Effects of the Great War

1. Effects of the Great War

2. Mobilizing for Total War Many foods and materials like rubber were rationed. English citizens were encouraged to grow “victory gardens” so more commercially produced foods could be sent to the war front.

3. New Jobs for Women • Women working at a French munitions factory • Women took on jobs at home that were traditionally held by men, such as factory and industrial labor and working with chemicals and munitions. Women also became train conductors, secretaries, bus drivers, bank tellers, fire fighters, construction workers during the war years. A few women chemists and mathematicians conducted military-related experiments.

4. Women’s Wages • Women at work in a British artillery shell factory in Woolwich, England. • Despite performing the same jobs as men, women were usually paid less than men. The prevailing social attitudes tended toward the “servile role of women”. Even with less pay, it was better than work and pay that had traditionally been open to women.

5. Women’s Changing Role • After the war, most women were forced out of their jobs to make room for men returning from the front. more women began to wear pants, having worn uniforms or overalls in their jobs. Women had discovered for themselves the benefits of financial autonomy and greater mobility. Those women able to keep their factory jobs were able to move out of their parents homes and live on their own. • Eaton’s Catalogue, 1918 • Winnipeg, Canada

6. Notes: Effects of the War on the Home Front New Jobs for Women • Women worked in jobs traditionally held only by men, who were at the front. • Women worked in munitions factories to support soldiers at war. Women’s Changing Role • Women won the right to vote throughout Europe (in the United States, women won the right to vote in 1920).

7. What do you see here? • Where might these people be? • How might they be feeling? • What might have happened to this family’s home? • What might have happened to this women’s husband? • How is she trying to survive?

8. End of the War In November, 1917, Russia’s Revolutionary government, led by Vladimir Lenin, pulled out of the Great War. Russia’s withdrawal from the war allowed Germany to send nearly all its forces to the Western Front. In March, 1918, the Germans mounted one final, massive attack on the Allies in France. In May, 1918, the Germans had again reached the Marne River, and were less than 40 miles away from Paris.

9. The German army, however, was weakened by this push to Paris. Both men and supplies were exhausted. The Allies, with the aid of nearly 140,000 fresh United States troops, launched a counterattack. In July 1918, the Allies and the Germans clashed at the Second Battle of the Marne. Leading the Allied attack were some 350 tanks that rumbled slowly forward, smashing through the German lines. With the arrival of 2 million more American troops, the Allied forces began to advance steadily toward Germany.

10. The Central Powers began to crumble. First the Bulgarians, then the Ottoman Turks surrendered. In October, 1918, revolution swept through Austria-Hungary. In Germany, soldiers mutinied, and the public turned on the Kaiser. On November, 9, 1918, Kaiser Wilhelm II stepped down. Germany declared itself a republic. A representative of the new German government met with a representative of the French government in a railway car near Paris. On November 11, 1918, the two gentlemen signed the armistice.

11. Voices of Despair • People at home were horrified by the sheer numbers of deaths. Roughly 10 million died, of which more than 6 million were French, Russian, German and Austrian. Ottoman Empire 325,000 USA 116,000 Italy 650,000 Germany 1,800,000 British Empire 908,000 Russia 1,700,000 Austria-Hungary 1,200,000 France 1,300,000 • Battlefield Deaths of Major Combatants

12. Also, they were horrified by the types of injuries suffered by the wounded, such as amputations, burns, and shell shock.

13. The Paris Peace Conference This is a painting of the signing of the peace treaty ending WWI in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France, June 28, 1919. Two German officials are on one side of the table. Facing them, center, is Georges Clemenceau, David Lloyd George, right. Woodrow Wilson, left, holds a copy of the treaty.

14. The Palace of Versailles (Pronounced “Ver-sigh”) Renovated by Louis XIV, the Sun King Located outside Paris, France

15. The victorious allies met in Paris on January 18, 1919 to begin negotiating terms of peace. The Paris Peace Conference was directed by the “Big Four:” • Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Britain • President Georges Clemenceau, France • President Vittorio Orlando, Italy • President Woodrow Wilson, U.S.A. • Why wasn’t Russia represented? • Why wasn’t Germany represented?

