END OF WAR & THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

1. END OF WAR & THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

2. Key events leading to the end of WW1 USA enters the war (April, 1917) Russia signs peace treaty (March, 1918) Germany fails in Ludendorf offensive

3. US ship the Luistiana sinks • Luistiana sinks in 1917, USA enters the war • Over 4,000,000 military personnel fight • US had remained neutral in the war but had been supplying Canada and Great Britain

4. Russian Revolution & Treaty of Brest-Litovsk • By 1917, Germany had defeated Russia on the Eastern Front • But didn’t occupy alof of Russia's territory • Russia's economy nearly collapsed under the strain of the war effort. • Led to the February revlolution with overthroew the Imperial government of Tsar Nicholas II To destroy the Provisional Government • Germany supports Vladimir Lenin and his Socialist party taking over- means the war ends

5. The peace treaty with Russia in 1917 meant the Germans were able to bring thousands of troops from the Eastern Front to the West. In early 1918, the Germans launched the ‘Ludendorf Offensive’, which nearly overwhelmed the Allied defences. They recovered, and then launched their own offensives which took them into Germany. Germany was exhausted and on the point of collapse.

6. Germany's defeat, 11 November 1918 With the failure of the Ludendorf Offensive, and with the exhausted state of Germany, the German generals recognised that it was time to sue for peace with the Allies. The Kaiser was forced to abdicate on the 8th November and a new democratic republic was established. But how would the Allies deal with a defeated Germany?

7. KAISER WILHELM ii AND IMPERIAL GERMANY On 8th November 1918, Imperial Germany came to an end when a democratic republic was established. Though it was intended to have Wilhelm tried as a ‘war criminal’ he was eventually allowed to spend the rest of his life in exile in the Netherlands. He died in 1941.

8. David Lloyd-George [Great Britain] Woodrow Wilson [USA] Orlando [Italy] Georges Clemenceau [France]

9. TREATY OF VERSAILLES, 1919 The Treaty was designed to cripple Germany militarily, territorially and economically REVENGE ON GERMANY WAR GUILT CLAUSE Germany had to accept blame for starting WW1 GERMANY’S MILITARY FORCES REDUCED NO UNION WITH AUSTRIA - Army restricted to 100,000 men. - No modern weapons such as tanks, military air force. - Navy could not have battle ships over 10,000 tons and no U-Boats. THE TERMS OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES 1919 REPARATIONS Germany forced to pay massive fine for war damages - 1,000,000,000 Marks (6.6bn pounds). GERMAN OVERSEAS TERRITORRIES RHINELAND TO BE DE-MILITARISED Germany lost Chinese ports [Amoy and Tsingtao], Pacific Islands, and African colonies [Tanganika and German SW Africa]. GERMAN NATIONAL TERRITORY • Germany lost national territory which was given to Belgium and Denmark, most went to Poland.

10. Estimated Costs of the First World War (in US Dollars) This total equals to costs approximately $125 000 000 for each day of the war and only includes the direct costs of conducting the war. 10

11. Germany was required by the Treaty of Versailles to pay reparations due it’s “moral guilt” in initiating the First World War. The commission established by the terms of the treaty set the total payment of reparations at: $33 000 000 000 (US) • The commission also determined that this amount of money was to be divided among the victorious Allied nations as follows: 11

12. 1914--------------------1919

13. The map of Europe was redrawn

16. Let’s analyze some cartoons… ‘Perhaps it would gee-up better if we let it touch earth.’

20. The Versailles Treaty Negatives/ Positives • A dictated peace (diktat). • Reparations were exorbitant ($33 B). • Artificial boundaries separating German people. • Took away colonies/resources • Some nationalities became forcefully separated • Germany was able to pay the amount asked: needed access to foreign markets. • Created new states that did reflect national autonomy. • Rebirth of Poland. • International body: The League of Nations • Captive peoples were freed. No other treaty ever released so many subject races from domination of oppressive empires • Major weapons were eliminated in defeated nations 20

21. LEAGUE OF NATIONS CREATED TO ENSURE FUTURE PEACE