World War 1 Ends and Aftermath 1917 – Russia pulls out of WW1 after they have a revolution. Vladimir Lenin and the communist party took over CZAR Nicholas the 2nd and his family and group of servants. Communism is born. Final Battles: Chateau-Thierry – The French and American troops stopped the Germans before reaching Paris. Paris is saved. Belleau Wood – Americans recaptured this village and three others. Reims – Allied lines held, and counter attacked. The tide of the war had changed in favor of the allies. A major offensive against Germans on the western front began pushing the Germans back toward Germany. Battle of the Argonne Forest – American troops fought the Germans back to Germany through forests, hills, and machine guns. African-Americans led the assault and distinguished themselves. The French awarded them the Croix de Guerre.

World War 1 Ends and Aftermath By the fall of 1918 – mutinies broke out in the German armies and Kaiser gave up the throne. 11/11/1918 at 11am in the morning – a cease fire went into effect. WW1 had officially ended. A peace conference was set for January 1919 in Paris. The Big Four – Leaders of the biggest allied countries that met to set the terms of peace after WW1. Britain – David Lloyd George U.S. – Wilson France – Georges Clemenceau Italy – Vittorio Orlando Wilson’s 14 points: Wilson’s ideas and plans for building peace after WW1. Consisted of 14 ideas.

World War 1 Ends and Aftermath League of Nations – In Wilson’s 14 points, idea of creating a worldwide alliance to make sure a world war never happens again. U.S. never joined. They feared it would force us into other conflicts. Treaty of Versailles – Treaty that ended WW1. Major provisions included: Germany had to accept blame for causing the war “war guilt clause” Germany had to give up virtually all of its military assets. Forced to pay reparations – pay the allies billions for the damage caused by WW1. Germany was forced to give up land they took and the resources on them New Countries created: Czechoslovakia Yugoslavia Re-established: Estonia Finland Latvia Lithuania Poland

Aftermath World War One had left Europe devastated. Those countries that had fought in it, had suffered casualties never experienced before: Britain :  750,000 soldiers killed; 1,500,000 wounded
France : 1,400,000 soldiers killed; 2,500,000 wounded
Belgium : 50,000 soldiers killed
Italy : 600,000 soldiers killed
Russia : 1,700,000 soldiers killed
America : 116,000 soldiers killedThose who had fought against the Allies suffered heavy casualties as well:Germany : 2,000,000 soldiers killed
Austria-Hungary : 1,200,000 soldiers killed
Turkey : 325,000 soldiers killed
Bulgaria : 100,000 soldiers killed The total deaths of all nations who fought in the war is thought to have been 8.5 million with 21 million being wounded. Alongside these statistics, was the fact that vast areas of north-eastern Europe had been reduced to rubble. Flanders in Belgium had been all but destroyed with the ancient city of Ypres being devastated. The homes of 750,000 French people were destroyed and the infrastructure of this region had also been severely damaged. Roads, coal mines, telegraph poles had all been destroyed and such a loss greatly hindered the area's ability to function normally. The victors from World War One were in no mood to be charitable to the defeated nations and Germany in particular was held responsible for the war and its consequences. During mid-1918, Europe was hit by Spanish flu and an estimated 25 million people died. This added to the feeling of bitterness that ran through Europe and this anger was primarily directed at Germany.