19.4
WILSON FIGHTS FOR PEACE
OBJECTIVES:
Identify the elements of the Treaty of Versailles.
Explain the reasons why it failed.
PROVISIONS
TREATY OF VERSAILLES
WEAKNESSES
REASONS FOR
OPPOSITION
IN THE US
PROBLEMS WITH THE PEACE…
CONTEXT:
Germany had not been militarily defeated.
Britain, Italy and France want Germany
“humbled” so she will never invade again.
Wilson wants to create a “peace without
victors” and avoid future conflicts.
PROBLEM:
Both views seek peace, but have opposite means
to that end.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT…
Vittorio Orlando - Italian premier
David Lloyd George - British prime minister
Georges Clemenceau - French prime minister
Woodrow Wilson - American president
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
NO SECRET TREATIES
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS
FREE TRADE AMONG NATIONS
DEMILITARIZATION
FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF
COLONIZED PEOPLES
XIV. LEAGUE OF NATIONS
How many of the points were achieved?
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be
no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall
proceed always frankly and in the public view.
NO SECRET TREATIES
Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters,
alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or
in part by international action for the enforcement of international
covenants.
FREEDOM OF THE SEAS
The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the
establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations
consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance.
FREE TRADE AMONG NATIONS
Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be
reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.
DEMILITARIZATION
A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial
claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in
determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the
populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable
claims of the government whose title is to be determined.
FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF COLONIZED PEOPLES
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
VIII-XIII.
(These points dealt with boundary changes)
XIV. A general association of nations must be
formed under specific covenants for the
purpose of affording mutual guarantees of
political independence and territorial integrity
to great and small states alike.
ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
FOURTEEN POINTS REJECTED
• Allies reject Wilson’s plan
• Central Powers not included in peace
negotiations
• Russia and smaller allies excluded – only
Britain, France, Italy and USA
• German, Ottoman, and Austrian empire in part
“liberated” and divided among France and
Britain
• Germany’s military dismantled
• Germany forced to accept war guilt clause
• Germany must $33 billion in reparations
WHAT PROBLEMS DO YOU FORESEE?
HOW MANY OF THE FOUR
LONG-TERM CAUSES OF WWI
DID THE TREATY FIX?
PUNISHING GERMANY
“It stripped Germany of just over 13 per
cent of its territory, much of which, in the
shape of Alsace and Lorraine, was
returned to France. It also reduced
Germany's economic productivity by
about 13 per cent and its population by
ten per cent. Germany lost all of its
colonies and large merchant vessels, 75
per cent of its iron ore deposits and 26
per cent of its coal and potash.”
SOURCE: British Broadcasting Corp.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/versailles_03.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/outcomes3_01.shtml
PROVISIONS
TREATY OF VERSAILLES
WEAKNESSES
REASONS FOR
OPPOSITION
IN THE US
WEAKNESSES OF THE TREATY
1. It humiliated Germany, and it meant to.
2. Russia was not included. It lost more
land than Germany did, leaving it
wanting more.
3. Allies stripped Germany of its colonies,
but kept and expanded their own.
WILSON DISILLUSIONED
• Americans see the Treaty as too
harsh & a sell-out
• Many of the new boundaries
created new problems, especially in
Middle-East
• League of Nations worried
isolationists – it looked like an
entangling alliance!!!
WILSON DISILLUSIONED
•
•
•
Opposition to Treaty lead by Sen. Henry Cabot
Lodge and Republican Party.
Wilson refuses to compromise and appeals
directly to the voters
Wilson collapses with a stroke.
OUTCOME:
1. Senate rejects the Treaty and US does not join
the League of Nations.
2. Germans feel betrayed and regret stopping
the war.
3. Germany’s economy is ruined.
4. Hitler comes to power, capitalizing on anger,
bitterness, and fear for the future.
Henry Cabot Lodge
The world's best hope, but if you
fetter her in the interest through
quarrels of other nations, if you
tangle her in the intrigues of
Europe, you will destroy her
powerful good, and endanger her
very existence. Leave her to march
freely through the centuries to
come, as in the years that have
gone. Strong, generous, and
confident, she has nobly served
mankind. Beware how you trifle
with your marvelous inheritance -this great land of ordered liberty.
For if we stumble and fall, freedom
and civilization everywhere will go
down in ruin.
http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/03600/03676r.jpg
Wilson after his stroke, 1919
Wilson after his stroke, 1919
In October 1919 President Woodrow
Wilson (1856–1924) receives
assistance after his massive stroke,
which made it difficult for him to
maintain his train of thought and
manage government affairs.
Historians continue to debate the
influence of Wilson's poor health on
the president's losing battle for U.S.
membership in the League of
Nations. (Library of Congress)
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
What were the outcomes of
the Versailles Treaty?
Was the treaty just?
Was Wilson being unrealistic?
PROVISIONS
TREATY OF VERSAILLES
WEAKNESSES
REASONS FOR
OPPOSITION
IN THE US