16. Peace of Justice • Woodrow Wilson, the President of the United States, proclaimed the Fourteen Points in January, 1918. It included the following points: • Nations should have the right to choose their style of government • New nations, based on ethnic homogeneity, would have to be formed in Europe • Wilson hoped to form a “League of Nations” so future conflicts could be settled diplomatically

17. Notes: • The Paris Peace Conference • Peace of Justice • Leaders of allied and Central powers met at the Palace of Versailles, France. • President Wilson’s Fourteen points supported self-determination for all nations. This was a “Peace of Justice”

18. Peace of Vengeance However, during the peace negotiations, problems occurred: • President Orlando of Italy demanded that the allies honor secret treaties signed at the beginning of the war that promised Italy part of Austria’s land • Prime Minister George wanted to protect Britain’s oversea empire • President Clemenceau wanted to punish Germany for its role in the war • Arguing among the Big Four ended with President Orlando abandoning the Paris Peace Conference and returning to Italy

19. President Wilson did not understand the depth of hatred between the French and the Germans. Britain and France had born the great brunt and cost of the war and felt they had earned the right to determine peace terms. President Wilson left Europe without a Peace of Justice. • “I can predict with absolute certainty that within another generation there will be another world war if the nations of the world do not work together to prevent it.” • - from a statement by the American President, Woodrow Wilson, made during the peace discussions in 1919.

20. Only France and England were left to negotiate peace with the Central Powers as they saw fit. David Lloyd George of England George hated the Treaty: • He thought that the Treaty was far too harsh and would ruin Germany, • He thought it would cause another war in 25 years time Georges Clemenceau of France Clemenceau was disappointed with the Treaty: • He wanted the Treaty to be harsher • He wanted Germany to be split up into smaller countries. • The Treaty of Versailles was a severe treaty that attempted to humiliate and cripple Germany.

21. Notes: • Peace of Vengeance • Britain and France felt that, since the US did not come into the war until 1917, the US should have no say in the Peace process. • Italy and Britain wanted territory • France wanted to punish Germany. • Italy and US left, leaving peace settlement between France and Britain.

22. Treaty of Versailles with GermanyKey Demands • Germany was forced to turn over its navy (key British demand) • Germany could keep an army of no more than 100,000 soldiers • Germany had to return the region of Alsace-Lorraine to France • Germany had to disarm the Rhineland, a region between Rhine River & France) • France was to receive all coal produced in the Saar River Valley for 15 years

23. Germany was forced to relinquish all its overseas colonies to various Allied countries. Much of its European lands were ceded to Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, and France.

24. Austria was prohibited from ever joining Germany • Germany was forced to pay war reparations, totals of which were not determined at the signing of the treaty. (The Germans were forced to give over a “blank check.” Eventually, the bill for the war was set at 32 billion dollars.) • Most horribly for the Germans, the treaty included a “guilt clause,” which stated that Germany was responsible for all losses and damages incurred by the Allies during the war. Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies.

26. The harsh nature of the Treaty of Versailles contributed greatly to the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, but not until 1930. British cartoon of 1920.

27. Notes: • Treaty of Versailles with Germany: • France and Britain created a severe treaty that punished Germany • Germany had to: • Return Alsace-Lorraine province to France • Keep area near France (the Rhineland) demilitarized. • Pay war reparations of $32 billion. • Agree to war guilt clause

29. The New Europe The Treaty of Versailles was just one of five treaties negotiated by the Allies with each of the defeated nations. The Ottoman Turks were forced to give up almost all of their former empire. They retained only the territory that is today the country of Turkey. The Allies carved up the lands that the Ottomans lost in Southwest Asia into mandates rather than independent nations. Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan came under British control, Syria and Lebanon went to France.

30. Empires were now gone: German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman

31. New countries that were formed: Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Czechoslovakia, Turkey, Yugoslavia New Countries

32. Some countries gained territory: Italy, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Belgium, Denmark, France Countries made larger

33. Countries that lost territory: Germany, Austria, Hungary, communist Russia Countries made smaller The Great War left deep and lasting physical, emotional, and geographic marks on Europe.

34. Notes: The New Europe • Treaties similar to Germany’s were signed with other Central Powers. • Many countries experienced a change in their borders. • Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia lost territory. • Ottoman Empire was broken up. • Many new countries were created. • A League of Nations was created, to settle disputes diplomatically.