Making the Peace: Chapter 26, Section 4

reparations – payments for war damage Terms and People pandemic – a disease spread across a large area, country, continent, or the entire world reparations – payments for war damage radicals – people who want to make extreme changes collective security – a system in which a group of nations acts as one to preserve the peace of all mandate – a territory administered by Western powers 2

World War I was devastating for all of the nations involved. More than 8.5 million men died and more than 16 million were wounded fighting in the war. Many of the wounded were disabled for life. Six to thirteen million civilians also died. Many others became refugees. A World War I cemetery in Belgium

Buildings all over Europe had been bombed into rubble. Countries faced huge war debts and the cost of reconstruction. Refugees had to rebuild their lives.

The influenza pandemic of 1918 added to the devastation, killing 20 million people worldwide.

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 killed more people than the Great War, known today as World War I (WWI), at somewhere between 20 and 40 million people. It has been cited as the most devastating epidemic in recorded world history. More people died of influenza in a single year than in four-years of the Black Death Bubonic Plague from 1347 to 1351. Known as "Spanish Flu" or "La Grippe" the influenza of 1918-1919 was a global disaster

Excerpt from the Stanford University Website – article on the Influenza Pandemic The effect of the influenza epidemic was so severe that the average life span in the US was depressed by 10 years. The influenza virus had a profound virulence, with a mortality rate at 2.5% compared to the previous influenza epidemics, which were less than 0.1%. The death rate for 15 to 34-year-olds of influenza and pneumonia were 20 times higher in 1918 than in previous years (Taubenberger). People were struck with illness on the street and died rapid deaths. One anectode shared of 1918 was of four women playing bridge together late into the night. Overnight, three of the women died from influenza (Hoagg). Others told stories of people on their way to work suddenly developing the flu and dying within hours (Henig). One physician writes that patients with seemingly ordinary influenza would rapidly "develop the most viscous type of pneumonia that has ever been seen" and later when cyanosis appeared in the patients, "it is simply a struggle for air until they suffocate," (Grist, 1979). Another physician recalls that the influenza patients "died struggling to clear their airways of a blood-tinged froth that sometimes gushed from their nose and mouth," (Starr, 1976). The physicians of the time were helpless against this powerful agent of influenza. In 1918 children would skip rope to the rhyme (Crawford): I had a little bird, Its name was Enza. I opened the window, And in-flu-enza.

Germans were shocked at the reparations they were faced with. What factors influenced the peace treaties that ended World War I, and how did people react to the treaties? The Allies wanted to punish Germany and the Central Powers. The United States came to the negotiations wanting to create a lasting peace and offer Eastern Europeans self-determination. Germans were shocked at the reparations they were faced with.

Allied leaders met in France for the Paris Peace Conference British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson met at the Paris Peace Conference after the war ended. The victorious Allied leaders were known as the “Big Three.”

United States President British Prime Minister Italian Prime Minister French Statesman The “Big Three” – plus Italian Prime Minister makes four. He was also a minor player in negotiating the Treaty of Versailles.

The Paris Peace Talks The Big Three met with the leaders of the other Allied countries to discuss the fate of Europe, the former Ottoman empire, and various colonies. The Big Three met with the leaders of the other Allied countries to discuss the fate of Europe, the former Ottoman empire, and various colonies. The Central Powers and Russia were not allowed to take part in the negotiations at the conference.

Goals of the Allies at the Paris Peace Conference Woodrow Wilson “Peace without victory” based on the Fourteen Points David Lloyd George Money to rebuild and improve Britain Georges Clemenceau A weakened Germany Vittorio Orlando Lands promised to Italy in secret treaties People of Eastern European empires National states of their own

The German delegates were horrified because the Allies: In June 1919, the Allies forced Germany to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The German delegates were horrified because the Allies: Forced Germany to accept full blame for the war Imposed reparations of $30 billion on Germany Severely limited the size of the German military Took land and overseas colonies from Germany

The Allies drew up separate treaties with the other Central Powers and redrew the map of Europe. New nations were created, including Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia.

The Allies applied the principle of self-determination to former German, Russian, and Austrian lands in Eastern Europe.

In practice, they were treated as colonies. Instead, former German and Ottoman lands became mandates administered by Western powers. In theory, the mandates were to be held until they were ready to stand alone. In practice, they were treated as colonies. The treaties did not apply self-determination to European colonies in Asia and Africa. 19

Remember the Spanish Influenza????? From www.flu.gov/pandemic United States Department of Health and Human Services Remember the Spanish Influenza????? In April, during the Paris Peace Conference, President Wilson became seriously ill. His temperature rose to 103 degrees and he experienced diarrhea and serious coughing spasms. The President's physician first suspected poisoning; he latter diagnosed the President as suffering from influenza.

From www.flu.gov/pandemic United States Department of Health and Human Services Wilson's illness made it impossible for him to participate in key negotiations during the conference. The result was a significantly different outcome to the peace conference than Wilson had wanted. Wilson left office in 1921 and died in 1924 of complications from his bout with the Spanish Flu.

The Spanish Flu changed history – could we have had a lasting peace if Wilson had been able to keep fighting for his 14 points? Many of President Wilson’s Fourteen Points were not implemented in the treaties. Germany, the other Central Powers, and other countries and colonies were angered by their treatment. German resentment of the Treaty of Versailles would later spark World War II.

Wilson did succeed in establishing the League of Nations, a group of more than 40 countries formed to negotiate disputes in an effort to avoid future wars. The United States never joined the League of Nations. Although it promised collective security, the League proved ineffective in preventing future wars. Because of opposition to the League, the United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles.