Treaty of VersaillesParis Peace Conference of 1918

Armistice!• This is an old French postcard with an

image of the signers of the Armistice as they existed the railway car at Compiegne, France, where the document was signed. Marshal Ferdinand Foch has the Armistice in his hand and is preparing to leave for Paris to formally hand over the papers to the French government. The two warring sides signed the Armistice at 5 am, 11 November 1918 with the terms of the agreement set to come into effect six hours later at 11 am. Thus, the war officially ended at the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.”

The Big Four

• Woodrow Wilson – U.S. – “peace w/out victory”• David Lloyd George – Great Britain – had been re-

elected on a campaign of “hang the Kaiser”• Georges Clemenceau – France – had a vote of

confidence from the French Assembly to “disarm and dismember” Germany

• Vittorio Orlando – Italy – spoils of war!

Wilson the Idealist

• “Independence of peoples”

• Self-determination

• “No annexations”

• Justice

• “Freedom of mankind”

• “Lasting peace”

Treaty of Versailles

• Signed on June 28, 1919 at the Palace of Versailles

Hall of Mirrors, where the Treaty was signed

The Terms• Germany was forced to accept full blame

for the war

Terms can be categorized as involving…

-Territorial Concessions

-Military Concessions

-Financial Concessions

Territorial Concessions

• Austria-Hungary is dismantled• Germany cedes Alsace-Lorraine to France• Rhineland occupied by France (5), Britain (10), and U.S.

(15)• Poland created from German lands• Industrial lands – Saar Valley, Silesia, Schleswig

To Consider: How does the Treaty of Versailles sow the seeds from WWII? What complaints might Germany have? Are those complaints warranted?

Territorial Concessions

Military ConcessionsThe Demilitarization of the German State: Army was reduced to 100,000 maximum (1914 – 850,000) Navy was limited to almost nothing The following was forbidden in the German military: airplanes, tanks,

submarines, heavy artillery, and chemical weapons (mustard gas, etc.)

Financial Concessions

• Because Germany accepts full responsibility, they are made to pay for the war

• Essentially a blank check

The Price Tag?

Direct Costs - $180 billion (2.3 trillion in 2009)

Indirect Costs - $150 billion (1.9 trillion in 2009)

To Consider: How might the financial terms of the treaty impact Germany in the post war era? What are the implications of such a provision?

• Reparations paid.

League of Nations

• Wilson was able to use political and economic leverage to ensure a League of Nations was made part of the peace treaty

• Because the League was Wilson’s favorite theme, he was willing to make sacrifices to keep it