Unit II- Becoming a World
Power
Chapter 8 Section 4
Peace Without
Victory
Peace without Victory
The Main Idea
The Allies determined the terms for peace in the postwar
world.
Reading Focus
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What was President Wilson’s Fourteen Points plan for peace?
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What was resolved at the Paris Peace Conference?
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Why did Congress fight over the treaty?
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What was the impact of World War I on the United States
and the world?
The Fourteen Points
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In a speech to Congress before the war ended, President Wilson
outlined a vision of a “just and lasting peace.”
His plan was called the Fourteen Points, and among its ideas were
— Open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, the removal of trade
barriers, and the reduction of military arms
— A fair system to resolve disputes over colonies
— Self-determination, or the right of people to decide their own
political status and form their own nations
— Establishing a League of Nations, or an organization of countries
working together to settle disputes, protect democracy, and
prevent future wars
The Fourteen Points expressed a new philosophy that applied
progressivism to U.S. foreign policy.
The Fourteen Points declared that foreign policy should be based on
morality, not just on what’s best for the nation.
The Peace Conference in Paris 1919
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Wilson
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14 points- Wilson’s only
purpose at the
conference.
Others were critical of
Wilson- called him the
Preacher of the world. To
worried about all of
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mankind. God only has
10 commandments.
Mistake- Wilson didn’t
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chose any Republicans or
Senators to be on the
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American Peace
Commission.
The Big Four
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Prime Minister Lloyd George of
Great Britain
Premier Vittorio Orlando of Italy
Premier Georges Clemenceau of
France
President Woodrow Wilson of the
U.S.
The other three powers wanted as
much land, wealth, and power for
their countries as possible.
The other three powers wanted
German repayment for cost of war.
The other three powers wanted to
punish the enemies so they could
never rise again.
The Fourteen Points
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What was President Wilson’s Fourteen
Points plan for peace?
What principles of progressivism inspired
President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen
Points?
Why do you think Wilson abandoned the
idea of isolationism in favor of the new
philosophy for U.S. foreign policy
expressed in the Fourteen Points?
The Paris Peace Conference
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President Wilson led American negotiators attending the peace
conference in Paris in January 1919.
– His attendance of the Paris Peace Conference made him the
first U.S. President to visit Europe while in office.
– Republicans criticized Wilson for leaving the country when it
was trying to restore its economy.
Wilson’s dream of international peace, though, required him to
attend the conference as a fair and unbiased leader to prevent
squabbling among European nations.
The Paris Peace Conference began on January 12, 1919, with
leaders representing 32 nations, or about three-quarters of the
world’s population.
The leaders of the victorious Allies—President Wilson, British
Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French premier Georges
Clemenceau, and Italian prime minister Vittorio Orlando—became
known as the Big Four.
Germany and the Central Powers were not invited to attend.
Conflicting Needs at the Peace
The delegates arrived at the Peace Conference with competing
needs and desires. Conference
Better World
• President Wilson had
a vision of a better
world.
• He wanted nations to
deal with each other
openly and trade
with each other
fairly.
• Wanted countries to
reduce their arsenal
of weapons
Revenge
• Many Allies
wanted to punish
Germany for its
role in the war.
• Georges
Clemenceau
accused Germany
of tyrannical
conduct,
exemplified by the
huge loss of life
and the continued
suffering of
veterans.
Independence
• Leaders of
Yugoslavia and
Czechoslovakia
wanted to build
new nations.
• Poland, divided
between
Germany and
Russia, wanted
one nation.
• Ho Chi Minh
worked at the
Paris Ritz hotel
and asked France
to free Vietnam.
The Treaty of Versailles
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The Allies eventually reached an agreement and presented the
Treaty of Versailles to Germany in May.
The treaty was harsher than Wilson wanted, requiring Germany to
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Disarm its military forces
Pay $33 billion in reparations, or payments for damages and
expenses caused by the war, which Germany could not afford
Take sole responsibility for starting the war
The Central Powers also had to turn over their colonies to the Allies,
to stay under Allied control until they could become independent.
The treaty included some of Wilson’s Fourteen Points, such as the
creation of a League of Nations and self-determination for some
ethnic groups in Eastern and Central Europe.
Germany strongly protested the treaty but signed it after
France threatened military action.
Versailles Treaty
The Treaty ended up being not as selfish, vengeful or as
noble as everyone had wanted.
The Big Four
The main terms of the Versailles Treaty were:
(1) the surrender of all German colonies as League
of Nations mandates;
(2) the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France;
(3) cession of Eupen-Malmedy to Belgium, Memel to
Lithuania, the Hultschin district to Czechoslovakia,
(4) Poznania, parts of East Prussia and Upper Silesia
to Poland;
(5) Danzig to become a free city;
(6) plebiscites to be held in northern Schleswig to
settle the Danish-German frontier;
(12) limitation of Germany's
(7) occupation and special status for the Saar under
army to 100,000 men with no
French control
(8) demilitarization and a fifteen-year occupation of
the Rhineland;
9) German reparations of £6,600 million;
(10) a ban on the union of Germany and Austria;
(11) an acceptance of Germany's guilt in causing the
war; (11) provision for the trial of the former Kaiser
and other war leaders;
conscription, no tanks, no heavy
artillery, no poison-gas supplies,
no aircraft and no airships;
(13) the limitation of the
German Navy to vessels under
100,000 tons, with no
submarines;
•REPARATIONS- Most poisonous
provision of treaty.
