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Endgame Ch 28 – p. 655. Germans Return to France. After the Germans defeated the Russians they were able to send troops back to the Western Front By 1918 – 3 long years of a bloody stalemate seemed to be coming to an end as the Germans pushed towards Paris
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Germans Return to France • After the Germans defeated the Russians they were able to send troops back to the Western Front • By 1918 – 3 long years of a bloody stalemate seemed to be coming to an end as the Germans pushed towards Paris • With the arrival of the Americans, Germany once again was retreating • November 11, 1918 – the Germans agreed to an armistice
Germany after the armistice… • Forced to accept all blame • Germans cried that they had been stabbed in the back by their friends • This became the rallying cry for a new leader – Adolf Hitler
Post War • 10 million dead • 20 million wounded • Civilians died of influenza • The war devastated the economies of western Europe and the Americas • This came to a head during the Great Depression of the 1920’s
Failed Peace • The French insisted that they had suffered the most • Georges Clemenceau pushed for a peace conference that would force Germany to pay reparations • He also wanted to cut down Germany’s territory • David Lloyd George did not agree – he believed this would pave the way for a communist revolution
The Treaty of Paris • Resulted from a gathering at Versailles • Germans constantly sought to reverse it because it was forced upon them • The Austrians were also targets • Their empire was split in half • New nations were carved out: Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Yugoslavia • Poland was reborn given German lands
Fatal Flaws • The Bolshevik leaders of Russia were not even invited to the treaty event • Wartime promises to the Arabs were forgotten and Britain and France divided the middle east among themselves • China plead for protection from the Japanese was ignored • Ho Chi Minh – the new Vietnamese leader was ignored as well
Woodrow Wilson refused to support such a flawed treaty and congress voted against many of its clauses • They were especially hesitant about the establishment of a League of Nations • The US made a separate peace with Germany