■ Essential Question:

–What were the terms of the Treaty of

Versailles that ended World War I?

■ Warm Up Question:
 Creating a Treaty of Versailles, 1919
■ Students will be assigned to one of 3 groups
including Britain, France, & United States and
will create a Treaty of Versailles to end the war
–In your groups, review the things that are
most important to you & develop a plan
–Break into treaty groups & negotiate a
treaty with the 2 other nations
–After you have created your treaty, add up
your points and see which nation won
 Topic Britain France USA
War Guilt Yes/No
Should this clause be included in the treaty?
“Germany is responsible for all the damage of the war”

Army Number
How many troops will Germany be allowed to
maintain?
Number
How many airplanes should Germany be allowed to
keep?
Navy Number
How many battleships will Germany be allowed to
keep?
Number
How many submarines should Germany be allowed to
keep?
Rhineland--The area between France and Germany Check one box
(Choose one)
Germany split up into many tiny states.
Rhineland made an independent state free of Germany
control
Germany is not allowed to keep its military in the
Rhineland
Reparations How many billion
How much money should Germany be forced to pay? dollars
League of Nations Yes/No
Should a League of Nations be created to maintain
peace in the world after World War I?
New Territories Yes/No
Alsace Lorraine (land taken by Germany in 1871)
should be returned to France
Recognize the Polish people and create a nation of Yes/No
Poland from lands taken from Germany and Russia
German overseas colonies should be taken from them Yes/No
and made into ‘mandates’ overseen by European
powers.
Austria-Hungary should be split into two smaller, Yes/No
weaker nations: Hungary and Austria
Recognize the Czech people and create Czechoslovakia Yes/No
from land taken from Austria-Hungary and Germany
Given independence to former Russian territories of Yes/No
Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Recognize Slavic nationalism and give the Slavic
territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia Yes/No

Total Points
 World War I was On November 11, 1918, the
fought between the Germany government
Allies & Central Powers agreed to an armistice &
from 1914 to 1918 World War I came to an end
 World War I was the
largest, most deadly, 8.5 million soldiers &
& most destructive war 13 million civilians died
the world had yet seen as a result of the war
 World War I was the
largest, most deadly, 21 million soldiers were
& most destructive war wounded during the war
the world had yet seen
 World War I was the Homes, farms, towns were
largest, most deadly, destroyed; The war cost
& most destructive war $338 billion & most national
the world had yet seen treasuries were empty
 In 1919, representatives The conference was
from 32 nations attended the led by the “Big Four”:
Paris Peace Conference to Britain, France, Italy,
write a treaty to end the war & the United States
Neither
U.S. Germany
President nor any of theFrench
Central Powers
Premier
were allowed
Woodrow to attend…Russia
Wilson Georgecould not
Clemenceau
attend because they
Italian Prime Minister
already quit World War I
British Prime Minister
Vittorio Orlando David Lloyd George
 Britain
Creating
& France
a treaty would Britain
not be easy
& France
because
wanted
wanted
the to
major
weaken
powers had Germany
different agendas
to accept full
Germany so it could blame, pay reparations, &
never go to war again lose all overseas colonies

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson

disagreed the these harsh
British Prime Minister
punishments for GermanyFrench Premier
David Lloyd George George
President Wilson presented Clemenceau
Italian
his ownPrime Minister
peace proposal known U.S. President
Vittorio
as theOrlando
Fourteen Points Woodrow Wilson
President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points, 1918

Points 1-5: Wilson hoped to eliminate the causes

of WWI & called for an end to secret treaties
(alliances), freedom of the seas, eliminating
imperial colonies, & reducing national militaries

Points 6-13: Wilson suggested changing national

boundaries, creating new nations, & allowing
self-determination so that the people of each
nation could decide their own form of government

Point 14: Wilson wanted a League of Nations…

 …that would give all
nations an opportunity
to work out their
grievances without
resorting to war

Wilson hoped that a

League of Nations
could peacefully
negotiate solutions to
future conflicts
Britain & France disagreed These compromises led
with many of the Fourteen to an agreement known
Points so Woodrow Wilson as the Treaty of Versailles
had to compromise
 The major provisions of the Versailles Treaty included:
A League of Nations
that would serve as an The League covenant
international organization included an agreement
to keep peace among nations that all member
nations would work
The League also included an together to stop future
Court of International Justice acts of aggression
to settle disagreements
 The terms of the treaty severely punished Germany
Germany had to Germany was forced to sign the
give up land in “war guilt clause” accepting all
Europe & all of its blame for the war & pay $33 billion
overseas colonies in reparations to the Allies
The German military was reduced to
100,000 troops, 6 warships, no submarines,
& could not manufacture war equipment
 Land was
In taken
addition,from
the
Central Europe was redrawn Germany
Treaty of to create
Versailles
Ottoman Empire was
redrewthe
Poland;
to reduce the
Themap ofofEurope
German-French
power & the Middle
border
the divided; wasEast
Britain & France
New nations
demilitarized
Austro-Hungarian wereacreated
toEmpire
avoid future invasion
gained mandates in the
from territories that Russia gaveMiddle East
up when it left the war early

The mandates gave Britain

Europe
& France control & oil
over the Middle East
Before & After
resources in the Middle East World War I
 On June 28, 1919, Germany & the major
Allied Powers signed the Treaty of Versailles
and World War I officially came to an end
 Most nations But, Germans protested the
celebrated the official harsh terms & resented their
end of World War I gov’t for signing the treaty
“Down with the
brutal peace!”
 In the United States, reactions to
the Treaty of Versailles were mixed
According to the
U.S. Constitution,
only the Senate can
approve treaties
Many Senators feared
that signing the treaty
& joining the League
would force America
to become involved in
future wars
Members of the League of Nations (in black)
As a result, the USA
never signed the
treaty or joined the
League of Nations
 World War I was the largest war the world had yet
seen & it changed the way future wars were fought
Nations used total war
tactics to commit all their
resources to winning,
drafted soldiers, rationed,
used propaganda
New war technologies
increased the rates of
death & destruction to
unprecedented levels
The war changed
expectations for women
& led to voting rights for
women in many nations
 World War I was the largest war the world had yet
seen & it changed the way future wars were fought
22 million soldiers &
civilians died in the war;
An entire generation of
Europeans was killed
Many places in Europe
were destroyed
The war devastated the
economies of European
nations who had little
money to rebuild & few
jobs to offer citizens
 The terms of the Versailles Treaty caused problems
& bitterness in many nations, especially Germany
The Treaty of Versailles
was said to be a “peace
built on quicksand”
The treaty did not address
the M.A.I.N. causes of WWI
The League of Nations did
not include the USA & its
leaders would do anything
to avoid another war
High unemployment &
desire for revenge would
lead to aggressive dictators
in the 1920s & 1930s