InNo+tinapx2013+30.11.10

THE AWESOMNESS

This is a photograph of the Treaty of Versailles that were signed against Germany. You can see that a lot of people are in attendance. Although the Germans wasn't pleased about this treaty because it was too harsh, they were still forced to sign it. media type="custom" key="7685923" align="center"

This is a Venn diagram showing the different view of France and USA regarding how to deal with the countries that were defeated.

THE WORLD RE-MADE Part One – Making Peace

Chapter 1 – Great Suffering…

· The necessity of the Peace Treaty o When nations fight wars, they usually expect to win, most importantly, they expect to get something out of it, in return for winning, money, land or power. o So the harder they fight, the more they suffer, and the more they expect to get. o All countries that fought in the war suffered greatly. o Take a look at what these countries suffered: · France o It involved the most brutal and violent fights. o A large area was totally ruined. Farmland are useless, farm animals died, 2 million people flee their homes. · Belgium o The war started off in Belgium when the German armies swept through it for their attack on France. o Germans occupied most of the country, and they stripped machinery from the factories, took crops and rationed food. o Over 50,000 Belgian solders were now dead. · Britain: o The British suffered less, because the enemy ever occupied no part of their country. o But 750,000 British soldiers lay dead and 1,500,000 were sounded, many crippled for life. o The government was deeply in debt. · Italy: o The Italians joined the war because they were promised Austrian land when the fighting was over. o 600,000 soldiers dead and northeast Italy devastated. · Russia: o Mass and the deaths of 1,700,000 soldiers brought the country to its knees in 1917. o Revolutions broke out, and a communist government withdrew Russia’s armies from the way. o The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany took away all Russia’s western provinces. o One-third of all Russians found themselves under German rule. · The United States: o Least suffers. o Lost 116,000 men. o Joined in late 1917 · Germany: o Nearly 2 million soldiers is killed in the war. o Then revolution swept through Germany. o The British Navy blockaded Germanys ports to stop supplies getting in. o Millions of Germans faced starvation. · The Suffering of the War o Austria Hungary lost 1,200,000 men. o Turkish Empire lost 325,000 men. o Bulgaria lost just over 100,00 men. o Spanish influenza in 1918. o More than 25 million people all over the world died because of it. o The leaders of the victorious nations were determined that such a war must never happen again. They must make treaties with the defeated countries to ensure a lasting peace.

Chapter 2 Great Expectations

· The Paris Peace Conference: o The world leaders met in Paris in January 1919 to talk about how this could be done. o The Paris Peace Conference was the biggest peace conference ever held in the world’s history. o Hundreds of politicians from thirty-two nations gathered in Paris, each one full of his own ideas and his own expectation. o However three of them quickly took control of the talks. Known as the “Big Three”, avid Lloyd George, prime Minister of Britain, Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France and Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA. Unfortunately the three men had very different ideas and expectations about what needed to be done. § **Clemenceau**’s aims: · Germany pay for the damages don in France. · 200,000,000,000 gold francs. · Second, Germany must be made so weak that she could never attack France again. · This would mean taking away much of her land, her industry and her armed forces. ** § Woodrow Wilson** · He aimed to make future wars impossible by creating a fair peace. · He said there must be no more secret agreements between countries. If countries dealt openly with each other, there would be less suspicion and misunderstanding in the world. · Countries must reduce their armed forces and their weapons. · People living under the rule of foreign empires – e.g. Czechs living in Austrian territory or the Poles living in Russian territory – must be allowed to form their own nations and choose their own governments. He called this National Self-Determination. · He also thinks that Germany shouldn’t pay because they’re not the only country to blame. ** § David Lloyd George:** · Agreed with many of Wilson’s points. · The British public wanted George to be tough with German. · Therefore it was difficult for George to follow his own beliefs. · Making the Peace: o Because only Wilson had detailed plans, so he soon got his way. o The politicians spent the first 2 months setting up the **League of Nations**, which Woodrow Wilson wanted. o Then they start dealing with the problem of **national self-determination.** o Italians demanded that Italians living under Austrian rule must be reunited with Italy. o The Poles demanded a nation of their own. o The Czechs and Yugoslavs wanted as much land as they could possibly get. o The Peace Conference rapidly became a free for all in which the victors competed with each other to carve up the lands of the defeated powers. o The only countries that die not take part were the country that lost. o People are starting to wonder if they are doing the right thing.

