WILSON FIGHTS FOR PEACE
Chapter 11 Section 4
MAIN IDEA:
European leaders opposed most of
Wilson’s peace plan, and the U.S. Senate
failed to ratify the peace treaty.
OBJECTIVES:
1.
2.
3.
Summarize Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Describe the Treaty of Versailles and
international and domestic reaction to it.
Explain some of the consequences of the war.
Wilson Presents His Plan
 Fourteen
Points-Plan for World
Peace
 Fourteen Points speech given
before Congress, points divided
into three groups
 First 5 points Wilson believed
had to be addressed to prevent
another war
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
14 POINTS
There should be no secret treaties among
nations.
Freedom of the seas should be maintained
for all.
Tariffs and other economic barriers among
nations should be lowered or abolished in
order to foster free trade.
Arms should be reduced “to the lowest point
consistent with domestic safety, thus
lessening the possibility of military
responses during diplomatic crises
Colonial policies should consider the
interests of the colonial peoples as well as
the interests of the imperialistic powers
14-points continued
 6-13
dealt with boundary changes
 14th point called for a creation of
and international organization to
address the diplomatic crises like
those that had sparked the war
 League of Nations- provide a forum
for nations to discuss and settle
their grievances without war
The Allies Reject Wilson’s Plan
Georges Clemenceau-French premier
angry about German invasions
 David Lloyd George-British Prime
Minister, “Make Germany Pay”
 Peace Conference did not include Central
Powers or Russia
 Treaty of Versailles-created new nations,
shifted boundaries, and barred Germany
from maintaining an Army
 Germany made to pay reparations-pay
war damages amounting to 33 billion

Treaty’s Weaknesses
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
 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)

Debate of the Treaty
Some believed treaty was too harsh
 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

THE LEGACY OF THE WAR
Many Americans looked forward to return to
“normalcy”
 World War I had many changes in the U.S.
 Strengthened military
 Social change for African Americans and
Women
 Called WWI “the war to end all wars”
 Treaty of Versailles settled nothing
 Adolf Hitler emerged as an angry WWI vet
and rose to power in Germany

Vocabulary
 Fourteen
Points
 League of Nations
 Georges Clemenceau
 David Lloyd George
 Treaty of Versailles
 Reparations
 War-Guilt Clause
 Henry Cabot Lodge
 Big Four