1. “Peace” After WWI
Unit 5 Chapter 28

2. The Big Four

3. The Big Four Woodrow Wilson – U.S. Focused on preventing future wars
Wanted self-determination

4. The Big Four Georges Clemenceau – France
Determined to prevent any future German invasions
Wanted Lorraine back

5. The Big Four David Lloyd George – Great Britain
Wanted to make Germany “pay”

6. The Big Four Vittorio Orlando – Italy
Wanted control of Austrian territory because Italians lived there—but essentially ignored!

7. British Foreign Secretary Balfour
“…three all-powerful, all-ignorant men, sitting there and carving up continents.”

8. Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Plan for world peace
Presented to Congress before war ended
Designed to prevent future world wars

9. Fourteen Points No secret treaties between nations
Agree to freedom of the seas
Free trade (eliminate tariffs)
Agree to reduce arms
Countries that control colonies should consider the interests of the colonial peoples

10. Fourteen Points # 6-13 dealt with boundary changes
suggested that areas that had distinct ethnic identities should be able to form their own nation or decide which nation they should belong
Russia free Eastern European areas
Belgium should be freely restored
Areas on Balkan Peninsula free to form countries
Turkish people free to form own countries

11. Fourteen Points Creation of the League of Nations
International peace-keeping body
Address issues diplomatically

12. Treaty of Versailles June 28, 1919 Big Four met to create treaty
Did not permit central power representatives to participate
Did not allow Russia to participate because they had turned Communist
Other “3” did not like Wilson’s points, so he conceded most in return for establishing the League of Nations

13. Provisions of Treaty Created the League of Nations
Redrew the map of Europe
Created 9 new nations
Redrew boundaries
France recovered Lorraine
Britain obtained new territory from Germany in Africa & Middle East
Germany had to take full responsibility for the war—”war guilt clause”
Barred from maintaining an air force; permitted small army & navy for defense only
Required to pay reparations to Allies
Had to give up all colonial claims

14. Versailles Settlement in Europe

15. New Nations: 1923

16. German Territorial Losses: 1919-1921

17. Mandate System
colonial rulers would administer the new territories but would be accountable to the League of Nations for the “material & moral well-being and the social progress of the inhabitants”

18. Class C Mandates Class B Mandates
territories with small populations would be treated as colonies
this applied to smaller islands in the Pacific & smaller territories in Africa
Class B Mandates
larger but still undeveloped; were to be ruled for the benefit of their inhabitants under League of Nations supervision; they would get autonomy at an unspecified time
most of Germany’s African colonies fell into this category

19. Class A Mandates
territories that had “reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advise and assistance by a Mandatory, until such time as they are able to stand alone”
mainly applied to the old Ottoman Empire
Arab peoples saw this as a promise of independence
Palestine (Israel), Transjordan (Jordan), and Iraq became British mandates
France claimed Syria & Lebanon

20. League of Nations Mandates in the Middle East

21. League of Nations Mandates in Africa
l Losses:

22. Consider: How fair was this treaty?
Which nations would have been pleased with the outcome?
Remember, this treaty was designed to “prevent” a future war!

23. The Treaty’s Weaknesses
Unfair humiliation of Germany
War-guilt clause
No way Germany could pay the reparations
Russia had fought for 3 years & had higher casualties than any other country; yet the treaty took more land from Russia than from any other nation, including Germany!

24. Small child under a canopy of the treaty
Above child’s head reads “1940 class”
How old would a child born in 1919 be in 1940?
What is the cartoonist suggesting about the treaty?

25. U.S. Opposition to the Treaty
Wanted to return to isolationism
Wilson could not convince Congress to approve the treaty
Had a stroke and could not rally support by the time of the vote

26. Not the “War to End All Wars”
Physical and financial destruction of Europe
Massive loss of life
Unresolved issues
Treaty of Versailles unfair
Germany specifically in shambles looking for someone to unite them
Who could that be?