Five Problem Areas Caused by the Treaty of Versailles GG ermany -- War-Guilt Clause (Germany is blamed for WWI) -- Must pay reparations (33 billion) -- Loses a lot of land (Africa colonies/Poland) -- Three million German speaking people are placed into the Sudetenland (Czechoslovakia). -- Military is destroyed The Big Four United States, Great Britain, France and Italy
Russia -- Dropped out of WWI early because of internal problems (Russian Revolution (March 1917); Bolshevik Revolution (October 1917); Russian Civil War ( ). Signs Peace treaty w/Germany (March 1918 Brest-Litvosk). -- More Russians causalities in WWI than any other country. -- Loses more land than Germany (Baltic States, Romania & Poland) in the Treaty of Versailles. This is an insult to the Russians and will be one cause to the start of WWII and the Cold War.
South East Asia -- Ho Chi Minh wants to establish a constitutional government. --Wilson kicks Ho Chi Minh out of the peace conference because he feels self- determination only applies to Western European nations. -- South East Asia is turned back over to French Rule (French Indo-China) until WWII (Japan takes over).
Africa --W.E.B. Dubois is also excluded from the Peace treaty. Wilson believed that the African countries should be ruled by Western European countries. --Oh. By the way—Wilson also reinstituted segregation in the White House.
Middle East --T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia— British) and the Middle Eastern representatives had been promised independence if they fought against the Ottoman Empire. --Wilson was seen as their hope, but when they are betrayed they never trusted the United States again. This mistrust lasts through 20th into 21st Century.
American Opposition to the Treaty Members of the Republican majority in the Senate were determined to defeat the treaty. Reasons: 1. Their leader, Henry Cabot Lodge didn’t like Wilson. 2.Members felt that they should have been included in the drafting of the treaty. 3.Some opposed to the concessions made to the Allies. 4.American minorities of various national origins opposed the treatment of their fatherlands. 5.Many opposed American membership in the League of Nations. 6.Fear that we would become involved in another European war. Two groups sought to defeat the treaty: 1.The “Irreconcilables”—including Hiram Johnson, William E. Borah, and La Follett who wished to reject it completely. 2.The “Reservationists” under Lodge followed the strategy of modifying the treaty so much that Wilson himself would oppose it. Wilson will decide to take his message to the people on a “whistle stop” tour, but he will have a major stroke and this leads to the US not ratifying the T of V. Treaty of Versailles is never ratified by US Senate, but will be signed by Europe on June 28, 1919 formally ending WWI. Now to take 20 years off to rebuild and rearm to kill each other again.