The 1st World WarThe aftermath of the war
María Jesús CamposChusteacherWikiteacher
Losses and casualties• “Total war”: the
combatants mobilised all their resources, military, industrial and human.
• The number of men mobilised by both sides during the war totalled over 65 million.
• Historians estimate that up to 10 million men died on the battlefield and around 20 million were wounded.
The Aftermath of World War I
• The Armistice was signed 11 of November of 1818
• Everybody felt that the First World War should be the “war to end all wars”.
• After the war:– The political map of
Europe would be redrawn (the Ottoman and the Habsburg Empires dissapeared)
– European countries suffered a difficult economic situation. Some countries had been devastaded.
The mood in 1919• People felt that Germany
should be blamed and pay for the war.
• Not only because they thought Germany has caused the war but because of the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed between Germany and Russia.
The Paris Peace Conference, 1919-20
• Took place in Versailles
• 32 nations were represented but not the defeated countries
• The “Big Three” (Great Britain, USA, France) took all the important decissions.
The “Big Three”
George Clemenceau, France- France had been devastated and 2/3 soldiers had been injured or Killed- Germany should be harshly punished and pay for the war
Woodrow Wilson,
USA- Believed in peaceful cooperation among nations and the right to self-determination
David Lloyd George, Great Britain
- Was usually in the middle ground between Clemenceau and Wilson- Germany should be punished but not harshly to prevent a new war
Peace Treaties of the First World War
Treaty of Versailles
- 1919- Germany Treaty of Saint
Germain- 1919
- Austria
Treaty of Neuilly- 1919
- Bulgaria
Treaty of Trianon- 1919
- Hungary
Treaty of Sevres 1920
Treaty of Lausanne 1923
Turkey
Treaty of Versailles, 1919Germany had to accept:
• War guilt: accept the blame of the war
• Reparations: pay for the damage (lifes and infrastructures) caused to the Allies
• Army: limited to 100.000 soldiers, 6 battleships, no tanks, submarines or aircraft Punch, 19 February 1919. Caption: German
Criminal to Allied Police: Here, I say, stop! You’re hurting me! [Aside: If I only whine enough I may be able to wriggle out of this yet.]
Germany territorial losses in Europe
Germany lost all its colonies
• The Treaty of Versailles also included the creation of the League of Nations, an international organization to keep peace and prevent war
• Germany was not allowed to become a member until demonstrating “it was a peace-loving country”
German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles
• Outrage: Germans did not feel that they had started the war or that they had lost it as its country has not been occupied.
• Germany lost 10% of its land which meant a 12.5% of its population.
• Reparations were too heavy for Germany’s weak economy.
Mass demonstration against the Treaty of Versailles before the Reichstag in Berlin
• The new socialist government, led by Ebert, reluctantly signed the Treaty on 28 June 1919
• The German democratic government was fragile:– The Communists
attempted a coup d’etat: the Spartacists uprising
– The radical right-wing attempted a coup d’etat: the Kapp putsch
The impact of the Treaty on Germany
• Germany fell behind on its reparation payments in 1922
• The Ruhr region was occupied by France and Belgium weakening German’s economy even more.
• To pay the workers the German government printed more money which caused and hyperinflation (money became worthless)
• Germans blamed the Treaty for their problems.
Nobody liked the Treaty of Versailles
• Germany blamed the Treaty for their difficulties
• France thought the Treaty was not harsh enough with Germany
• Great Britain feared that it would bring a new war
• USA’s Senate refused to be a member of the League of Nations and ratify the Treaty
Treaty of Saint Germain, 1919
Austria had to accept: • Disarmament and
Reparations• The Habsburg Empire was
divided into different states (Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia…)
• Populations from other nationalities remained in Austria
Treaty of Sevres, 1920 & Lausanne, 1923Turkey : • Ataturk, nationalist leader, rejected the terms of the Treaty of
Sevres.• The Treaty of Lausanne recognized the Turkish rights over
Smyrna and most of Anatolia. • In exchange, Turkey had to cede Lebanon and Syria to France
and Palestine, Irak and Trasjordan to Great Britain.
Other consequences of the TreatiesNew states appeared:
• Czechoslovakia (which became a strong industrialized state)• Poland (whose borders were not recognized by the USSR)• Yugoslavia (which merged Serbia with populations from Austria
and Hungary)
Swallow the Pill
Reparations