Germany Re-made the Treaty of Versailles

· The Treaty of Versailles o Dealt with Germany. o Over 200 pages long, 400 separate section, or clauses. · Details: o A League of Nations was set up. o Land was taken away from Germany. § Land was returned to France § Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium § North Schleswig to Denmark § West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia to Poland, § Hutchins to Czechoslovakia § Danzig, the Saar and Memel were to be ruled by the League of Nations. § All Russian land conquered in 1918 were taken away. § All Germany’s colonies were put under League of Nations control. o Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000 men. The navy was allowed no more than 6 battleships. No subs or air forces were allowed. o The Rhineland was demilitarized and occupied by Allied armies. o Union with Austria was forbidden. o The War Guilt Clause blamed Germany for starting the war and so Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies. · Germany’s reaction o Germans had no prior knowledge to this treaty. o They thought this was too harsh on them o People were unhappy. o They were pretty much forced to sign it.

Chapter 4 – Europe Re-Shaped: The Other Paris Peace Treaties

· Re-shaped: o The last year of the war, the peoples of Austria-Hungary had rebelled against their Emperor, trying to gain their independence. o Three had already set up their own independent states and appointed their own leader- the Czechs, the Hungarians and the Serbs. o Before the peace conference in Paris had even begun, they were putting into practice Wilson’s idea of self-determination. · Austria-Hungary o Two treaties signed at **Saign Germain and Trianon,** two royal palaces near Paris, dealt with Austria-Hungary. o These treaties made Austria and Hungary into separate and independent states. o They had to pay for war damage. o Serbia took over huge areas of land to become ht new state of Yugoslavia. o Other Austrian lands were given to Italy and to Poland. o A large part of Hungary was handed over to Romania. · Bulgaria: o Bulgaria was dealt with the **Treaty of Neuilly.** o Land were given to neighbors o Reduce their armies · Russia: o **The Treaty of Versailles** gave much of this conquered land back to Russia. o Her provinces in the Baltic Sea become independent states. o Gave part of Southern Russia to Romania. o The Polish provinces were not returned. · Poland: o They gained their independence by taking land from their conquerors. o The Polish Corridor gave her free access to the ports on the Baltic Sea. · The Turkish Empire o The **Treaty of Severes** dealt with the Turkish Empire. o Most of Turkey’s land in Europe was given to Greece and the Turkish Straits were put under League of Nation’s control. o Turkey’s Arab lands became mandates of the League of Nations and were put under French and British rule. o Allied armies were to occupy what was left of Turkey-Asia Minor.

The League of Nations

· The Organization of the League of Nations o The **Covenant of the League of Nations** describe how the peace would be kept: § If any member of the League quarreled with another member, they would talk about their differences instead of going to war. The talks would take place in the League’s **Assembly** in Geneva, a sort of world parliament which met once a year and in which each member country had once vote. § If this did not work, and a member was attacked, all other members would go to its help. This was known as **collective security**. Help would be arranged by the **Council** of the League, a smaller body that could meet quickly in a crisis. They would help the victim by cutting off all links with the attacker. Especially trade and financial links. o **Commissions** did much of the work of the League. o **The Disarmament Commission** worked to persuade member countries to reduce the size of their armed forces and to cut down their stocks of weapons. o **The Mandates Commission** kept an eye on the German and Turkish colonies, which were put under the temporary rule of Britain and France by the Peace Treaties. o Organizations such as the **Health Organization, International Labor Organization** and the **Permanent Court of Justice** were also set up. · Problems fro the League of Nations o There were problem with the League of Nations § First the USA refused to join, even though it was an American President who through it up in the first place. The Americans were just not interested in getting involved with the problems of other countries. · Communist Russia and defeated Germany did not join either, because they were not allowed to do so, so three great countries of the world were absent from the League of Nations at its birth. § Second problem was that the League did not have an army to back up its decisions. · It could talk about quarrels between countries, it could cut off trade with attackers, but it did not have the force to make countries stop fighting. o Despite these problems, many people were very enthusiastic about the League in its early days.

Summary: In this part, we learned about the different damages that were done to the world, and what the major leaders of the country’s plan for peace were. They then made a lot of treaties that aimed at Germany, Turkey, Austria-Hungary, and the Yugoslavs. We then learned about the League of Nations, how it works and its problems.

Questions: 1. What country suffered the most lost from the Great War and why? 2. Which country suffered the least and why? 3. Why do you think that the French Prime minister demanded harsher treatment towards Germany? 4. From what you’ve learned with the Russian Revolution, why do you think that the Russians join the League of Nations? 5. Why did Americans refuse to join the League of Nations?