TREATY OF VERSAILLES The Treaty of Versailles The

TREATY OF VERSAILLES

The Treaty of Versailles ■ The treaty officially ended the war in 1919. ■ After WWI much of Europe was destroyed. ■ After losing WWI in 1918, Germany was severely punished for its role in the war. The terms were set in the Treaty of Versailles. ■ This made it even more difficult for Germany to recover and rebuild after the war. ■ Other factors that contributed to their difficulty were the worldwide Depression and a flu pandemic.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles ■ Germany had to accept the blame ‘for causing all the loss and damage’ of the war. ■ Germany had to pay for all damages of war. (Reparations) ■ Loss of land, colonies, and industries ■ Disarament

Europe After 1919

■ Germany and much of Europe was left in economic ruin. ■ More people died in WWI than in all the wars of the 19 th century combined. ■ Austria-Hungary became two separate countries. ■ Many other boundaries of European countries were altered.

MAIN Organizer ■For each reason please define the reason and then say how it lead to WWI. Then decorate the outside with WWI information.

BACKGROUND QUESTIONS

1. What were the years of WWI? ■ 1914 - 1918 ■ (look at paragraph 3. “three years after the indecision. ” This give the reader the information that in 1914 the war started. Then in paragraph 4 it says the end date.

2. What were the military and civilian death total in WWI? ■ 10 Million Soldiers and 7 Million civilians.

3. What were three causes of WWI? ■ Struggle for economic and political power. This manifested itself in the scramble for overseas colonies ■ Ethnic and national pride ■ Tangle of alliances.

4. Why were German people not prepared to accept the harsh peace terms of the Versailles Treaty? ■ Most of the fighting had occurred off German soil. Most German citizens had not known that they were losing the war because the government controlled the “press” which is the newspapers. The German people were unaware that they were loosing the war. ■ http: //www. history. com/topics/worl d-war-i/world-war-ihistory/videos/treaty-of-versaillesend-world-war-i

5. Who were three government leaders that shaped the Versailles Treaty? ■ Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France ■ Prime Minister David Lloyd George of England ■ President Woodrow Wilson of the United States.

6. What was Germany’s role at the Versailles Conference? ■ Germany had no voice at the table. They had to agree to the terms.

7. How did the goals of Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson differ? ■ Woodrow Wilson wanted to develop some plans to prevent a war like this happening again. He wanted ethnic groups in the area to have self determination. He also wanted to develop a ruling body in which the governments could work together in order to come up with solutions before going to war. Clemenceau on the other hand wanted to punish Germany and make them weak so they were not able to invade France again.

What was the concern of the English treaty representative George Maynard Keynes? ■ Keynes argued that the terms proposed to Germany were far too harsh and would lead to future conflict.

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