•Payments from Germans to
“repair” all war damage.
•British and French felt
damages should include the
total costs of war
(everything). Sum so huge it
could not be named, and the
Germans would be paying for
ever.
•Germany signed the Versailles
Treaty under protest. The USA
Congress refused to ratify the
treaty. Many people in France
and Britain were angry that there
was no trial of the Kaiser or the
other war leaders
Peace, Diplomacy, and Reparation (06:51)
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an international organization
created after the First World War.
The Covenant establishing the League was part of the
Treaty of Versailles.
The aims of the League were to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and
security.
The League of Nations was an association of states which
had pledged themselves, through signing the
Covenant not to go to war before submitting their
disputes with each other, or states not members of the
League, to arbitration or enquiry.
The League of Nations formally came into existence on
January 10, 1920. The two official languages of the
League were English and French. The headquarters
of the League was Geneva, Switzerland.
The main organs of the League of Nations were the General
Assembly, the Council and the Secretariat. The Council
included four permanent members (Britain, France, Italy
and Japan) and four (later nine) others elected by the
General Assembly every three years.
Armillary sphere, a symbol
of the League of Nations,
Paris Peace Conference
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What was resolved at the Paris Peace
Conference?
What was Wilson’s purpose for going
to Europe?
Do you think that President Wilson
was justified in going to Europe?
Paris Peace Conference
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Who were the Big Four?
Why do you think that the Central
Powers were excluded from the Paris
Peace Conference?
Do you think that France would really
have taken military action if Germany
had refused to sign the Treaty of
Versailles? Why or why not?
Fight over the Treaty
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President Wilson returned to the U.S. and presented the treaty
to the Senate, needing the support of both Republicans and
Democrats to ratify it.
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Wilson had trouble getting the Republican Congress’s support.
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The Senators divided into three groups:
1. Democrats, who supported immediate ratification of the
treaty
2. Irreconcilables, who wanted outright rejection of U.S.
participation in the League of Nations
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3. Reservationists, led by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, who
would only ratify a revised treaty
Reservationists thought the League of Nations charter requiring
members to use force for the League conflicted with Congress’s
constitutional right to declare war.
Opposition
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Wilson returns a hero.
Senate needs to approve Versailles
Treaty.
Americans afraid of League of
Nations and Article 10- each member
promises to respect and preserve all
the other members against “external
aggression”. Threatens our
independence.
Senate leaders Borah and Lodge lead
opposition. Lodge doesn’t trust
Wilson
Wilson suffers stroke taking his
appeal to the people.
Wouldn’t work with Senator Lodge.
Harding wins the election of 1920 and
America never approves the
Versailles Treaty or joins the League
of Nations.
William Borah
Henry Cabot Lodge
Wilson Tours America
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Wilson refused to compromise with reservationists and took his case
directly to the American people, traveling 8,000 miles in 22 days.
In 32 major speeches, Wilson urged the public to pressure Republican
senators into ratifying the treaty, warning of serious consequences if
world nations didn’t work together.
Wilson’s heavy touring schedule weakened him, and after suffering a
stroke in October 1919, he cut himself off from friends and allies.
In September 1919, Senator Lodge presented a treaty to the U.S. Senate
including a list of 14 reservations, or concerns about the Treaty of
Versailles.
Wilson was unwilling to compromise, and the Senate rejected Lodge’s
treaty on Wilson’s instructions.
After Wilson left office in 1921, the U.S. signed separate treaties with
Austria, Hungary, and Germany, but never joined the League of Nations.
Without U.S. participation, the League’s ability to keep world peace was
uncertain.
Woodrow Wilson's Last Days (02:59)
The Fight over the Treaty
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Why did Congress fight over the
treaty?
How was the Senate divided by the
fight over the Treaty of Versailles?
Do you think the reservationists were
right in refusing to ratify the Treaty
of Versailles? Explain.
The Impact of World War I
Political
•
The war led to the
overthrow of
monarchies in
Russia, AustriaHungary, Germany,
and Turkey.
•
It contributed to the
rise of the Bolsheviks
to power in Russia in
1917.
•
It fanned the flames
of revolts against
colonialism in the
Middle East and
Southeast Asia.
Economic
• WWI devastated
European
economies, giving
the U.S. the
economic lead.
• The U.S. still faced
problems such as
inflation, which left
people struggling
to afford ordinary
items.
• Farmers, whose
goods were less in
demand than
during the war,
were hit hard.
Social
• The war killed 14
million people and
left 7 million men
disabled.
• The war drew
more than a
million women into
the U.S. workforce,
which helped them
pass the
Nineteenth
Amendment to get
the vote.
• It also encouraged
African Americans
to move to
northern cities for
factory work.
Impact in Europe
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The effects of World War I in Europe were devastating.
– European nations lost almost an entire generation of young
men.
– France, where most of the fighting took place, was in ruins.
– Great Britain was deeply in debt to the U.S. and lost its place
as the world’s financial center.
– The reparations forced on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles
were crippling to its economy.
World War I would not be the “war to end all wars,” as some
called it.
– Too many issues were left unresolved.
– Too much anger and hostility remained among nations.
Within a generation, conflict would again break out in Europe,
bringing the United States and the world back into war.
Impact of World War I
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What was the impact of World War I
on the United States and the world?
What casualties resulted from World
War I?
How did World War I have a lasting
effect on American Society?
What was the condition of the U.S.
economy after the war?