“A victor’s peace would leave a sting, a

resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would

rest only as upon quicksand. Only a

peace between equals can last.”

Excerpt from Wilson’s speech to the Senate on January 22, 1917 (almost 2 years before the end of the war and 3 months before

the United States entered the war.)Source:

The End of the “Great War”“Eleventh hour of the eleventh day

of the eleventh month" of 1918

Verdun: Hotel de la Princerie

Village of Esnes

Palace of Justice, Senlis

The Big Four

•President Woodrow Wilson

•Georges Clemenceau

•Vittorio Orlando•David Lloyd George

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

• First five – Avoid war– No alliances– Freedom of seas– Free trade– Arms reduction– Fair policies between

imperial & colonial nations

• Next eight deal with boundary changes based on ethnic identities (see map)

• Fourteenth Point – General association of nations

» Name four countries that are created as a result

» of the Treaty of Versailles.

The League of NationsOnly point included in treaty

•Purpose: to promote international peace and security

•The toll of WWI encourages the prevention of future catastrophes (Germany was excluded until 1926)

What are provisions of Treaty?

• Broke up Ottoman Empire and Austria Hungary

• Nine new nations established

• Germany returns Alsace-Lorraine to France

• Germany is essentially disarmed

– German army reduced to a maximum of 100,000 soldiers

– German navy is similarly reduced

– Forbidden to build major weapons of aggression

Weaknesses of Treaty• Treaty humiliates &

bankrupts Germany– War-guilt clause – forced to

accept total blame for war. Most Germans hated treaty

– Reparations - $33 billion to Allies

– Downsize their military and navy

• Bolsheviks in Russia/Soviet Union left out – Russia suffered most

casualties during WWI– Lost more territory than

Germany– Stalin is determined to regain

lost territory

• What to do with colonies?– Germany stripped of all

colonies to help pay reparations

– Ignored self-determination claims of Asian peoples

– Ho Chi Minh – wanted independence for French Indochina/Vietnam. Appealed to Pres. Wilson who ignored him.