A Flawed Peace

1. A Flawed Peace Chapter 29 Section 4

2. Main Idea • After winning the war, the Allies dictated a harsh peace settlement that left many nations feeling betrayed. • Hard feelings left by the peace settlement helped cause World War II.

3. Introduction • World War I was over. • Terms of peace had not yet been worked out. • Delegates met at the Paris Peace Conference to discuss peace treaties. • The Allied powers struggled to solve their conflicting aims in various peace treaties.

4. The Allies Meet and Debate • The Big Four hammered out the major decisions of the Paris Peace Conference. • Woodrow Wilson (US) • Georges Clemenceau (France) • David Lloyd George (Great Britain) • Vittorio Orlando (Italy) • Russia and Germany were not represented. George, Orlando, Clemenceau and Wilson

5. Wilson’s Plan for Peace • Before the war ended, Wilson drew up a series of peace proposals. • Known as the Fourteen Points • Outlined a plan for achieving a just and lasting peace. • First four points – end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, and reduced national armies and navies. • 5th goal – adjusted colonial claims with a fairness to the native people.

6. Self-determination • 6th – 13th points – specific suggestions for changing borders and creating new nations. • The guiding idea behind these points was self-determination. • Allowing people to decide for themselves under what government they wished to live. • 14th point – proposed a “general association of nations” that would protect all states. • Peacefully negotiate world conflicts.

7. The Versailles Treaty • Britain and France didn’t want to agree to Wilson’s vision of peace. • They wanted to make sure that Germany was stripped of its war-making power. • The compromise – The Treaty of Versailles. • Signed between Germany and the Allies on June 28,1919 • Created a League of Nations. • An international association whose goal would be to keep peace among nations.

8. Versailles Treaty (cont.) • Also punished Germany. • Lost substantial territory. • Severe restrictions on military operations. • “War Guilt” clause – placed sole responsibility for the war on Germany’s shoulders. • Pay reparations to Allies. • Money paid by a defeated nation to compensate for damage or injury during a war. • All of Germany’s territories were managed by the League of Nations.

9. A Creation of New Nations • Western powers signed peace treaties with defeated nations. • Led to huge land losses for the Central Powers. • New countries created out of the Austro-Hungarian empire: Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. • Ottomans gave up their entire empire, except present day Turkey. • Russia also suffered losses – Romania and Poland were created out of Russian territory. • Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became independent from Russia.

10. “A Peace Built on Quicksand” • Treaty of Versailles did little to build a lasting peace. • U.S. was considered to be the dominant nation in the world and rejected the treaty. • Many Americans objected to the settlement and to the League of Nations. • Americans just wanted to stay out of European affairs (isolation).

11. War Guilt Clause • The war guilt clause left a bitterness and hatred in the hearts of German people. • Africans and Asians were mad at the way the Allies disregarded their desire for independence. • They felt the Europeans only talked about self-determination. • European colonialism continued in the two areas.

12. Allied Powers Were Bitter, Too • Japan and Italy both had entered the war to gain territory. • Neither gained as much as they wanted. • League of Nations was in no place to take action on the complaints because they were not backed by the U.S. • Settlements in Versailles were but “a peace built on quicksand”. • In more than two decades, the treaties’ legacy of bitterness would help plunge the world into another catastrophic war.