The Legacy of War. The First World War Known as the ‘the war to end all wars’ Hostilities of WW1 ended with the signing of an armistice on Nov.11, 1918.

The Legacy of War

The First World War

• Known as the ‘the war to end all wars’

• Hostilities of WW1 ended with the signing of an armistice on Nov.11, 1918

– Agreement amongst warring countries to stop fighting and move to a peace conference

Legacy of War

• Early next year, delegates from the belligerents (countries who participated in the war) met in Paris to discuss the terms of peace

• Victors of the war set the terms of peace

Legacy of War

• The task was daunting

• Peacemakers wanted to design an international system to make another war unlikely

Building the Peace

• Fourteen Points– President Woodrow Wilson of the US, released a

document called the fourteen points

– Originally released to convince the American public that the sacrifices made during the war were justified

Woodrow Wilson

Fourteen Points

• President Wilson then took these same fourteen points to the Paris Peace Conference.

• Tried to convince the Europeans that these points could be the foundation for a lasting peace.

• The points were organized into two categories

Group One

• Points 1 - 5 were a new idea about how countries should work together.

• Idea was called Internationalism – For internationalism to work countries would have

to put aside selfish feelings (nationalism)

– Ethnic groups would be allowed to create new countries based on nationalist desires

Group 2• Points 6 - 8 explained how the lands that

Germany conquered should be dealt with

• Points 9 - 14 referred to the ethnic desires of the people living in Central and Eastern Europe.– Would give Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, and

Poles a homeland. – These people given their own country, and

must be fair to avoid more conflicts.– Austria-Hungary empire would no longer exist

The Paris Peace Conferences – The Treaty of Versailles

• Treaty of Versailles – Possibly most important international

agreement of the 20th century

– Representatives from Allied Powers met at the Paris Peace Conferences to decide what would happen to the defeated countries

– Very difficult to do, wanted to prevent another war from occurring

Paris Peace Conference

• Realism vs. Idealism

• Realists believed Germany should be dealt with very harshly so they would physically not be able to go to war again

• Idealists argued that punishing Germany would cause the Germans to become bitter and may cause them to seek revenge

Realism vs Idealism

• President Woodrow Wilson (US) was an idealist

• Prime Minister Georges Clemensceau (France) was a realist

• These two represented the two sides at the conference

Realist France

• Because France was located next to Germany, they wanted Germany to be crippled/dismantled.

• France wanted Germany to pay for all the damage they caused during the war

• Paying for these damages was called reparations

Neutral Britain

• Prime Minister David Lloyd George of Britain fell between idealism and realism

• Wanted revenge on Germany

• But didn’t want to cripple them because they wanted to trade with them in the future

The Treaty of Versailles

• In the end, the treaty that was signed was a compromise between both sides.

• Arguably the worst of both

• Two very important ideas emerged– 1. Self-determination– 2. The War Guilt Clause

Self-Determination

• Self-Determination meant that ethnic groups could vote on the issue of whom they would prefer to live with or be governed by

• To implement self-determination each ethnic group in Europe had to have their own homeland

Self-Determination

• Finding land for each ethnic group was extremely difficult, and the borders of European countries already existed, making it much harder

• Two new states (countries) were created– Czechoslovakia– Yugoslavia

Self-Determination

Self-Determination

• President Wilson didn’t expect that German people would have right to self-determination

• Many significant groups were not given a homeland, but were forced to live in another country

Self-Determination

• Unfulfilled self-determination led to future conflict (as we will see)

• Some exceptions were– Sudetan Germans in Czechoslovakia– 1 million Poles in Czechoslovakia– Germans in Polish corridor– 50-50 split of Germans and French people in

Alsace-Lorraine– The Irish

Polish Corridor

The War Guilt Clause

• The War Guilt Clause stated that Germany alone must accept responsibility for causing the war

• Included to justify the punishments the allies wanted to place against Germany

The War Guilt Clause

The War Guilt Clause

• Caused – Germans to protest– German Chancellor to resign– German sailors scuttled (sank) the German fleet so

the Allies couldn’t have them

• No protests worked– Germans had to sign the Treaty of Versailles or

the Allies would resume hostilities (fighting)

The War Guilt Clause

Summary of Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• 1. The War Guilt Clause• 2. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France• 3. Poland was given a strip of land (from

Germany) to give them access to the sea - called the Polish Corridor

• 4. Germans and other central powers had to surrender all of their colonies to the League of Nations

Alsace-Lorraine

Europe 1914

Europe 1919

Summary of Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• 5. German army was limited to 100,000 men, navy also very restricted in size

• 6. Germany also forced to surrender entire merchant fleet to compensate for Allies shipping losses during the war

Summary of Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• 7. West bank of Rhine River Valley (on border of France and Germany) was to be demilitarized.

• Allied armies occupied this bank for 15 years after WW1.

• Rhineland area known as a ‘buffer zone’ since Germany was not allowed to have military activity in this area

Europe 1919

Summary of Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• 8. Union between Austria and Germany was forbidden

• 9. The constitution of the League of Nations was to be included as part of the treaty

Failures of the Treaty of Versailles

• Treaty of Versailles had many shortcomings

• These problems helped cause WW2

Failures of the Treaty of Versailles

• Examples – groups left without a homeland kept a strong

feeling of nationalism that can lead people to war

– Germans were angry that they were blamed for the war, and left so crippled after the Treaty of Versailles.

– Forced to pay extreme penalties for ‘starting the war’

Failures of the Treaty of Versailles

– Hitler will use his view point of the treaty to gain support and to get help overthrowing the German government.

– Treaty that ended WW1 was a major cause of WW2