Behavioral Objective: 3/16/2012

We will be able to identify the major issues addressed, and “solutions” offered at the Treaty of Versailles.

Key Question: How do you insure that a war of this magnitude cannot happen again?

CCS: 2;5Homework: Essay #1: WWI Newspaper

article and Editorial due on Monday. 100 pts.Homework #3 due today.

The Treaty of Versailles

War is over…11/11/1918 – Armistice is signed…

What now?Who Won? France; Britain; The United

States ( Italy!?!)Who Lost? Germany; Austria/Hungary;

Ottoman EmpireWhat about Russia?Now what???

Remember our Causes of WWI?

Militarism - Alliances - Imperialism - Nationalism – The Question is: How can these be “addressed” so that another war of this size will not happen again???

The Treaty of Versailles

June 1919

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The Big Four

Woodrow Wilson USA

David Lloyd-George Great Britain

Georges Clemenceau France Vittorio Orlando Italy

The Big Four at Versailles in 1919

What did France want from the treaty?

Security – From Germany!

Revenge – On Germany

Reparations – From Germany

Clemenceau : “The Tiger”

France will seek to crush Germany so that they can never be a threat to France again!!!

David Lloyd-George

Punish the Germans...but they are not as “hard core” as the French in this matter.

Britain still needed Germany as a trading partner: why “cripple” them?

Very worried about the “disease of Bolshevism – Russia under Communist rule.

Germany could be a barrier to this “disease”

What did Britain Want?

Woodrow Wilson

What did America Want?

Woodrow Wilson wanted the treaty to be based on his Fourteen Points

Punish Germany, just not too much...

He believed that “Self-determination” of nations would avoid further conflict.

Wilson will push for the “League of Nations” but at the same time there was a feeling in the US to stay out of foreign affairs.

What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

Germany is going to pay heavily for the war:

The German army was to be reduced to 100,000 men. It was not allowed to have tanks. (No other country had their army restricted.)

Germany was not allowed an air force

The area known as the Rhineland was to be de-militarised.(Germany could not have troops in this area, even though it was theirs!)

The Allies were to occupy the west bank of the Rhine River for fifteen years (Foreign Troops on German soil)

The German navy was to have no submarines or large battle-ships (No other country had its navy restricted)

100,000 De-militarised

The Military Clauses

Territorial Losses

Germany lost ALL of her overseas colonies

Alsace-Lorraine was given to France. (Germany has taken this in the Franco-Prussian War)

Posen was given to Poland so that she would have access to the Baltic Sea. This area became known as the Polish Corridor. It meant that East Prussia was cut off from the rest of Germany.

The Rhineland was to be de-militarized

The Saar coalfields were given to France for fifteen years: (France gets these raw materials for free!!!)

The port of Danzig (German City) was made a Free City under the control of the League of Nations

"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm, and Germany accepts, the responsibility of Germany and her Allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associate Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of a war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her Allies."

Article 231

The War Guilt Clause

German was forced to sign, stating that they accepted sole responsibility for the war.

REPARATIONS

Germany agreed to pay for the damage caused by her armies during the war. The sum she had to pay was later fixed at £6,600 million

Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria

Impact of the Treaty…

How does Europe Change?There are a bunch of new states, new democracies in

Europe: This is self-determinationThe idea is to avoid alliances…Czechoslovakia; Hungary; Poland; Germany;

Yugoslavia are all formed. The question is: will theses new states be able to put

nationalist issues behind them. Also, many ethnic groups are now “placed” in new states where they are minorities.

Example: 3 Million Germans now live in Czechoslovakia. Is that fair to them?

Impact of the Treaty

What about Germany?They felt betrayed by their government.Their grew a belief in the “stab in the back

theory” – Versailles was part of a “Jewish Conspiracy” against them.

If self-determination was the new thing, why couldn’t Germany determine their own future?

How could they protect themselves if their military was restricted. (No one else was!)

Reparations payments would cripple their economy.

Impact of the Treaty:

And, let’s not forget…Russia who lost millions of soldiers and Civilians

in the war, (allies of France) were not allowed to participate in the Versailles Treaty

Why?In 1917 – they had a Revolution, and became a

Communist Country.By 1918 – They withdrew from the war.By 1919 – Since they were now a “Red Menace”

to the rest of Europe, they were not allowed in the Peace negotiations.

Impact of Versailles

Long Term Issues:Nationalism is not solved, it gets worse as a

result of the Versailles Treaty.Specifically, Italy and Germany will have Fascist

Governments that will become a solution for the way they were wronged by the treaty.

In Germany, we will call theses fascists “Nazis.”Their leader, Adolf Hitler, will hammer home

several issues that become a religion in germany:

Hitler’s Ideology:

Germany must determine its own futureGermany was betrayed by those who signed

the Versailles agreement.Germany must be for Germans onlyAny Germans living in other regions must

“come home” – or, Germany must go to them.Jews were responsible for all of Germanys

problems, and needed to be dealt with.