Transcript end of wwi

End of the War
Goal of Today
• Today we will look at the end of WWI and the peace
treaty.
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Terms to Know
Armistice
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Treaty of Versailles
Goals of the Big Three
The Battle of Belleau Wood
Battle of Belleau Wood – June, 1918
· This was the first battle
involving U.S. troops.
· The Germans
were defeated
after three
weeks of battle.
* The Allied
defense of
Paris was the
turning point
of the war.
Battle of the Argonne Forest – Sept.-Oct., 1918
· The battle
was fought
in an
attempt to
push
Germany
further out
of France.
· After forty-seven days and heavy casualties, the Germans
retreated.
American gunners battle through the Argonne Forest.
On 11 November 1918 the German
government called for a ceasefire.
Why…..
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Failure of German surge
German troops mutinied and deserted
British naval blockade
Food & supplies in short supply
Riots on streets of Germany
Kaiser fled abroad
New government prepared to discuss peace terms
• 7am November 8th 1918 members of the French and
German commands met in a railway car in the
Compiegne Forest outside of Paris to sign a cease
fire to end the war.
More than 65 million men fought in the First World War;
over eight million of them were killed. In addition,
nearly nine million civilians died - from starvation,
disease, artillery fire and air raids. Twelve million tons of
shipping were sunk. In France and Belgium, where most
of the war was fought, 300,000 houses, 6,000 factories,
1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of railway, 2,000 breweries
and 112 coal mines were destroyed. The human cost of
the war - in terms of damaged minds and bodies, and
ruined lives – was beyond calculation. In some ways,
mankind has never recovered from the horrors of the
First World War.
---John D Clare, First World War (1994)
Félix Vallotton, L'église de Souain en silhouette (The
Church of Souain, Silhouetted), 1917, oil on canvas,
97 x 130 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Paris Peace Conference
• The Paris Peace Conference opened on January 12th
1919 in Paris. Leaders of 32 countries representing
about 75% of the worlds population were in
attendance. The negotiations were dominated by the
five major powers the US, Britain, France, Italy, and
Japan.
Major Players
Italian Prime
Minister
Vittorio
Orlando
British Prime
Minister, LloydGeorge
US President, Woodrow
Wilson
French Prime
Minister,
Georges
Clemenceau
Germany is going to pay. We will get everything
you can squeeze out of a lemon, and a bit
more. The Germans should hand over
everything they own.
From a speech in 1918 by Sir Eric Geddes, a British politician
standing for election as an MP
We have assembled here for two purposes -to
make the peace settlements, and also to secure
the future peace of the world.
Woodrow Wilson, speaking at the Versailles Conference (January
1919)
Problem, problems!
Here are some of the problems facing world leaders at the end of
WWI. What advice would you offer them?
1. The war had brought massive destruction, especially to buildings
and farming land in France. How could all this damage be repaired?
2. From Eastern Europe to Ireland and throughout the world,
nationalist groups were keener than ever to rule themselves and to be
free from the empires which had controlled them.
3.The First World War had cost twenty million lives. The world had
never seen a war like it. How could future wars be prevented?
Wilson’s Fourteen Points
• It was a program designed by US President
Woodrow Wilson that would provide a fair peace
settlement and prevent future wars.
• Three Goals
– Eliminate trade barriers, secret treaties, and arms races
– Stressed the importance of self determination or the right
to live under the government of their choice.
– Establish a league of nations.
The British: Lloyd
George
• The British wanted revenge
on the Germans for the war.
The British people wanted to
punish Germany.
• George was also afraid of
communism and felt that
while Germany should be
punished it should serve as a
buffer zone between
communist Russia and the
rest of Europe.
Georges Clemenceau: France
• Felt that Germany should be
brought to its knees so that it
could never start a war again.
On 28 June 1919, exactly 5 years after the murders at
Sarajevo, which had sparked off the First World War, the
most powerful men in the world signed the Treaty of
Versailles.
Terms of the Treaty
• (7) occupation and special status for the Saar under 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; (12) limitation of
Germany's army to 100,000 men with no 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;
What did they want? What did they get?
Clemenceau wanted…
Clemenceau received…
• Revenge on Germany
• To punish Germany
• To make Germany pay
reparations
• To weaken German
military
• Huge reparations
• Tiny German Army
• Demilitarized zone in
Rhineland
• Alsace-Lorraine and
German colonies
• Still unhappy with
terms
What did they want? What did they get?
Wilson wanted…
Wilson received…
• 14 points – end war,
“make world safe for
democracy”
• Fair peace
• Self – determination
• Disarmament
• League of Nations
• League of Nations
• Self-determination
for Eastern Europe
• not all 14 points met-US Senate refused to
sign and join League
of Nations
Lloyd George says that Woodrow Wilson
can think and talk of nothing but his
League of Nations. Wilson will only take
any interest in talks if everything centers on
the League. He has started to annoy Lloyd
George by talking of matters that have
already been settled as though they were
still open for discussion.
From the diary (March 1919) of Frances Stevenson,
Lloyd George's private secretary.
What did they want? What did they get?
Lloyd George wanted…
• Compromise between
Clemenceau and Wilson
• Justice (not too harsh)
• Make Germany pay (but
not damage)
• Trade
• Expand British Empire
• Maintain control of seas
• Increase British trade
Lloyd George received…
• German colonies
• Small German navy
• Thought treaty was
harsh and would ruin
Germany; said it
would cause war in
another 25 years
The consequences of Versailles
• The Treaty seemed to satisfy the "Big Three" as it
was a just peace as it kept Germany weak yet strong
enough to stop the spread of communism; kept the
French border with Germany safe from another
German attack and created the organization, the
League of Nations that would end warfare
throughout the world.
• Made the big three happy
How About Germany?
• The Treaty left a mood of anger throughout
Germany. Germany felt it had been unfairly
treated. Above all else, Germany hated the clause
blaming her for the cause of the war and the
resultant financial penalties the treaty was bound to
impose on Germany. Those who signed it (though
effectively they had no choice) became known as
the "November Criminals". Many German citizens
felt that they were being punished for the mistakes
of the German government in August 1914 as it was
the government that had declared war not the
A German postcard, produced
about the time of the Treaty of
Versailles, showing the land
where Germans lived. The areas
in red are the lands given to other
countries by the Treaty of
Versailles,( including the land
lost by Austria).
Its title is 'Lost but not
forgotten land'.
The poem under the map reads:
You must carve in your
heart these words, as in
stone What we have lost
May not be lost!
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShRA8
HRMR4Q