The Treaty of Versailles: Wilson's Peace Plan and its Challenges

1. Chapter 24: The Nation at War, 1900-1920 #5

2. The Treaty of Versailles • long before the fighting ended, Wilson began to formulate plans for the peace • was disconcerted when the new Bolshevik government in Russia began revealing the terms of secret agreements among Britain, France, and czarist Russia to divide up Germany’s colonies

3. he outlined terms for a far-reaching, non-punitive settlement • Wilson’s Fourteen Points • were generous and farsighted

4. Wilson wanted an end to secret treaties • removal of trade barriers among nations • reduction of military forces • self-determination – the power to make decisions about one’s future • especially for the countries that would be created from the Austro-Hungarian empire

5. Wilson was not interested in spoils – rewards of war • he did not expect the US to take money or land from the war’s losers • goal was to establish a permanent agency where countries could work together to resolve disputes peacefully and guarantee international stability

6. England and France distrusted Wilsonian idealism as the basis for peace • wanted Germany disarmed and crippled • wanted its colonies • were skeptical of the principle of self-determination • wanted the nation to pay with land, goods, livestock, and money • the Allies – who had in fact made secret commitments with one another – balked at making the Fourteen Points the basis of peace

7. A Peace at Paris • Wilson – made a grave error just before the peace conference began • appealed to voters to elect a Democratic Congress • they ended up losing both the House and Senate • his opponents announced that the voters had rejected his policies, as he had suggested they could

8. Wilson – announced he would attend the peace conference • was a dramatic break from tradition • personal involvement drew attacks from Republicans • Wilson – wanted a delegation that he could control – an advantaged at the peace table but not in any battle over the treaty at home

9. Wilson – received a tumultuous welcome in England, France, and Italy • never before had such crowds acclaimed a democratic political figure • Wilson was sure that the people of Europe shared his goals and would force their leaders to accept his peace • many people on the Allied side hated Germany and wanted victory unmistakable reflected in the peace

10. Peace Conference at Paris (1919) • “Big Four” dominated it: • Woodrow Wilson – US • George Clemenceau – France • tired and stubborn and determined to end the German threat forever • David Lloyd George – Great Britain • crafty prime minister who had pledged to squeeze Germany “until the pips squeak” • Vittorio Orlando – Italy, prime minister

11. Wilson – traded various “small” concessions for his major goals: • national self-determination • a reduction in tensions • a League of Nations to enforce the peace • this weakness would allow the French premier to demand harsh penalties against Germany • which Wilson worried would lead to future wars (World War II)

12. the League of Nations would work for global security • would be an organization where the nations of the world would join together to ensure security and peace for all its members • members would regard an attack on one country as an attack on all • many senators though would fear this, Article 10 – worried that it could be used to drag the US into unpopular foreign wars

13. had to depart from some important principles • departing from the Fourteen Points by violating the principle of self-determination • created two new independent nations – Poland and Czechoslovakia – both with large German speaking populations • divided up the German colonies in Asia and Africa

14. would end up creating nine new nations out of the territory of Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany • most borders were drawn with the ethnic populations of the region in mind • clean divisions were impossible • failed to resolve all ethnic tensions

16. instead of a peace without victory, Germany was forced to accept responsibility for the war • Germany would be forced to pay enormous reparations – eventually totaled $33 billion • Germany never forgot or forgave this humiliation • made no mention of disarmament, free trade, or freedom of the seas • the treaty was drafted behind closed doors

17. Wilson would win his most coveted Point 14 – a League of Nations – designed “to achieve international peace and security” • included a general assembly – a smaller council made up of the US, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and four nations to be elected by the assembly • and a court of international justice • members pledged to submit to arbitration every dispute threatening peace and to enjoin military and economic sanctions against nations resorting to war • Article X – the heart of the League, obliged members to look out for one another’s independence and territorial integrity

18. with the draft treaty in hand, Wilson returned home in February 1919 to discuss it with Congress • most Americans, according to the polls, favored the League • congressional opposition produced a “round robin” – when 37 members declared they would not vote for the treaty without amendment

19. in return for major concessions, the Allies amended the League draft treaty, agreeing that domestic affairs remained outside League jurisdiction • allowed nations to withdraw after two years’ notice • June 28, 1919 – signed the treaty in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles • Wilson started home for this most difficult fight

20. treaty violated the Fourteen Points – the conditions which the Germans had surrendered on and at first they refused to sign it • gave in after they were threatened with a French invasion

21. Rejection in the Senate • some senators were known as “irreconcilables” – those who opposed the League on any grounds • were also “mild reservationists” – accepted the treaty, but wanted to insert several reservations that would not greatly weaken it • and the “strong reservationists” – wanted major changes that the Allies would have to approve

22. Wilson – set out to take the case directly to the people • Wilson’s speeches aroused little emotion in the Midwest, but on the Pacific Coast he won ovations, which heartened him • he delivered one of his most eloquent speeches on his way back to Washington in Pueblo, Colorado • that night he felt ill and in a following morning was found unconscious on the floor of the White House – a victim of a stroke that paralyzed his left side

23. Wilson – could not work more than an hour or two at a time • no one was allowed to see him except family members, his secretary, and his physician • for more than seven months he did not meet with the cabinet • Wilson – lost touch with the issues of state and some claimed that his wife, Edith Bolling Wilson was running the government

24. Congress had “Fourteen Reservations” (one for each of Wilson’s points) towards the peace treaty • the most important stipulated that implementation of Article X (Wilson’s key article) required the action of Congress before any American intervention abroad

26. Wilson – called for “a great and solemn referendum” on the treaty • Democratic platform endorsed the treaty but agreed to accept reservations that clarified the American role in the League • Republicans nominated Senator Warren G. Harding for president and he waffled on the treaty

27. without a peace treaty, the US remained technically at war • would not be until 1921, almost three years after the last shot was fired that Congress passed a joint resolution ending the war

28. the Great War was feared before it started, popular while it lasted, and hated when it ended • was viewed as waste, horror, and death • the war and its aftermath damaged the humanitarian progressive spirit of the early years of the century • bruising fights over the war and the League drained people’s energy and enthusiasm • but the “war to end all wars” and the spirit of Woodrow Wilson would leave an indelible imprint on the country