Objective 4

Analyze the attempted peace settlements and discuss how and why

the peace settlements failed

Facts By the Number

• Date of Armistice – 11/11/1918 at 11:00am• Date the Treaty of Versailles was signed –

6/28/1919• Houses destroyed in France – 750,000• Factories destroyed in France – 23,000• German Army restricted to – 100,000 men• Germany Navy restricted to – 15,000 men• Sum of German reparations - $31.4 billion• Year Germany quit paying – 1931-1932• Year Germany finally finished paying – 10/4/2010

Paris Peace Conference• 12/13/1918• Representatives from 27 Allied nations were at the

conference• Big Four – Wilson (US), George (Britain), Clemenceau

(France), Orlando (Italy)• Goal of European nations was to ensure Germany would

never again be a world power• US – get the 14 Points accepted• France – wanted to control Germany and cripple them

economically, militarily, and politically• Britain – keep British Empire intact• Italy – receive territory it was promised

The Big Four

France• Wanted to rebuild France w/ reparations $$• Build a buffer state b/w France and Germany to

guard against attack• Wanted permanent demilitarization of Germany• Control German factories• Protect secret treaties & naval blockades• Control trade in Germany• Cripple Germany politically, militarily, and

economically• Compromise – give up idea of buffer state

Great Britain

• Supported reparations but to a lesser extent than the French

• Looked to restore Germany as an important trading partner

• Wanted to ensure France would not become too powerful

• Worried about Wilson’s idea of “self determination”• Supported blockades and treaties • George was able to raise the reparations to GB by

citing widows, orphans, and men unable to work

United States

Wilson’s 14 Points – President Wilson’s plan for postwar Europe. This was written in a way as to avoid future wars.

• Points 1-5, 14 were general points to all nations• Points 6-13 referred to specific nations

1. No secret treaties2. Freedom of the seas for

all nations3. Removal of all economic

barriers and tariffs4. Reduction of arms5. Fair adjustment of

territorial claims14. Establishment of a

“general association of nations” – League of Nations

Peace Without a Treaty

• Congress was not enthusiastic about Treaty of Versailles or League of Nations

• Congress wanted a compromise with Wilson over the US involvement–Mainly military involvement

• Wilson’s refusal to compromise cost him US membership in the League of Nations

Some elements of the Treaty of Versailles

• the Rhineland would be occupied by Allied troops for a period of fifteen years

• Article 227 charges former German Emperor, Wilhelm II with supreme offense against international morality. He is to be tried as a war criminal.

• The import and export of weapons is prohibited• Poison gas, armed aircraft, tanks and armored cars

are prohibited• Blockades on ships are prohibited• Restrictions on the manufacture of machine guns

and rifles

Territorial Changes due to the Treaty

• Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France• Northern Schlesweig returned to Denmark• Austria was forbidden from merging w/ Germany• German colonies were divided between Belgium, the United

Kingdom, and certain British Dominions, France, and Japan with the determination not to see any of them returned to Germany

• Austria-Hungary broke up – territory ceded to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, Italy, and Yugoslavia

• Ottoman Empire – France gained Lebanon & Syria British gained Iraq & Palestine