Chapter 21 Section 4 The War’s End and Aftermath Pages

Objectives 1. List the final events of World War I. 2. Identify the goals of President Wilson’s Fourteen Points. 3. Summarize the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. 4. Explain why the U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles. 5. Discuss the global impact of World War I.

End of the War The Allies were relieved that the United States was entering the war. A. The Allies were dealing with morale issues. B. French units were suffering from break outs of mutinies in the trenches. Revolution in Russia: March, 1917-workers frustrated with the lack of food and other resources, left factories and protested in the streets. The workers wanted change in government and the end of the war. The people overthrew the czar of Russia. The socialist group known as the Bolsheviks-led by Vladimir Lenin.

The Bolsheviks were committed to end the Russia’s involvement. They signed a treaty with the Central Powers in March,1918. The Central Powers were now free to concentrate their efforts on the western front. March 21,1918: the Germans launched an offensive against the Allies. The Germans had the artillery to attack the Allies. The Germans by May were only fifty miles from Paris.

Paris was saved when General Pershing agreed to allow a unite of Americans to go under the French commander Marshal Ferdinand Foch. June 3-4,1918: The U.S. troops working with the French stop the Germans at Chateau-Thierry. The U.S. Marines recaptured Belleau Wood from the Germans and saved Paris. July 15,1918: The Germans led another assault around Reims. The Allies were able to maintain control and a counterattack was led by Foch which pushed the Germans back.

Summer, 1918: Foch using the U.S. forces led a major offensive against the Germans. The Allies pushed the Germans back at Saint-, Mihiel France, then towards Sedan, which was a German rail center that they had held since The Americans fought along the Meuse River and the Argonne Forest. At Battle of Argonne Forest, [Americans suffered 120,000 casualities, artillery and machine-gun fire.]

The Wounds of War The intense, bloody fighting of World War I left some soldiers with a nervous disorder called shell shock. The term described a range of symptoms-from headaches to comas to suicidal depression. Shell shock was widespread during the war. One American doctor wrote that “the present war is the first in which…. The functional nervous diseases [shell shock] have constituted a major medicomilitary problem. As every nation and race engaged is suffering from the symptoms, it is apparent that new conditions of warfare are chiefly responsible for their prevalence.” In many cases, some doctors argued, the symptoms were brought on by horrible experiences that were “beyond [soldiers’] capacity to assimilate.” What modern-day6 psychological disorder might be similar to shell shock?

Croix de Guerre: “Cross of War,” French military honor given to African American troops who served at the Battle of Argonne. As the Allies kept moving towards Germany the Central Powers were starting to fall apart and morale was sinking in the military. By fall, 1918 mutinies were breaking out in the German forces.

October, 1918: German chancellor requested an armistice or cease fire from President Woodrow Wilson. November 9, 1918: Kaiser Wilhelm left the throne. November 10, 1918: German representatives came to Allied headquarters at Compiegne to hear the terms of armistice. The Allies told the Germans that they had to give up Alsace- Lorraine, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, and surrender military equipment.

November 11, 1918 at 11:00 a.m., the conflicting nations signed the armistice. January, 1919: peace conference to be held in Paris, France.

Wilson’s Fourteen Points Wilson in late 1917 had invited scholar’s to the White House to discuss and advise on peace terms. Fourteen Points: program for world peace. January 8, 1918: Wilson presented the principles and the outcomes of the Allies to Congress. First Nine Points: dealt with the idea of self- determination-the right of people to self govern themselves. The other four points focused on the causes of modern war. Some of the contributing factors are secret diplomacy, the arms race, violation of freedom of the seas, and trading obstacles.

The fourteenth point: The League of Nations – This body would be an international and would work to prevent war. Wilson was supported on the home front by Congress and the American people. The Europeans were not as receptive and felt the Americans were getting to involved in their business.

The Paris Peace Conference December 4, 1918: Wilson was the first president to go to Europe while in office. When his ship landed in Brest, France he was welcomed as a hero. January 18, 1919: the peace conference was defined as the Big Four: Wilson, U.S., David Lloyd George, British prime minister, Georges Clemenceau, French premier, and Vittorio Orlando, Italian prime minister. Three of the four wanted large reparations-payments. They wanted keep German land and their merchant fleet. [These kind of reparations would cost the German economy and cause future uprisings.] This was against Wilson’s principles of the Fourteen points.

Treaty of Versailles June 28,1919: The official signing took place at the palace of Versailles. [Secretary of State, Robert Lansing thought, “ the terms of peace appear immeasurably harsh and humiliating.”] 1. divided Germany’s colonies and the Ottoman Empire among Allied nations. Also, new nations were created [Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia], France reclaimed Alsace-Lorraine area. France also claimed Saarland, the industrial part of Germany for 15 years. 2. Germany was to disarm, and take full responsibility for the war, and charged billions in reparations. 3. Wilson made sure that the agreement included the League of Nations. Wilson felt the term were harsh and insurmountable. With the agreement the wrongs of the treaty could be remedied over time. Disputes would be settled peacefully and follow a procedure.

The treaty in the Senate July, 1919: Wilson returned to the U.S. and immediately started persuading the Senate to support the treaty. Fourteen Republicans in the Senate were known as irreconcilables, and totally rejected the treaty. 35 Republicans known as reservationists, did not agree with Article 10, which committed the U.S. to war in defense of any League member. Henry Cabot Lodge: Senate leader of the Foreign Relations and disliked Wilson. Lodge kept the treaty stalled and Wilson embarked on a 9,500 mile promotion of the League of Nations/treaty. September 25, 1919: Wilson was complaining of a headache and was ordered back to Washington, D.C. where he almost suffered a fatal stroke. He lived in seclusion and many thought his wife finished out the presidency. The treaty continued to be rejected by the Democrats. Lodge introduced his own version with 14 reservations, again rejected. By the time Wilson left office the League of Nations was established in Geneva, Switzerland without U.S. participation.

The Global Impact of the War While leaders in the U.S. were debating the treaty in Congress. The Europeans were struggling to rebuild economically, physically, and emotionally. In Europe inflation was rampant and existing businesses couldn’t keep up with the demand for food and other services. In the Middle East many leaders thought they were free from the Ottoman Turks. Now they found they were under the influence of the British and the French. Balfour Declaration: of 1917 created more tension in the Middle East region by British supporting the Jewish homeland in Palestine.