How would you treat someone you have beaten in a fight?

The fighting ends…• On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in

1918 an armistice is signed

• What modern holiday do we celebrate on this date?

• Germany could not fight any longer-although they had not been invaded or defeated directly

• The fighting stops-but what has been the cost?

World War I Casualties

Costs of the War• More than 65 million men fought in the First World War;

over eight million of them were killed.   In addition, nearly nine million civilians died - from starvation, disease, artillery fire and air raids.   Twelve million tons of shipping were sunk. In France and Belgium, where most of the war was fought, 300,000 houses, 6,000 factories, 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) of railway, 2,000 breweries and 112 coal mines were destroyed. The human cost of the war - in terms of damaged minds and bodies, and ruined lives – was beyond calculation. In some ways, mankind has never recovered from the horrors of the First World War.

-John D Clare, First World War (1994)

The Western Front, 1918

The parts of Europe where there had been fighting (the Western Front) was totally destroyed.

The Paris Peace Conference

• January 1919• Delegates from over 30 countries meet at

Versailles to draft multiple treaties that will end the war

• The most famous of these treaties is The Treaty of Versailles

• Who gets to decide the terms? • The winners!• Who didn’t have a say? • Germany and Russia

The Big Three

Woodrow Wilson - US

Georges Clemenceau - France

David Lloyd George - Britain

Think back to the warm-up:

How do you think the delegates felt towards Germany?

What do they want to get out of the Treaty?

Let’s find out…

In your groups of 3:

• You will try to make your own Treaty of Versailles!

• Before you begin to negotiate, look over your bio and the options and try to figure out which terms you really want to fight for, and which ones don’t mean as much to your people.

• After 15 minutes of negotiating, tally up your scores

Mock Treaty Activity

I need 8 volunteers!!!!!

Map of some of the contested areas:

Rhineland

Alsace-Lorraine Saar Region (lots of natural resources here)

Danzig

Two views:

“Germany is going to pay.   We will get everything you can squeeze out of a lemon, and a bit more.   The Germans should hand over everything they own.”

-From a speech in 1918 by Sir Eric Geddes, a British politician 

“We have assembled here for two purposes - to make the peace settlements, and also to secure the future peace of the world.”

-Woodrow Wilson, speaking at the Versailles Conference (January 1919)

Peace of Vengeance• France wanted to exact revenge on

Germany for the damages of the brutal war; Great Britain also wanted to punish them

» Britain’s delegate: David Lloyd George

» France’s Delegate: Georges Clemenceau

Peace of Justice

• American President Woodrow Wilson wanted to enact a fair peace accord

• He created a list, The Fourteen Points, as a guide

• Idealistic aims– International organization to settle future disputes

(League of Nations)– Self-determination (the right for people to have their

own nation) – Called for open peace (no secret treaties)– Reducing arms

Actual Outcomes of Versailles

• Reparations: 32 billion dollars• Army limited: 100,000 men; 6 Battleships• War Guilt Clause: Germany is totally

responsible for the war

Germany got a RAW Deal!!!!

• How do you think Germany reacted to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

• To what extent was Germany the main cause and the main victim of WWI?

German Views of the Treaty

• Viewed it as the “dictated peace”

• Bitterly resented the War Guilt clause

• Resentment towards the government grows-Who will step in?

• How is Germany supposed to pay the reparations?

What are some additional outcomes of the Treaty of

Versailles?

The League of Nations is formed• Established at Versailles

• Purpose: to prevent future wars

• Ironically, Wilson cannot convince the US Congress to join the

League

• Do you think the League

will be successful without

the US?

The Losing Empires are Dismantled• Austria-Hungary

– Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia

• Ottoman Empire – Syria, Iraq, Lebanon,

Jordan, Palestine, Turkey

The Mandate System is Created

• Most of the Arab world was divided into nation-states

• The League of Nations then put these new states under the temporary control of the French and British

• France and Britain were to govern these states until they were “ready for independence”

The Legacy of World War I

• La Belle Epoch is shattered– Hope turned to despair– Scientific Progress resulted in horrible new ways to die

• Over 10 million deaths• Unbelievable amount of destruction• New map of Europe and Middle East

– Empires replaced by nation-states—but what about ethnic minorities trapped in the wrong country?

• Some matters left unsettled— the seeds for WWII• http://www.history.com/videos/treaty-of-versailles-end-

world-war-i#treaty-of-versailles-end-world-war-i