The end of WWIPresident Wilson proposed a plan for peace

called the Fourteen points which consisted of: a. no more alliancesb. free trade among all nationsc. people in all European nations could freely elect their own leadersd. Central Powers should not be punished for starting the ware. Create an organization to work for peace called the League of Nations

Sounds like Wilson was on the right track for promoting world peace, right?

However, the other Allies had other plans for Germany

The British, French and Italians basically decided that Germany needed to be punished for starting the war.

So the provisions of the Versailles Treaty were quite harsh towards Germany

Please, remember that it was the Austrians and Russians who started the war.

Now the Germans were going to have to take the blame

Versailles Treaty Ends the War

1) Germany loses all of its colonies2) Germany has to give territory to France and Poland3) Limits the size of the German army to 100,000 soldiers

and navy the navy to 6 Battleships (no submarines! And no Air Force!)

4) Germany is to accept the blame for starting the war (this is later known as the “War guilt Clause” of the

Versailles treaty)

Click the next slide to see the “reparations” that Germany was forced to make as well

5) Germany is to pay $33 billion dollars for the full cost of the war:a. $5 billion dollars down

b. $250 million/year until it’s paid AND:c. give all of its large merchant ships, ½ of its medium ships and ¼ of its fishing fleet to the Allies. d. build 200,000 tons of ships each year for the Allies over the next 5 yearse. give up 1/3 of their coal producing landsf. had to give 40 million tons of free coal each year to France for 10 yearsg. had to give all industrial inventions to the Allies

In fact the Bayer corporation (A German company)Had to give up its patent for Aspirin because of the Treaty of Versailles

This was the most popular pain reliever in the world at that time and losing this patent cost the company and Germany millions of dollars

Why were the Germans going to have a hard time paying off that debt?

The Allies took away the means for Germany to earn money to pay off this huge amount of reparations.

Think about it:1) Losing colonies means Germany loses raw materials and markets for finished

goods2) Giving its coal producing lands to France meant there was more difficult to power its industrial plants3) Losing its shipping means that it couldn’t export anything it managed to produce4) Losing its patents also meant less money was being earned5) So Germany had to borrow money to make the first payments and later they quit paying altogether

The Treaty of Versailles basically set the stage for the beginning of WWII. But more about that later.

For module 5 will focus on US Isolationism and the Roaring 20’s!!!!!!! (While most of Europe is kinda in a funk)