END OF WORLD WAR I

END OF FIGHTING AND TREATY OF VERSAILLES

U.S. TURNS TIDE OF WAR

By joining war, the United States brought in:

1. Fresh supplies and troops

2. Industrial might to combat Germany

3. Supplies to re-outfit troops from all Allied countries

U.S. comes into war – April 6, 1917

Fighting in the War Ends – November 11, 1918

FOURTEEN POINTS

Fourteen Points – Plan for peace in Europe which was outlined by Woodrow Wilson

- Points 1-4 – Open diplomacy

- Point 5 – Fair system to resolve disputes over colonies

- Points 6-13 – Dealt with self-determination or people’s right to choose their own political status

- Point 14 – Called for creation of League of Nations

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Purpose of League of Nations:

1. Settle disputes between nations

2. Protect democracy

3. Prevent future wars

Showed that foreign policy of a democratic nation should be based on morality – not just what was best for that nation.

PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE

Began: January 12, 1919

The Conference:

- Delegation made up of 32 nations and their leaders

- Big Four – leaders of the victorious Allied nations

1. Woodrow Wilson – U.S.

2. David Lloyd George – Great Britain

3. Georges Clemenceau – France

4. Vittorio Orlando - Italy

GOALS OF EACH OF THE BIG FOUR

Wilson – United States

wanted to ensure peace in Europe and put an end to these types of disputes

Lloyd George and Clemenceau – England and France

wanted Germany to pay for their aggression

Orlando – Italy

wanted colonial claims in Africa, primarily resource rich Ethiopia

Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia – wanted to start new nations

Poland – wanted nation put back together and reformed

Ho Chi Minh – Vietnamese chef wanted independence for Vietnam

would later lead revolution in Vietnam against French starting Vietnam War

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

The Impact of the Treaty:

1. Germany could not have air force

2. Limits to German military size (100,000 troops only)

3. Germany could not mechanize army

4. Germany could only have 1 ship in navy

5. Germany had to repay debt of all allies – reparations

- more than Germany could actually pay

6. Established League of Nations

7 Creation of Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia

8. Central Powers lost all colonies

TREATY ISSUES

Germany forced to sign treaty under threat of French military force – June 28, 1919

United States – arguments in Congress over signing treaty

- Three Groups formed:

1. Immediate ratification – sign now

2. Irreconcilables – no sign because of League of Nations participation

3. Reservationists – ratify treaty if changes were made primarily to League of Nations Charter

TREATY FIGHT IN U.S.

Wilson was not happy with hang-ups on signing the treaty

- Main opponent: Henry Cabot Lodge

- Wilson took arguments on the road to the people

- Said the treaty must be ratified or the consequences could be disastrous

- Tour caused stress on Wilson – he had stroke

Lodge presented a new treaty in 1919 and 1920 – Senate rejected both on orders of Wilson

1921 – United States signed separate peace treaties with Germany and Austria-Hungary

- Caused U.S. to never join League of Nations

IMPACTS OF WORLD WAR I

Human Toll – 14,000,000 dead/7,000,000 men disabled

Financial Impact - $280 Billion in war costs

Political Impact:

1. Monarchies overthrown in Germany, Austria, Russia

2. Rise of Communism

3. Led to revolutions in colonialized areas

IMPACTS OF WORLD WAR I

Economic Impact:

1. European economies devastated

2. United States becomes global economic leader

3. Inflation led to economic issues in U.S.

4. Prices on goods went up in U.S. – people could not afford goods

5. Farmers took hit when demand for food dropped after war

IMPACTS OF WORLD WAR ISocial Impacts:

1. Women serving in work place = passage of 19th Amendment

- got right to vote

2. African-Americans moved to the North to find work in factories

- led to population shifts in pattern

European Impacts:

1. Europeans lost nearly an entire generation of young men

2. France was destroyed

3. Great Britain and Germany were broke or in debt

4. Still a great deal of anger in Europe – leads to World War II