The End of World War I

A look at how the war to end all wars ended.

Objective

✦ By the end of the lesson, SWBAT describe how World War I ended.

✦ By the end of the lesson, SWBAT analyze how the conditions in Europe and the United States differed after World War I.

Review

✦ Where did World War I mainly take place?

✦ What were the two sides of World War I?

Vocabulary✦ Armistice - An agreement to stop

fighting. ✦ Isolationism - The act of staying

out of world events and only paying attention to your own country.

1917✦ When the United States joined

the war in 1917, Europe was already devastated by the 3 years of bloody fighting.

✦ Soldiers were exhausted, tired, and the land was destroyed by the total war.

European Landscape

U.S. Entering the War✦ When the U.S. entered the war

with a fresh supply of weapons, food, and most importantly soldiers, it did not take long for the Allied Powers to win the war.

U.S. Entering the War

✦ Why do you think it did not take long for the Allied Powers to win World War I after the United States entered the war?

U.S. in World War I

✦ When the U.S. entered World War I, they brought:

✦ more and fresh soldiers to fight✦ more supplies✦ more weapons

Central Powers Surrender✦ Shortly after the U.S. entered the war,

the Central Powers realized that they could not win the war so they signed an armistice.

✦ An armistice is an agreement to stop fighting.

✦ The war ended on November 11, 1918

✦ This day is now called Armistice Day.

Europe after the War✦ Many parts of Europe were destroyed

because of the war. ✦ Many of the buildings and homes were

destroyed.✦ Millions of people had died.✦ The economy had come to a stand

still. No one was buying or selling things.

Central Power Death Toll

✦ Germany - 2,500,000 Dead✦ Austria Hungary - 1,567,000

Dead✦ Ottoman Empire - 5,000,000

Dead

Allied Power Deaths

✦ Russia - 3,331,000 Dead✦ Great Britain - 987,000 Dead✦ France - 1,797,000 Dead✦ United States - 117,000 Dead

Question

✦ How does the huge death toll affect Europe?

Europe after the War✦ Europe was not doing well:

✦ Cities were destroyed✦ The young population decreased a lot

because of all the people that died in the war.

✦ Countries’ economies were destroyed

What to do?✦ In January of 1919, leaders of the

Allied countries met in France to write a treaty to decide what to do with Europe; especially the countries that were part of the Central Powers. They met in Versailles, France

✦ President Woodrow Wilson, was one of the leaders who met in Versailles.

Treaty of Versailles✦ The Allied Powers decided to blame the

entire war on the Germany and the Central Powers.

✦ Therefore, the Treaty of Versailles:✦ Took land away from Germany and

gave it to France...✦ Made Germany pay money to the

Allied Powers...✦ Took away all of Germany’s colonies in

Africa.

Treaty of Versailles

✦ Do you think it is a good idea or a bad idea to punish Germany like the Treaty of Versailles did?

U.S. Policy✦ Many Americans saw how devastating World War I was, and did not want America to get involved in events that were going on around the world.

✦ Many politicians in America, people that work in government, wanted isolationism.

✦ Isolationism - The act of staying out of world events and only paying attention to your own country.

Isolationism

U.S. after the War✦ Since the war was not in the

United States, the U.S. and its factories, buildings, and people living in America were not hurt by World War I.

✦ Therefore, the U.S. was much stronger than many European countries.

U.S. After the War✦ The U.S. had to play a major role

in the reconstruction and rebuilding of Europe.

✦ Why would the U.S. have to play such a big role in the rebuilding of Europe?

Conclusion✦ The U.S. entered World War I in 1917 and

helped the Allied Powers win World War I in 1918.

✦ After World War I, much of Europe was destroyed.

✦ The U.S. took on a new policy of isolationism.