Transcript Outcome of WWI

Outcome of WWI
• April 6, 1917 the United States declared
war on Germany
• Early part of 1918, German attacks
crushed the Allies on the Western Front
• By the summer of 1918, 2 million fresh
American troops were turning the
momentum of the war in favor of the allies
• By the fall of 1918, the Central Powers
were exhausted and one by one they
surrendered
• The Ottoman Empire was the first to
surrender, then Austria-Hungary, and
finally on November 11, 1918, Germany
signed an armistice or cease fire
• After 4 long years, the war was finally over
Treaty of Versailles
• After World War I, representatives from
Great Britain, Italy, France and the U.S.
(known as the Big Four) met to create a
peace treaty
• Each country had a different objective for
the treaty
• Great Britain wanted to expand its territory,
protect its colonies and make Germany
pay
• France wanted protection against any future
invasions by Germany and they wanted to
weaken Germany by making it give up territory,
decrease its military, and pay war damages
• Italy wanted to expand its territory in Europe and
overseas
• The United States only wanted peace (Wilson’s
Fourteen Points) and the creation of the League
of Nations
Results of the Treaty of Versailles
• Germany lost territory and colonies to
France (territories of Alsace and Lorraine),
Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark and
Poland
• Two new countries were created:
Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
• The German army was reduced to
100,000, no air force or submarines, and
demilitarization of the Rhineland
• Germany accepted responsibility for
starting the war (War Guilt Clause)
• Germany had to pay back $33 billion to
the allies nations (war reparations)
• The League of Nations was formed
(President Wilson’s idea)
• Great Britain and France were able to
punish Germany with the treaty
Impact of the War
Allowed nationalism to grow (Germany)
• Created new nations and overthrew four
empires (Russia, German, AustriaHungary, and Ottoman)
• Over 37 million people killed and millions
misplaced (war refugees)
• Creation of the League of Nations (an
international organization created to
maintain peace throughout the world and
to prevent future wars and conflicts)
Weaknesses of the League of
Nations
• It didn’t include every major nation (the
United States didn’t join even though it
was President Wilson’s idea)
• Every member had to agree on every
decision
• The League could not raise money, it had
to depend on participants giving money
voluntarily.
• There was no army to enforce the
decisions of the league
• It failed out keeping peace: Japan invaded
Manchuria (China), Italy took control of
Ethiopia, and war broke out between
Bolivia and Paraguay