The Treaty Of Versailles

Causes, Creation, and Effects

Background

- The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty to end the First World War

- World War I lasted from 1914 through 1918

The First World War was Fought on 2 fronts:

- The Western Front was the lands between Germany and France

- The Eastern Front consisted of the lands between Germany and Russia

Two Front War

Alliances

Triple Entente Triple Alliance/Central Powers

- Britain - France- Russia- United States (toward the end)

- Germany - Austria-Hungary - Italy

End of the Fighting

- Armistice signed on November 11, 1918

- It took 6 more months to negotiate a peace treaty

Negotiating The Treaty

-Met in Paris in January, 1919

- Excluded Germany, Austria, and Hungary, since they were considered the defeated parties

- Excluded Russia because it had previously made a peace treaty with Germany and removed itself from the war

Wilson’s 14 Point Plan

-Woodrow Wilson’s Post war plan

- Proposed Self Determination of Nations

- Would create the League of Nations, which laid the ground work for the United Nations

Military Restrictions on Germany

- 100,000 man Standing Army

- Only 15,000 in Naval Forces

- No Importing or Exporting Weapons - Further restrictions on Weapons Production

Major Territory Changes - Loss of German Colonies

- Gave over of the Rhine lands to France

- German land used to establish the new Poland

- Austria banned from annexation to Germany

-German land used for the creation of Czechoslovakia

Article 231 “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 Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

- Original Text from The Treaty Of Versailles - A.K.A “The War Guilt Clause”

- Placed the blame on Germany for the war

- Justified the consequences in the Treaty

Reparations -226 billion Reichsmarks to be paid back to the allied forces

- Later reduced to 132 billion Reichsmarks

- Finished paying off in 2010

International Organizations

-League of Nations - Intended to avoid future wars through diplomacy and international cooperation

-International Labor Organization - Created to improve working standards in nations around the world

Reactions

-France wanted harsher consequences

- England, on the other hand, feared that the treaty went to far in punishing Germany

- The United States Senate, led by the Republican party, refused to ratify the Treaty

- Germany felt humiliated and angry

Years to Follow -World wide economic depression soon followed - German Reichsmark became virtually worthless due to inflation

- Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and began to overturn various parts of the Treaty

- League of Nations finds itself unable to intervene and uphold the Treaty

- World War II broke out in 1939

Map of Post Word War I Europe (Slide 9)http://pages.uoregon.edu/mccole/303Spring2011/maps/EuropeAfterWWI.jpg

Article 231 quote (Slide 10)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_231_of_the_Treaty_of_Versailles

Alliances Flag (Slide 4)http://www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com/images/sallies6shflags.JPG

Picture of Children Playing with Reichsmarks (Slide 11)http://beingsakin.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/german-children-playing-with-worthless-paper-reichsmarks.jpg

Sources

Map of Eastern and Western Fronts (Slide 3)http://www.cobwfa.ca/cobpics/ww1_map.gif

Picture of Adolf Hitler http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AdolfHitler