The Treaty of
Versailles
Signed June 28, 1918
Chateau at Commecourt (France)
1. How does seeing this image make YOU (as a Canadian of
the 21st century) feel?
2. How would your reaction to the picture be different if you
were a Frenchman/woman living in 1919?
Aftermath of the Battle at Somme, France
(nearly 60 000 British soldiers died in 1 day)
1.
2.
How does seeing this image make YOU (as a Canadian of the 21st
century) feel?
How would your reaction to the picture be different if you were a
Englishman/woman living in 1919?
It’s
Payback
time!
If you were a Canadian/ English/French or
American citizen in 1919, would you want
some kind of payback?
A. Think about the various costs of the war: death, injuries,
disease, money, destruction of countryside and land
What would you demand as compensation
from the Germans?
The Great War left…
 More than 16 million dead!
 21 million injured.
 Left Europe in shambles.
 “The Lost Generation”
Versailles?
 Signed June 28, 1918
 27 Nations attended, but 3 were most important
The Big Four
Lloyd George
Britain
George
Clemanceau
France
Woodrow Wilson
USA
Vittorio Orlando
Italy
The Big Four at Versailles
What did France Want?
Revenge
Security (so that Germany
could never invade again)
Reparations (for damage
done by German invasion
of Northern France)
George Clemenceau
What did Britain Want?
English public = very antiGerman
Lloyd George:
• Britain needs Germany
to recover (for trade)
• Scared of the “disease
from the East”
Lloyd George
What did America Want?
Did not have the support of
the American public.
Set up League of Nations
Fulfillment of Fourteen
Points
Punish Germany but not to
completely destroy her.
Woodrow Wilson
Student Simulation
Terms of the
Treaty
 German de-militarization:
 Army reduced to 100,000 men
 No tanks
 No air force
 No submarines & battleships
 Rhineland de-militarized
 Allies occupy west bank of Rhine
for 15 years
Territorial Changes
What has changed?
Territorial Losses
 Germany lost all overseas colonies
 Alcase-Lorraine given to France
 Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium, North
Schleswig to Denmark, Posen to Poland
Germany forbidden to
unite with Austria
“The War Guilt Clause”
Germany accepts ALL
responsibility for
starting the war!
Question: Given what you already know about WWI, was this fair?
Reparations
Germany had to pay all the damages
caused by her armies during the war
US$ 31.4 billion ($ 442 billion in 2011)
!!!!!!
German Reaction
What does this cartoon say about how
Germany reacted to the terms?
What do you predict all of
this did to Germany?
Peace and Future Cannon
Fodder
Political Cartoon of 1920 by Australian artist Will Dyson