“A victor’s peace would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace...
Transcript of “A victor’s peace would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace...
“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.