Macdonald World History The End of the War Macdonald World History

Background WWI ended. The Allies had won. On January 18, 1919 the Paris Peace Conference to establish what would happen in Europe was held at Versailles in France.

Allies Meet at Versailles 32 Countries attended Big Four: 1. Woodrow Wilson – US 2. Georges Clemenceau – France 3. David Lloyd George – Britain 4. Vittorio Orlando - Italy

Allies Meet at Versailles Not there: Germany Other Central Powers Russia

Wilson’s Plan Fourteen Points (plan for lasting peace in Europe) 1 – End to secret treaties 2 - Freedom of the seas 3 – Free trade 4 – Reduced national militaries for all 5 – change imperialism to be more fair to natives 6 – 13 – create new countries based on nationalism Main idea: self – determination (ppl should decide for themselves what gov’t they wanted)

Wilson’s Plan 14 – create a “general association of nations” to protect the world – world police

Allies Dictate a Harsh Peace Britain & France didn’t want 14 Points b/c of national security Wanted to strip Germany of war-making powers and punish them Compromise reached and Treaty of Versailles signed

Treaty of Versailles Provisions Adopted Wilson’s 14th point – created League of Nations (int’l power to keep peace) Took land from Germany to punish them Placed sole responsibility for war on Germany Germany had to pay $ to Allies or reparations All German lands in Pacific & Asia were to be controlled by League of Nations Germany had to limit the size of their military to 100,000 troops

Creation of New Nations New countries created from the other losing Central Powers & Russia Treaty resulted in huge losses for Central Powers and Russia

A Peace Built on Quicksand Treaty did not bring lasting peace US rejected treaty – didn’t sign Germans upset b/c thought they were unfairly blamed Other countries felt cheated Japan & Italy joined Allies b/c promised land – didn’t get any land

Legacy of War New kind of war New technologies – poison gas, tanks, etc. Huge scale Extreme costs in human lives – 8.5 million died Thousands of civilians died b/c of starvation, disease, Drained money of Europe – cost $338 billion Destroyed farmland, villiages Led to disillusionament which led to revolts

Europe Before the War

Europe After the War http://www.cyberlearning-world.com/lessons/ushistory/ww1/preww1.htm