Transcript 100 Days and Treaty of Versailles

The End of WWI
The Status of the
War
1917
Building Up to the Last 100 Days
The United States Declares War
Russia Bows Out
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The war was going badly for Russia and the Tsar (Nicholas II) was
extremely unpopular
A new philosophy “Communism” was becoming popular.
Communism:
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Gov’t ownership of all land and factories
Elimination of “classes” (rich/poor), all were supposed to be equal
Focus was on creating a “workers’ paradise” in which all would share
equally in the wealth of the state
Championed the plight of the “working classes” against the “greedy, rich
parasites”
The Communists called for a revolution to overthrow the
Tsar and bring an end to the war
In 1917, the Communists took control of Russia and
executed the royal family.
They signed a treaty with Germany to end the war, but
Russia had to give up a large chunk of western territory in
exchange for peace – Germany could now concentrate her
forces on the Western Front
The United States Declares War
Zimmerman Note
Zimmerman Note
Submarine Warfare
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Germany needed to cut off the supplies going to
Britain in order to halt their war effort.
Germany used the submarine to destroy Allied
supply ships and merchant vessels.
Some neutral countries (including the USA) sold supplies
and war materiel to Britain.
To prevent this, Germany declared “Unrestricted
Submarine Warfare”, claiming the right to sink any
ship supplying the Allies
After sinking a number of “neutral” targets, the
Germans sunk the Lusitania a passenger liner with
many Americans on board.
This shocked the American public and the USA
soon joined the Triple Entente against Germany
The United States Declares War
April 1917
President Woodrow Wilson
“We have no selfish ends to serve…”
“to make the world safe for democracy…”
“war to end war…”
The Status of the War (Jan.,1917) Triple
Entente / Triple Alliance
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The U.S.A had joined but
were, as yet, unable to
send troops
(unprepared).
Russia, under new gov’t
had abandoned the war
and the Entente
Canadian troops had
won victories at Vimy
Ridge and Passchendaele
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Germany’s “unrestricted”
submarine warfare has
brought the U.S. into the war.
They had lost several
significant battles
They no longer had to worry
about the Russians in the
East
Germany could concentrate
on a massive offensive on the
Western Front
Last 100 Days
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March to June 1918
Germany makes one last push to split the
French and British
Allies pushed back led by Canada
August 8th 1918 known as “The Black Day of
the German Army” (they realized that they
could not win the war)
Last 100 Days Con’t
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August 8th to November 11 1918- Canada’s Last
100 Days
Canadians continued to press forward led by
Currie
Spearheaded an attack on the city of Amiens
and pushed the Germans back 13km
Then they kept going
Canada’s Hundred Days
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September 27: Canal du Nord
October 11: Cambrai
November 10: Mons (which had been in
German hands since early in the war)
At the same time as they took Mons, an
armistice (a truce) was being negotiated
The Final Shot
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News of the coming armistice spread through
the armies on both sides. The fighting would
stop at exactly 11:00AM on November 11, 1918.
However, in order to try and gain as best a postwar bargaining position as possible, each side
kept fighting up until the last minute.
At 10:58AM, Nov. 11, 1918, Private George
Lawrence Price was killed by a German sniper.
He was Canada’s final casualty of WWI
The Treaty of
Versailles
The Peace Treaty That Would Lead to
War
At Versailles
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In 1919, delegates from numerous nations
gathered at the palace of Versailles in France to
create a peace treaty to officially end WWI.
The treaty would also spell out the conditions
and penalties that Germany would have to
accept if she wanted to avoid invasion.
German delegates were not invited to the
conference or asked for their input.
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Canada sent two officials to the conference. This
was significant as they were not there as part of the
British delegation. Canada was representing itself,
apart from Britain, on the international stage.
The Canadian gov’t demanded this right from
Britain, due to the major contribution Canada made
to the war effort.
While there were hundreds of representatives from
numerous Allied countries, it was the “Big Three”
(USA, Britain, France) that made the major
decisions. (Russia, which was now communist, was
not invited)
The “Big Three”
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British PM David Lloyd-George wanted to punish
Germany, but felt that they had to also keep
Germany economically strong. This would help
re-establish European trade and keep communism
from growing in Europe.
France’s Georges Clemenceau wanted only to
punish Germany severely for the damage the war
had caused. He wanted to crush the German
economy and break the country up into smaller,
disconnected states.
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The US Pres. Woodrow Wilson thought
Germany should be punished, but not too
severely. He also had a plan of 14 Points that
he thought would lead to world peace and
should be the basis for the treaty.
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None of the leaders got exactly what they
wanted. In the end, the treaty was a mish-mash
of compromises that were too harsh on some
points and too lax on others.
The Terms
Military:
 Germany cannot have an army exceeding
100,000 soldiers.
 Germany’s navy can have only 6 battleships and
NO submarines or new crafts over 10,000
tonnes.
 Germany cannot have a military air force of any
kind.
 Germany could not enter into a military treaty
or any alliance with Austria
Territory:
 Germany must had over all of its overseas
colonies to the new League of Nations (went to
the Allies).
 Sections of Germany were to be cut-off and
given to other nations (in this way, an
independent Poland was created)
 The Rhineland area of German (on the French
border) was demilitarized.
 The coal-rich Saar Basin was also given to
France
Make Germany Pay!
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In addition to the other punishments, it was decided
that Germany must pay reparations to the winners of
the war.
This meant that Germany had to pay for the cost of
the war for all the Allies, plus the damage the war had
done.
The bill was set at 6.6 Billion (British Pounds), to be
paid in currency, steel, coal and other resources
It was estimated that it would take until 1984 for
Germany to fully pay the reparations bill.
This would be crippling to the shattered German
economy
Article 231
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The section of the treaty that made many
Germans furious was Article 231, the War Guilt
Clause
This section blamed the war entirely on
Germany and her Allies.
This was hard to accept as many Germans
believed they had been defending themselves
against British/French military aggression.
Other Sections
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New countries were created out of the shattered
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Also, many Balkan states were joined together
into a country called Yugoslavia
Other new countries were formed from parts of
Germany and the old Russian Empire
1914
1919
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Initially, the German gov’t refused to sign the
treaty, but they Allies threatened to invade so on
June 28, 1919, the Germans signed, under
protest and under “threat of force”.
The German people were shocked and angered
by the terms of the treaty and many felt unjustly
punished by the Allies.
League of Nations
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One of Wilson’s “14 Points” was the creation of an
international organization that could mediate disputes
and help to avoid war.
This idea was adopted and the “League of Nations”
was created.
Canada was given its own seat in the organization,
separate and independent from Britain.
Germany was not allowed to join because of the war,
and Russia was also left out because it was a communist
country
Prophetic Words
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WWI was soon called the “War to end all wars”.
People felt that after the losses of WWI, no one would
want to fight another war again.
Also, the new League of Nations was in place to
mediate disputes and the Treaty of Versailles would
solve the old problems in Europe.
Not everyone shared this opinion. Some felt that the
treaty not only wouldn’t prevent war, but would actually
serve to cause it.
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After hearing the terms of the Versailles treaty,
Marshal Foch (high commander of WWI Allied
Forces) was heard to remark,
“This isn’t peace! This is a truce for twenty
years!”
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The Treaty of Versailles was signed June 28th
1919. Twenty years and sixty-seven days later,
Nazi Germany invaded Poland and WWII had
begun.