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End of the WarEnd of the War

Class Notes 7:8Class Notes 7:8

Modern World History, by Dan McDowell. Teaching Point, ©2004

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StalemateStalemate

• By 1917 both sides fighting defensive war

• Neither could put together a massive attack

• Defeatism in England, France

• Mutinies in French, British armies

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RussiaRussia

• Terrible military defeats

• Czar’s leadership lacking

• November Revolution put Lenin and Bolsheviks in power

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Russia . . .Russia . . .

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk got Russia out of war with Germany

• Russia gave up massive amounts of land

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Germany Breaks DownGermany Breaks Down

• Shortage of food, supplies

• Final offensive fails at the 2nd Battle of the Marne

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Armistice Day

November 11, 1918

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ArmisticeArmistice

• An agreement to stop fighting before a formal treaty is reached

• Germany agrees to surrender if United States President Wilson used his Fourteen Points to negotiate peace treaty

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Wilson’s Fourteen PointsWilson’s Fourteen Points

• Outline measures to maintain peace after WWI

• No secret alliances• Freedom of the seas

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Wilson’s Fourteen Points . . .Wilson’s Fourteen Points . . .

• Free trade• Sovereignty for

Belgium, former states of Russia and Austria-Hungary

• Creation of a League of Nations the seas

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Paris Peace ConferenceParis Peace Conference

• “The Big Four”: United States of America (Woodrow Wilson), Great Britain (David Lloyd George), Italy (Vittorio Orlando), and France (Georges Clemenceau)

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Paris Peace Conference . . .Paris Peace Conference . . .

• Russia, Germany, and German allies not represented at the conference

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Paris Peace Conference . . .Paris Peace Conference . . .

• Pre-conference vision of peace:– France = revenge,

security

– Great Britain = balance of power

– Italy = territorial gains

– United States = Fourteen Points, League of Nations

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Treaty of VersaillesTreaty of Versailles

• Signed June 28, 1919• Germany forced to pay the Allies $33 billion in

reparations over thirty years• Article 231 (“war guilt” clause) = sole

responsibility for the war is placed on Germany’s shoulders

• Germany returns Alsace-Lorraine to France; French border extended to west bank of Rhine River

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Treaty of Versailles . . .Treaty of Versailles . . .

• Germany surrenders all of its overseas colonies in Africa and the Pacific

• Germany is – forbidden to build or buy submarines or have an air

force– prohibited from importing or manufacturing weapons

or war material– limited in the size of its army

• Creation of a League of Nations to settle international disputes

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ResultsResults

• Map of Europe is radically changed

1914 1919

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Results . . .Results . . .

• Germany, Italy, Russian and Japan feel cheated by terms of final peace

• United States of America turns away from international affairs (isolationism), refuses to join the League of Nations

• Dissatisfaction with the treaty and worldwide depression in the 1930s sets the stage for a second World War