Armistice Canadian History What is an Armistice It

Armistice Canadian History

What is an Armistice? ► It is the effective end of a war. ► Warring parties agree to stop fighting. ► It is a formalized truce during which time the two warring sides agree to a peace treaty. ► Does this mean that there was no real winner?

Armistice to End the War of all Wars ► Signed in a railway carriage in France. Put an end to the fighting. ► Allied and German representatives met and signed the Armistice at 5: 00 am on November 11, 1918. ► Did not come into effect until 11 am Paris time. ► 11 th Day, 11 th Hour, 11 th Month…

People Involved Matthias Erzberger: German politician (civilian). Opponent of the war. Was eventually assassinated. ► Also included in the negotiations were a number of key German military personnel. ► The Allied Supreme Commander: Ferdinand Foch (Marshall of France) ► Rosselyn Wemyss who was the British Representative. ►

Allied Demands ► Immediate clearing of Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine. (14 Days) ► Surrender 5000 cannon (chiefly heavy), 30, 000 machine guns, 3000 trench mortars, 2000 planes ► Surrender of 5000 locomotives, 150, 000 railway coaches, 10, 000 trucks. ► Maintenance of enemy occupation troops through Germany.

Allied Demands ► Unconditional surrender of East Africa ► Return of prisoners of war. ► Return of the property of the Belgian Bank, Russian and Rumanian gold. ► The blockade remains in effect. All German ships to be captured. ► Armistice to last 30 days.

Paris Conferences ► Following the Armistice the Allied powers met with German leaders in order to come up with a peace treaty. ► Basis for the Treaty of Versailles a particularly harsh treaty for the Germans. ► Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points become a key feature of the Treaty of Versailles.

Features of a One Sided Treaty One of the most important features of the Treaty is where Allies placed the blame. ► All of the Allies had hidden agendas for the Treaty of Versailles ► France, a country that has had an extensive history of invasion wanted to make sure German would never invade again. ► England, the supreme naval power wanted to cripple Germany’s naval power. ► Both wanted revenge to varying degrees. ► The United States just wanted to go home and ensure that a war like this would never happen again. (14 Points) ►

6 Months Later…. ► After 6 months of negotiations and strong opposition to the Treaty by the Germans it was finally signed. ► June 28 th, 1919.

Terms of the Versailles Treaty ► Germany would accept responsibility for the war. (war guilt clause) ► Germany would limit the size of its army and navy. ► A buffer zone was created between France and Germany along the Rhine. ► Alsace and Lorraine was returned to France. ► German had to give up West Prussia and Poland in order to create an independent state.

Terms continued… ► Germany was forced to give up all its colonies to the League of Nations (created through the Treaty). These colonies were then divided among the ‘winners’. ► Germany had to pay reparations. (33 million dollars) A lot by their standards.

Effects of the Treaty ► Embarrassment: German had been one of the greatest industrial powers since the early 19 th century. This was a slap in the face. They did not feel they started it, nor did they lose. ► Reparations were unrealistic. ► Lost many key industrial factories so returning soldiers were offered few opportunities.

The Treaty ► Many experts feel as though the Treaty of Versailles laid the groundwork for Hitler’s claim to power. ► By 1939 Germany had violated many of the terms and the Allies did very little.

Activity ► Evaluate the Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles. Based on your knowledge of the World War 1 do you think that the Treaty was too harsh. Explain your answer.