1. The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles

2. Costs of the War 1. Between 10 and 13 million men had been killed.
Germany - 2 million
Russia million
France million
Britain - just under 1 million
U.S. - just over 100,000
2. Twenty million had been wounded.
3. The northern part of France lay devastated.
4. People in the Triple Alliance countries were hungry and diseased.
5. A rash of diseases raged all over Europe.
6. Russia was now under Bolshevik (communist) control.
7. The economies of all the European participants were devastated. - Cost of the war was over 350 billion dollars.

3. Context of the Paris Peace Conference

4. The French Perspective at the Paris Peace Conference
The Costs of the War?
Who’s to Blame? Why?
Remembering the
Franco-Prussian War!
The Treaty of Frankfurt, 1871,
ended the war between France
and Germany.
French ceded the province of
Alsace and part of Lorraine to
the German Empire.
France pays 5 billion gold
francs ($1 billion)
Revenge!

5. The Stage is Set! The Conference Begins
Group 1 – French Delegation (See Handout 1)
Group 2 – British Delegation (See Handout 2)
Group 3 – U.S. Delegation (See Handout 3)
Group 4 – German Delegation (See Handout 4)
You will be participating in a simulation of the Paris Peace Conference and construct your own Treaty of Versailles. You will be assigned a role within one of four groups above as you construct the treaty that will officially end WWI and lay the framework for peace.

6. Presentations and Deliberation
German expectation is that
Wilson's key principle of peace
among equals will be followed.
Contrast with the goals of the
French and British.
U.S., French, and British Groups
is to construct a 5 min presentation
on what their group believes the
treaty should be.
Be as persuasive as possible to
convince the other groups to
compromise toward your goals.
The Germans can only sit and listen.
They cannot participate in, or respond
to, the presentations.

8. The Treaty of Versailles and the New Map of Europe