Reshaping the World

The Treaty of Versailles and Wilson’s Fourteen Points.

Mr. Blais

America in the World

The Fourteen Points• These Fourteen Points were

Wilson’s plan for world peace.

• The first five points addressed issues he believed caused the war.

• The next eight dealt with boundary changes he wanted.

• His last point called for a League of Nations or an international organization to address diplomatic crises.

                   

Rejection of Wilson’s Plan

• Only American, British, French, and Italian leaders were at the peace conference, none of the Central Powers were there.

• Wilson ended up conceding many of his Fourteen Points to get his League of Nations.

The Allies wanted to make the Germans and Austrians pay and world peace was simply the last thing on their mind.

Lloyd George, Orlando, Clemenceau, and Wilson

Treaty of Versailles• Established nine new nations including Poland

and Yugoslavia.

• Gave France and Britain geographic regions of the old Ottoman Empire including Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq.

• It also forced Germany to…– Claim responsibility for WW1 (War-Guilt Clause)– Pay $33 Billion in war reparations to the Allies– Keep an army of no more than 100,000.

Weaknesses of the Treaty• 1. The Treaty humiliated Germany and the Germans

detested the treaty. Plus there was no way for Germany to pay the reparations.

• 2. Russians were not involved in the peace negotiations and lost even more territory than Germany.

• 3. The treaty ignored the claim of colonized peoples for self-determination, particularly Southeast Asia.– NOTE: A young Vietnamese man, Ho Chi Minh, appealed to

Wilson to establish a constitutional government in Vietnam however he was refused by Wilson and would later set up a Communist Party in North Vietnam to fight against the French and the Americans

The Senate Disapproves• Many Americans opposed

entering the League of Nations.

• They felt that the League threatened the U.S. foreign policy of staying out of European Entanglements.

• Wilson was also now unwilling to compromise with the Senate and the Treaty was never passed by Congress. American signed a separate treaty with Germany.

Legacy of War• The economy of Europe was devastated after the war,

especially in Germany.• Germany entered into a severe depression in which

– Their currency became absolutely worthless.

– Thousands of people lost their jobs

• Germans blamed the Allies, who wrote the Treaty, for all of their troubles

• America now desired a ‘return to normalcy’ and had an even stronger desire to stay out of European affairs.