial Burdens
• In Europe homes, farms, factories, roads, and
churches had been destroyed by bombing by
both sides
• Citizens felt bitter about war
• Allies blamed the Central Powers because they
were the aggressors. Thus wanted them to pay
Reparations, or payments for war damage.
• The Central Powers had seen the Armistice as a
cease-fire and not a surrender. In turn they
looked for scapegoats to blame their defeat on.
Political Turmoil
• Because of the stress of War governments
in Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and
the Ottoman Empire.
• Radicals wanted to build new social order
in Europe, like that in Russia where the
Bolsheviks had taken over. [communists]
• Europe’s colonies also started to rebel,
seeing that European countries were not
invincible.
The Paris Peace Conference*
• To a weary world,
Woodrow Wilson seemed
a symbol of hope. His talk
of self-determination and
democracy raised
expectations for a just and
lasting peace, even in
defeated Germany.
Crowds cheered wildly as
he rode along the Paris
boulevards.
The Big Three
• Woodrow Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd
George of England, and Georges Clemenceau of
France
• Wilson was so sure of his rightness he was hard to
work with, urging a peace without victory, and
wanting the 14 points to be the basis of the peace
treaty
• David Lloyd George demanded harsh treatment for
Germany and reparations to pay for a Great Britain
“fit for heroes”
• Clemenceau “the Tiger” was anti German, and
wanted to weaken Germany so it could never again
threaten France. “Mr. Wilson bores me with his
Fourteen Points… God Almighty has only ten!”
5
Difficult Issues
The Allied leaders had different aims.
• The Italians through Vittorio Orlando, insisted that the Allies
honor their secret agreement to gain Austria-Hungary. Such
secret agreements violated Wilson’s principle of selfdetermination.
• Many people who had been ruled by Russia, Austria-Hungary,
or the Ottoman empire now demanded national states of their
own. The territories claimed by these people often overlapped,
so it was impossible to satisfy them all.
•Wilson was forced to compromise on his 14 points on one
though, the creation of a League of Nations, he would not yield.
The League was based on Collective Security, or a system in
which a group of nations acts as one to preserve the peace of
all. With this league he believed any mistakes made in Paris
could be corrected later.
5
The Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty
• forced Germany to assume full blame for causing the war.
• imposed huge reparations upon Germany. 30,000,000,000,
not only for war damage but for pensions also
• aimed at weakening Germany by
• limiting the size of the German military.
• returning Alsace and Lorraine to France.
• removing hundreds of miles of territory from Germany.
• stripping Germany of its overseas colonies.
The Germans signed the treaty because they had no
choice. But German resentment of the Treaty of
Versailles would poison the international climate for 20
years and lead to an even deadlier world war.
5
Self-Determination in
Eastern Europe
New countries emerged in Eastern
Europe including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia,
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary
and Yugoslavia.
Eastern Europe, however remained a
center of conflict even through today!
Europe in 1914 and 1920
1914
1920
Mandate System
• European Colonies around the world believed that the
Peace Conference in Paris would grant them independence
from their colonial mother land
• After all these colonists had fought alongside Europeans
and aided in defeating the Central Powers
• Self-Determination was only applied in Europe the Allies
actually added colonies at the Peace Conference
• Mandates, territories administered by western powers, were
created out of German and Ottoman colonies
• In theory these Mandates were to be independent Nations
when they were “ready”, instead these places became
permanent colonies to the victorious Allies
• Colonized peoples felt betrayed by the peacemakers
Unfulfilled Goals
Not only was Germany upset at the Paris
Peace Conference but other countries as well
Italy was upset it did not get all the lands
promised to it in the secret deal with the Allies
Japan protested the refusal of the western
nations to uphold its claim to parts of China
China was forced to take over former
German Colonies
Russia was outraged that Poland was reestablished as a nation and that they lost land
to the new Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania,
and Estonia
These nations all bided their time, to fix these
problems
Hopes for Global Peace
• One beacon of hope was the League of Nations, in the
aftermath of the war millions of people looked to the
League to ensure the peace
• More than 40 nations joined the League, they agreed to
negotiate disputes rather than resort to war, they
promised to take common action economic or even
military against any aggressor state
• Wilson’s dream became a reality but guess what
• Not even Wilson could get the United States Senate to
ratify the treaty of Versailles the United States remained
at war with Germany and Austria Hungary until 1921
• The League proved to be powerless, but yet it was the
first attempt at a global body of nations to promote the
interests of all humanity
5
World War I: Cause and Effect
Long-Term Causes
Imperialist and economic rivalries
among European powers
European alliance system
Militarism and arms race
Nationalist tensions in Balkans
Immediate Effects
Enormous cost in lives and money
Russian Revolution
Immediate Causes
Austria-Hungary’s annexation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Fighting in the Balkans
Assassination of Archduke Francis
Ferdinand
German invasion of Belgium
Long-Term Effects
Economic impact of war debts on Europe
Creation of new nations in Eastern Europe
Emergence of United States and Japan as
important powers
Requirement that Germany pay reparations
Growth of nationalism in colonies
German loss of its overseas colonies
Rise of fascism
Balfour Declaration
World War II
League of Nations