19.4 WILSON FIGHTS FOR PEACE

OBJECTIVES:Identify the elements of the Treaty of Versailles. Explain the reasons why it failed.

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

WEAKNESSESREASONS FOR OPPOSITION

IN THE US

PROVISIONS

QUIZ1. Whose plan for peace was called the

14 Points?2. The requirement to pay for war

damages is called _________.3. Which Republican senator led the

fight to reject the Treaty of Versailles?

4. Germany was forced to sign the ____ guilt clause.

5. Which ally was not party to the Treaty of Versailles negotiations?

QUIZ1. Wilson’s Plan for peace was called

the Fourteen________.2. The requirement to pay for war

damages is called _________.3. Woodrow Wilson suffered a _______

while trying to convince Americans to support the League of Nations.

4. Germany was forced to sign the war-_______ clause.

5. The treaty to end WWI was called the Treaty of _____________.

PROBLEMS WITH THE PEACE…CONTEXT:Germany had not been militarily defeated.

Britain, Italy and France want Germany“humbled” so she will never invade again.

Wilson wants to create a “peace withoutvictors” and avoid future conflicts.

PROBLEM: Both views seek peace, but have opposite

meansto that end.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT…Vittorio Orlando - Italian premier David Lloyd George - British prime minister Georges Clemenceau - French prime minister Woodrow Wilson - American president

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

I. NO SECRET TREATIES II. FREEDOM OF THE SEASIII. FREE TRADE AMONG NATIONSIV. DEMILITARIZATIONV. FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF COLONIZED PEOPLESXIV. LEAGUE OF NATIONS

How many of the points were achieved?

Wilson’s Fourteen PointsI. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall

be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.NO SECRET TREATIES

II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. FREEDOM OF THE SEAS

III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associating themselves for its maintenance. FREE TRADE AMONG NATIONS

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety. DEMILITARIZATION

V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF COLONIZED PEOPLES

Wilson’s Fourteen PointsVIII-XIII.

(These points dealt with boundary changes)

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

FOURTEEN POINTS REJECTED• Allies reject Wilson’s plan• Central Powers not included in peace

negotiations• Russia and smaller allies excluded – only

Britain, France, Italy and USA• German, Ottoman, and Austrian empire in

part “liberated” and divided among France and Britain

• Germany’s military dismantled• Germany forced to accept war guilt clause• Germany must $33 billion in reparations

WHAT PROBLEMS DO YOU FORESEE?

HOW MANY OF THE FOUR LONG-TERM CAUSES OF WWI DID THE TREATY FIX?

PUNISHING GERMANY“It stripped Germany of just over 13 per cent of its territory, much of which, in the shape of Alsace and Lorraine, was returned to France. It also reduced Germany's economic productivity by about 13 per cent and its population by ten per cent. Germany lost all of its colonies and large merchant vessels, 75 per cent of its iron ore deposits and 26 per cent of its coal and potash.”

SOURCE: British Broadcasting Corp.http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/versailles_03.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/worldwarone/hq/outcomes3_01.shtml

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

WEAKNESSESREASONS FOR OPPOSITION

IN THE US

PROVISIONS

WEAKNESSES OF THE TREATY1. It humiliated Germany, and it

meant to.

2. Russia was not included. It lost more land than Germany did, leaving it wanting more.

3. Allies stripped Germany of its colonies, but kept and expanded their own.

WILSON DISILLUSIONED

• Americans see the Treaty as too harsh & a sell-out

• Many of the new boundaries created new problems, especially in Middle-East

• League of Nations worried isolationists – it looked like an entangling alliance!!!

WILSON DISILLUSIONED• Opposition to Treaty lead by Sen. Henry

Cabot Lodge and Republican Party.• Wilson refuses to compromise and

appeals directly to the voters• Wilson collapses with a stroke.

OUTCOME:1. Senate rejects the Treaty and US does

not join the League of Nations.2. Germans feel betrayed and regret

stopping the war.3. Germany’s economy is ruined.4. Hitler comes to power, capitalizing on

anger, bitterness, and fear for the future.

Henry Cabot Lodge The world's best hope, but if you

fetter her in the interest through quarrels of other nations, if you tangle her in the intrigues of Europe, you will destroy her powerful good, and endanger her very existence. Leave her to march freely through the centuries to come, as in the years that have gone. Strong, generous, and confident, she has nobly served mankind. Beware how you trifle with your marvelous inheritance -- this great land of ordered liberty. For if we stumble and fall, freedom and civilization everywhere will go down in ruin.

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/03600/03676r.jpg

Wilson after his stroke, 1919In October 1919 President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) receives assistance after his massive stroke, which made it difficult for him to maintain his train of thought and manage government affairs. Historians continue to debate the influence of Wilson's poor health on the president's losing battle for U.S. membership in the League of Nations. (Library of Congress)

Wilson after his stroke, 1919

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

What were the outcomes of the Versailles Treaty?

Was the treaty just?

Was Wilson being unrealistic?

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

WEAKNESSESREASONS FOR OPPOSITION

IN THE US

PROVISIONS