9.1.4: Picking up ...-TEACH-

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

9.1.4: Picking up the pieces after the war

9. The Time of World Wars

The Big Four

Clemenceau

prime minister

France

Lloyd George

prime minister

Great Britain

Orlando

prime minister

Italy

Wilson

president

USA

Actually The Big Three....and Italy

Important date in this lesson:

1919: June 28th: Signing of Peace Treaty of Versailles

1920: founding of the League of Nations

What you will learn in 

this lesson

• that Germany was heavily punished by      the Treaty of Versailles
• how the map of Europe changed after the war
• recognise the impact of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany

Use these questions to make your own summary

The signing of the treaty of peace at Versailles, 28 June 1919

American president Wilson was enthusiastically greeted by the people of Paris in 1919

The Big Four, 27th May, 1919. From left to right: Prime Minister David Lloyd George (Great Britain), Premier Vittorio Orlando (Italy), French Premier Georges Clemenceau, US President Wilson.

= attitude towards Germany

= reasons for this attitude

= main aim

Make a schematic overview in your notebook of the information in this task

Treat Germany harshly. Make the bastards pay for what they did. No mercy.

Treat Germany harshly, but don’t cripple it

Don't treat Germany too harshly. 

we suffered the least. A crippled Germany might be vengeful and start another war in the future. A crippled Germany is less likely to become democratic.

we want to trade again with Germany, so Germany’s economy must be rebuilt quickly.  

We suffered the most . We are closest to Germany, so we fear the most of a possible future aggressive Germany.

keep our colonies safe by taking away Germany’s fleet and colonies.

Turn Germany into a peaceful, democratic country. That’s the best way to preserve peace in the future.

Cripple Germany, make Germany pay reparations, get Alsace Lorraine back

Upload a picture of the schematic overview you made

Germany: the main culprit

On 28th June 1919, the Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles. In it was decided that Germany:

1. was not allowed to have an army bigger then a hundred thousand soldiers; its fleet had to be given to the Allies
   
2. had to give its colonies to France and Britain; Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France
   
3. had to give up ten percent of its territory
   
4. had to pay for the damage, caused by the war.
   
5. had to accept the full blame for WW1 (Alleinschuld)

It was mostly out of an emotion and feelings of revenge that Germany was ordered to pay 132 billion gold marks (around 380 billion euros today) as war reparations, a huge amount. The Germans were astonished that they were not allowed to participate in the meeting. As expected they were outraged when they read the treaty terms. They felt humiliated and refused to sign it. Eventually they agreed, but only because the Allies threatened to continue the war.

signing of the Treaty on June 18th, 1919, exactly 5 years after the assassination of the archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo

Treaty of Versailles (June 28th, 1919)

Territorial

Military

Financial & economic

On top of this:

only 100,000 men army

war reparations

Alsace Lorraine back to France

Colonies to France and Britain

Alleinschuld

no union with Austria

not in League of Nations

no navy, no air force

the Saar to France (15 years)

Rhineland demilitarised

East Prussia to Poland

A League of Nations

One of president Wilson’s most important objectives in his Fourteen Point plan was the idea of a League of Nations. He wanted a future in which countries gathered and discussed hostilities and possible conflicts before using violence. He hoped that it would cause transparency and end the secret alliances. Wilson dreamed of a more peaceful world in which countries would disarm their militaries, so global wars could be prevented. However, his League of Nations did not become what he had expected. Germany was still seen as the enemy and therefore was not allowed to participate. The newly formed Soviet Union (Russia) was also not welcome because it betrayed its allies. Even Wilson’s own country, the USA, did not agree with his plans. Membership to the League was declined by the congress. The League of Nations was already a weak institution when it started. 

The official opening of the League of Nations, 15 November 1920

The end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

Another of Wilson’s principles was the right of national self-determination: Wilson believed that a nation sharing a common language or culture should be free to form its own nation state. They should be helped in any struggle for independence from empires or other autocratic rulers all over the world. He wanted to inspire smaller countries to govern themselves democratically. The other Allies had to agree with this right of national self-determination, because many people in Eastern Europe had already declared new states after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. At Paris, the Allies gave the nationalists the right to form new countries such as Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Austria and Hungary became separate countries. The Austrians requested to become a part of Germany, but the Allies dismissed this idea because it would appear to be a reward for Germany. Millions of Germans suddenly became minorities in Poland or in Sudetenland, Czechoslovakia. This caused new tensions in Eastern Europe.

congratulations

congratulations

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