The End of the WarThe Treaty of Versailles

Ms. Campbell

Socials 11

US Entry into WW1

After Germany announced a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare Americans became quite concerned as now their ships were targets

The US also learned in the Zimmerman Telegram that Germany promised to support Mexico if it attacked the United States

US Entry into WW1

Three main steps led to US entry into the war

1 - The Sinking of the Lusitania

2 - Unrestricted Submarine Warfare

3 - The Zimmerman Telegram

The US Enters WW1 – April 2, 1917

The Eastern Front – Russia

In March 1917 Czar Nicholas was forced to abdicate (give up authority)– The Provisional Government was formed– In October, Socialist Revolutionaries called the

Bolsheviks overthrew the Provisional Government and promised “Peace and Bread”

– The Bolsheviks began negotiating with the Triple Alliance to end the war

The Hundred Days

Russia – under the Bolsheviks – signed The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to end involvement in the war– Now Germany was able to focus all its attention

on winning on the Western Front– By the summer of 1918 the front line was only 75

kilometers from Paris

The Hundred Days

The final Allied offensive – August 8 to November 11, 1918 – was called The Hundred Days

An armistice was signed in a railway car in France on November 11, 1918

The Paris Peace Conference

In 1919 the leaders of the Allies and other countries that won the war met at the Paris Peace Conferences to create a peace agreement– Conference lasted six months– New borders were defined– More than thirty countries attended– Germany was not allowed to participate– Russia was not invited

The Paris Peace Conference

American President Woodrow Wilson proposed a plan called the Fourteen Points– Points 1-5 discussed Internationalism

A vision of how countries should work together

– Points 6-8 discussed German conquered lands– Points 9-14 discussed desires of Central and

Eastern European countries

The Treaty of Versailles

One of the main treaties was called The Treaty of Versailles– It was the terms of peace between Germany and

the Allies French leader Georges Clemenceau focused on realism

and wanted Germany dealt with strictly Woodrow Wilson focused on idealism and was

concerned Germany might want revenge

The Treaty of Versailles

Reparations were a key component of the Treaty of Versailles

The treaty focused on two other key issues:

War Guilt Clause Self Determination

Germany would accept sole responsibility for causing the war

Ethnic groups would vote on which country to be governed by – or if

they wanted an independent homeland

The Effects of the Treaty of Versailles

Because Canada had contributed so much to the war, Prime Minister Borden demanded that Canada have its own seat at the conference

Canada also got an independent signature on the Treaty of Versailles

Why would these steps be significant?

The Effect of the War on Canada

Read page 55 (“Did the war have a positive or negative effect on Canada?”) and fill in the blanks on your notes sheet

Map Work

Compare the maps on page 28 and 54

Identify each country

Describe the changes in national borders List the new countries

Map Work