The+World+Re-made+p1-12+weiweil2013+03.11.10




 * Chapter 1: Great Suffering...**
 * FRANCE
 * hosted the worst of the fighting
 * 4.5 years of warfare = area bigger than Wales ruined
 * destroyed farmland, farm animals, civilian homes, factories, railways, roads
 * 1.4 million soldiers killed
 * BELGIUM
 * WW1 started in Belgium (Schlieffen Plan)
 * occupied by Germany for four years
 * stripped factories, crops, food, church bells (for guns?!), shot rebels
 * part not occupied: Flanders = ruined
 * 50 000 soldiers killed
 * BRITAIN
 * suffered less (no part of UK ever occupied by enemy)
 * British gov. deeply in debt
 * spent £9 billion on war, £1 billion borrowed (mostly from USA)
 * 750 000 soldiers killed
 * ITALY
 * joined late in 1915, promised Austrian land by Allies
 * did not get Austrian land even by 1918
 * north-east Italy devastated
 * 600 000 soldiers killed
 * RUSSIA
 * only Ally to surrender
 * revolution, mass hunger, deaths
 * Treaty of Brest-Litovsk w/ Germany: lost all western provinces, 1/3 of Russians
 * 1.7 million soldiers killed
 * THE UNITED STATES
 * suffered least (joined war late in 1917)
 * 116 000 soldiers killed
 * GERMANY
 * country itself not devastated, but many soldiers killed
 * revolution causing chaos
 * British Navy tried to cripple Germany by preventing supplies getting in
 * civilians suffered from starvation
 * 2 million soldiers killed
 * OTHER SUFFERING
 * Austria-Hungary: 1.2 million men
 * Turkish Empire: 325 000 men
 * Bulgaria: 100 000 men
 * Spanish Influenza in mid-1918: 25 million people (biggest killer in WW1)
 * Chapter 2: Great Expectations...**
 * PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE
 * January 1919: 32 nations meet in Paris to make a "lasting peace"
 * "Big Three" = Woodrow Wilson, George Clemenceau, David Lloyd George
 * CLEMENCEAU wanted Germany to pay, and to make them weak (take away army, land, industry)
 * WILSON wanted lasting peace, make fair peace
 * Fourteen Points: ALL countries minimise army, self-determination, honesty, territorial fairness, League of Nations
 * LLOYD GEORGE agreed with Wilson, but UK people pressuring to treat Germany harshly
 * MAKING PEACE
 * Wilson had detailed ideas for making peace, got his own way
 * League of Nations set up
 * national self-determination -> free-for-all for victors to get land of defeated powers
 * Germany, Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Russia, not allowed to take part
 * wondering about righteousness of actions..?
 * Chapter 3: Germany Remade - the Treaty of Versailles**
 * 28 June 1919: conference went to Versailles 16 km away, started signing
 * TREATY OF VERSAILLES: long document, 200 pages, included:
 * League of Nations
 * Germany had to give land, colonies, original Russian land back
 * armed forces reduced to mare minimum, DMZ created
 * forbidden to unite with Austria
 * accept blame (war guilt clause), pay reparations
 * Germany had not been consulted, far harsher than expected, dictated peace, protests from Germans
 * no choice - sign or we'll invade
 * Chapter 4: Europe Reshaped: The Other Paris Peace Treaties**
 * AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
 * Saint Germain + Trianon = made Austria and Hungary into independent states
 * still had to pay for war damage, reduce army, give up land, etc
 * RUSSIA
 * didn't attend Peace Conference, but most provinces were given back
 * POLAND
 * took land from Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, formed Poland
 * TURKISH EMPIRE
 * Treaty of Sevres = harsh, took away nearly all Turkey's land, controlled by France+UK, no independence, conquered by Allies
 * Chapter 5: The League of Nations**
 * Covenant of the League of Nations = first part of each peace treaty (Paris Peace Treaties all began in same way)
 * members quarrel = talk, not war; member attacked = everyone else helps them (collective security)
 * work done by Commissions
 * Disarmament Commission = reduce army; Mandates Commission = kept eye on German/Turkish colonies
 * make world a better one
 * Health Organisation, International Labour Organisation (make working considions better), Permanent Court of Justice (international court)
 * Secretariat = handle paperwork, communications, publicity
 * PROBLEMS
 * USA didn't join (didn't want to get involved in other countries' problems), Germany and Russia not allowed to join either
 * did not have army to back up its decisions (could talk about quarrels, cut off trade, didn't have force to stop fighting)

At the end of World War 1, plans were made to deal with the losers of the war; Wilson tried for a fair peace while France and Britain wanted harsh punishments on Germany. Wilson's Fourteen Points worked halfway; Germany was still treated harshly and was weakened badly. Ideas of self-determination infiltrated global politics and the League of Nations was created.
 * Summary**

Why were the Americans not interested in getting involved with the problems of other countries? (They sure like to do that nowadays, though.) Who were the Big Three? Why was Clemenceau called "The Tiger"? What happened when the countries went to divide up the land of the defeated powers at the Paris Peace Conference? Make a summary of the main clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.
 * Questions**