1. Peace Treaty After World War I

2. Objectives
Examine Woodrow Wilson’s plan for a lasting and just peace.
Understand how the Treaty of Versailles punished Germany.
Explain why many Americans opposed membership in the League of Nations.

3. Terms and People
self-determination – the right of a group to decide its own form of government
reparations – payments to cover damages
Henry Cabot Lodge – a powerful Republican senator who opposed U.S. membership in the League of Nations
deport – to forcibly return an immigrant to his or her home country

4. How did the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations disappoint President Wilson?
After World War I, President Wilson wanted the United States to approve the Treaty of Versailles and join a worldwide peacekeeping organization, the League of Nations.
Congress rejected both of these plans.

5. Wilson’s Fourteen Points
Before the war ended, President Wilson had presented a peace plan to Congress.
Wilson’s Fourteen Points 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
These points targeted the causes of the war.
They included free trade among nations and a reduction of military forces.

6. Wilson’s Fourteen Points6. 7. 8. 9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
These points addressed territorial issues.
Wilson called for self-determination for minority groups in Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

7. Wilson’s Fourteen Points
This was Wilson’s most important point.
14.
He wanted to set up an international organization to guarantee world peace.

8. Wilson presented his plan at a peace conference in Paris attended by the “Big Four.”
The Big Four included Vittorio Orlando of Italy, David Lloyd George of Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson.
But the other Allies wanted to punish Germany.

9. After much debate, the Big Four drafted the Treaty of Versailles.
The German military was limited.
Treaty Terms
Germany had to accept full responsibility for the war.
Germany had to pay full reparations to the Allies.
Germany lost some territory and colonies.

10. Wilson opposed the treaty’s harsh demands.
He agreed with it because he wanted to form his peacekeeping organization, the League of Nations.
On June 28, 1919, German delegates signed the treaty.
German anger at the treaty was one cause of World War II.

11. Other peace treaties applied the principle of self-determination to some of the Central Powers.
Austria-Hungary was divided into Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Serbians and other Balkan peoples formed Yugoslavia. Poland declared independence.

12. Germany’s African Colonies Middle Eastern lands of Ottoman Empire
The peacemakers did not apply self-determination to non-Europeans. Britain and France divided Germany’s African colonies and the Middle East.
Germany’s African Colonies
Britain
Middle Eastern lands of Ottoman Empire
France
Residents of these lands felt betrayed.

13. After the war, Europe’s borders were redrawn.
In 1918, Russia gave territory to Germany.
The 1919 peace treaties brought more changes.

14. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
Wilson’s idea for the League of Nations sparked heated debate in America.
President Wilson
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge
The United States must accept its “destiny” to lead the world on a new path.
Membership in the League will restrict the United States from acting in its own interest.

15. President Wilson lost his battle for the League of Nations
President Wilson lost his battle for the League of Nations. He toured the country to promote his plan. He suffered a massive stroke, but continued to support his plan from his sickbed.
In November 1919, the Senate voted to reject the treaty.
The absence of the United States crippled the League’s ability to solve worldwide crises in the 1930s.

16. The postwar years brought troubles to the United States
An influenza epidemic killed over 500,000 Americans in 1918 and 1919.
Peacetime brought high unemployment. In 1919, four million U.S. laborers went on strike.
Fear of communism led to the “Red Scare.” Many immigrants were rounded up and deported.