End of the War

The Central Powers Collapse The first Russian revolution in March 1917 forced the Tsar to abdicate the second Russian revolution in November 1917 formed a communist government under Vladimir Lenin the new government signed a brutal peace treaty with Germany, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk this freed German troops to be moved from the Eastern Front

the use of unrestricted submarine warfare resulted in the sinking of merchant ships from non-combatant nations. When the Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, an angry US declared war on Germany this upset the balance of power on the western front at fresh US troops and supplies poured in

Germany launched a last desperate offensive to win the war before US soldiers made it to the front Operation Michael was successful at first but the British Naval blockade, starving Germany meant that the army no longer had the resources to consolidate their positions and they advanced too fast

During the “Hundred Days”, Canadians under General Arthur Currie, saw many successes the Central Powers collapsed and the German Kaiser abdicated an armistice was signed on November 11, 1918

Canada Becomes a Nation? the allied powers met with Germany in Paris to discuss the terms of a peace agreement, this was the Paris Peace Conference Prime Minister Borden argued that because of Canada’s contribution to the war, particularly at places such as Vimy, Canada should have its own seat at the conference Canada was also a signatory of the Treaty of Versailles, the treaty between the Allied Powers and Germany  

The Big Three

The Peace Process President Woodrow Wilson set for his “14 Points”, a plan to promote peace in the post-war world the plan’s 14th point was the setting up of a League of Nations to promote collective security nations cooperating to opposed aggression and promote peace The League could impose economic sanctions against aggressor states unfortunately, neither Germany, Russia or the US were members

The Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany despite brutal conditions, Germany was forced to sign because the Allies were maintaining their naval blockade and threatening invasion France and Belgium wanted revenge and compensation the details are: Germany had to agree to Article 231, the War Guilt Clause”, accepting full responsibility for the war because of this, Germany then had to accept Article 232, the imposition of reparations payments of about $33 billion

The Treaty of Versailles cont.. the map of Europe was redrawn. Some new countries were created to reflect self-determination of ethnic peoples Germans lost millions of their people to Poland and Czechoslovakia, part of Germany was separated so that Poland would have access to the sea The German army was to be restricted to 100 000 men, with a small navy, no air force, no U-boats and no tanks  these harsh conditions resulted in serious economic suffering, bitterness and was one of the causes of WWII

The Aftermath of the War in 1918-1919 there was much hunger throughout Europe transportation systems were ruined influenza (Spanish Lady Flu) was sweeping across the world, killing about 22 million people, further disrupting the economy and causing disorder the Ottoman Empire (Turks) collapsed the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed into successor states The Russian Empire collapsed and the new communist government was engaged in a civil war Germany was stripped of its overseas empire