The Great War Ends Main Idea After several

The Great War Ends Main Idea After several years of bloody stalemate-and the entry of the United States into the conflict-the Allied Powers finally prevailed. The peace, however, proved difficult to establish. Reading Focus • Why did the United States enter the war? • What events led to the end of the fighting? • What issues made the peace process difficult? • What were the costs of the war?

United States Enters the War • American Neutrality • American public generally supported Allies • U. S. remained neutral officially • President Woodrow Wilson believed U. S. should stay out of affairs of other nations –“He kept us out of war” • However…. (Not so Neutral) • Cash Carry Plan • Lend Lease Act

US Role Continued Trouble on the seas • Remaining neutral not easy with Germany attacking civilian ships • Attacks part of policy called unrestricted submarine warfare • Any ship traveling in waters around Great Britain subject to attack by German U-boats Sinking of the Lusitania (May 7, 1915) • Initially U-boats attacked only military, merchant ships • Passenger ship Lusitania sunk, 120 Americans among the dead • Fearing U. S. entry into war, Germany agreed to stop attacking passenger ships • Germany hoped to defeat Allied powers before U. S. entered war

The Zimmermann Note Final push to war • Repeated attacks on shipping brought U. S. close to war on Germany • Discovery of Zimmermann Note final push, February 1917 • Secret message from German diplomat Arthur Zimmermann to Mexico Contents of note • • Germany proposed Mexico attack the U. S. in return for U. S. land Promised Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, all once belonging to Mexico Hoped war with Mexico would keep U. S. out of war in Europe Intercepted by British intelligence and leaks to the American press Call for war • American public called for war against Germany • U. S. had kinship, financial ties to Great Britain, Allied Powers • U. S. entered war on side of Allied Powers, April 1917

April, 1917 US declares war on Germany

The End of the Fighting Germany knew America would increase the strength of Allied Powers. A New German Offensive • Wanted to deal decisive blow to Allied Powers before U. S. had time to ready for war • Opportunity came with Russia’s withdrawal from war – Russia out by end of 1917 – German troops no longer needed on Eastern front – Could launch new offensive in the west Assault on West • Launched major assault, March 1918 • Advanced to within 40 miles of Paris • Germany, lost 800, 000 troops • By June, 1918, U. S. troops arrived in Europe • Gave Allies hope, discouraged Germans

Amiens August 8, 1918 • Germans must act before the United States gets involved • The “Black Day” of the German Army • Demonstrated the extent of the military revolution that occurred on the Western Front between 1914 and 1918 – It was a modern battle, the prototype of combats familiar to armies of our own times – One of the first major battles involving armored warfare and marked the end of trench warfare on the Western Front – Fighting becoming mobile once again until the armistice was signed on 11 November 1918. • Start of the allied Hundred Days Offensive

German Collapse Balance of power shifted • Allied forces stopped German assault in Second Battle of the Marne • Allies now on the offensive • Allies used tanks, aircraft; gained huge amounts of territory Germany a defeated force • Many Germans gave up without a fight • Began to doubt their own power • Great turmoil within German ranks End of war • Allied forces broke through Hindenburg Line • German leaders sought armistice with Allies • Other Central Powers also admitted defeat, war ended

The Fall of Germany 1918 • Germany’s allies fell away – Bulgaria left the war in September – Turkey followed in October – Austria-Hungary dissolved from October 24–November 2 • Kaiser Wilhelm II – abdicated when the German army no longer stood behind him – went into exile in Holland – November 9, a German democratic republic was declared • 11 th hour, 11 th day, 11 th month of 1918 – armistice signed at Compiègne, France

A Difficult Peace Although peace had come to the battlefield, the leaders of the war’s major countries still had to work out a formal peace agreement. This task would prove difficult. Wilson’s Fourteen Points • End to secret treaties • Freedom of the seas • Free trade • Reduced armies and navies • Fairness towards colonial peoples • Suggestions for changing borders • Creating new nations • Self Determination • League of Nations Allied Goals • Leaders of four major Allies all had different ideas of peace treaty • French wanted to punish Germany, reparations for cost of war • British wanted to punish Germany, but not weaken it • Italy hoped to gain territory BIG FOUR of the PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE

