A Flawed Peace

The Treaty of Versailles

World War I was over. The killing had stopped.

The terms of peace, however, still had to be worked out. On January 18, 1919, a conference to establish those terms began at the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris. Attending the talks, known as the Paris Peace Conference, were delegates representing 32 countries. For one year, this conference would be the scene of vigorous, often bitter debate. The Allied powers struggled to solve their conflicting aims in various peace treaties.

Setting the Stage

The Big 4

Woodrow Wilson (US)

George Clemenceau (FR)

The Big 4

David Lloyd George (GB) Vittorio Orlando (Italy)

14 Points designed to create a just and lasting peace

#1-4: End secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, reduce

size of armies and navies #5:

Adjusting colonial claims #6-13:

Suggestions to changing borders and creating new nations #14:

Creating “general association of nations” (League of Nations)

Wilson’s 14 Points

France and Great Britain looking to punish

Germany Treaty of Versailles signed June 28th 1919

Five years to the day of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand death

Germany Loses: Severe restrictions on size of military Article 231: “war guilt” Germany total blame for

war Pay reparations to Allied powers Lost all colonies in Africa and Pacific

Treaty of Versailles

Austia-Hungry:

Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia Ottoman Empire:

Lost all land except current day Turkey Land made into “mandates” instead of

independent nations Palestine, Iraq, Transjordan, (British Mandate) Syria, Lebanon (French Mandate)

Russia: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Creating New Nations

US does not sign the Treaty of Versailles or join

the league of nations Treaty leaves many countries bitter about the

end of the war Italy and Japan gain nothing from victory Germany develops deep hatred from Allied

countries

Poor Treaty will directly lead to the rise of Fascism throughout European Nations

“Peace Built on Quicksand”