David Lloyd Georges Clemenceau Vittorio Orlando Woodrow Wilson

The Treaty of Versailles June 28, 1919 After difficult negotiations, the Allies compromised on the Treaty of Versailles, named after the French palace, where the treaty signing took place. Treatment of Germany Territorial Losses • Germany returns Alsace-Lorraine to France; French border extended to the west bank of the Rhine River • Germany surrenders all of its overseas colonies in Africa and the Pacific Military Restrictions War Guilt • Limits set on the size of the German army • Sole responsibility for the war placed on Germany’s shoulders • Germany prohibited from importing or manufacturing weapons or war material • Germany forced to pay $33 billion in reparations over 30 years • Germany forbidden to build or buy submarines or have an air force

Ø Danzig became a free city administered by the League of Nations. Ø The Corridor completely cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany and later became an area of dispute between Poland Germany.

Aftermath League of Nations Key Points • Organization of world governments proposed by Wilson • Encourage cooperation, keep peace between nations • Established by Treaty of Versailles • U. S. did not ratify treaty, not member, weakened League Other treaties • Germany excluded Changes in Europe • Separate agreements with all defeated Central Powers • Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire lands broken apart • Made important changes to Europe • Independent nations created: Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Turkey

The Middle East Changes in Middle East • Former Ottoman lands turned into mandates, territories to be ruled by European powers Zionist movement • Movement to create a Jewish state in the Middle East • French mandates Syria & Lebanon • Balfour Declaration favored establishing Jewish state in Palestine • British mandates Palestine & Iraq • Britain created Transjordan from Palestine Mandate • European nations supposed to control mandates only until they were able to govern selves • Mandates eventually became colonies

New Nations Austro-Hungary Ottoman Empire - Austria - Hungary - Czechoslovakia - Yugoslavia - Palestine - Iraq - Transjordan - Syria - Lebanon Russia - Poland - Finland - Estonia - Latvia - Lithuania

The Costs of the War Human Costs • Nearly 9 million soldiers killed in battle • Millions wounded, taken prisoner • Almost an entire generation of young German, Russian, French men died, were wounded in war • Deadly outbreak of influenza spread by returning soldiers killed some 50 million worldwide, spring 1918 Economic Costs Political Changes War destroyed national economies Farmland, cities devastated Economic chaos in much of Europe Cost Europe role as dominant economic region of world • U. S. , Japan, others prospered during war • World War I caused widespread political unrest • Communist revolution in Russia • Monarchies in Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire overthrown • Political, social turmoil would shape world in years to come • •

The Costs of the War Continued Unrest in Colonies • Many colonists who fought in war heard noble words about importance of freedom, democracy • After fighting for colonial rulers, expected rights for themselves • Wartime sacrifices did not win new freedoms • European powers split up lands controlled by Germans, Austro-Hungarians, Ottomans and redistributed them to other colonial powers

Treaty of Versailles Weaknesses • Weaknesses planted the seeds that eventually led to WWII – Germany • Was solely blamed for war • Could not pay reparations – stripped of its colonies – Russia • Excluded from the peace process • Lost more land than Germany – Colonial Territories • Irish self-determination requests from GB were not considered • Vietnamese self-determination requests from France were not considered

Stab in the Back Legend • Germany was a country which saw itself as having been encircled by France, Russia and Britain in 1914 and provoked into war. • Large sections of the population in Germany did not believe that their country had been honorably defeated on the battlefield • Believed in the rumors sweeping across Germany that the push for victory of their valiant troops on the Western Front had been sabotaged by traitors (mostly communists and Jews) and pacifists at home who had spread disaffection and revolution • The capitulation was blamed upon the – – – unpatriotic populace Socialists Bolsheviks Weimar Republic especially the Jews.

• this 'stab in the back' had prevented the gallant soldiers from securing the victory which was almost in their grasp

Eventual Effect US John J. General Pershing “It will have to be done all over again” • 1923 - German Economic Depression • Adolf Hitler places blame » Jews » Weimer Republic Socialists • 1933 • Nazi Party takes control • Embarks on a militaristic policy • Leads to WWII

Forming Opinions • Do you think the peace settlements at Versailles were fair? Why or why not? Consider the warring and non-warring nations affected. • THINK ABOUT • Germany’s punishment • The creation of new nations • The mandate system

Versailles Political Cartoons • http: //urbachc. org/urb-versailles-politicalcartoons. html