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Important People, Places, and Things
People: The League of Nations
Places: Versailles
Things: Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points, The Treaty of Versailles 1919, reparations, armistice
People: The League of Nations
Places: Versailles
Things: Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points, The Treaty of Versailles 1919, reparations, armistice
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The War Ends!
The United States provided a lot of relief for the exhausted Allied troops. Russia had pulled out of the war and signed a peace treaty with Germany after the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917. With Russia out of the picture, The United States stepped in and provided fresh troops and supplies to the Allies. Germany facing the imminent threat of invasion, signed an armistice (a cease fire) with the Allies on November 11th, 1918.
The United States provided a lot of relief for the exhausted Allied troops. Russia had pulled out of the war and signed a peace treaty with Germany after the Russian Revolution broke out in 1917. With Russia out of the picture, The United States stepped in and provided fresh troops and supplies to the Allies. Germany facing the imminent threat of invasion, signed an armistice (a cease fire) with the Allies on November 11th, 1918.
The Treaty of Versailles of 1919
The leaders of the Allies and the Central Powers met in Versailles, France in 1919 to sign a peace treaty. Just like in the wars we have studied that happened before, the losers of the war are often the ones who get the rough end of the treaty! After calculating the amounts of death, devastation, and loss of property from World War I, the leaders of the Allied nations were furious with Germany. Since Germany was the first country to declare war, many of them looked at the war as being their fault. As a result, Germany was ordered to pay reparations. Reparations were large amounts of money and supplies that Germany was made to pay to the Allies, which bankrupted the country of Germany and sank its people into poverty. The reparations were virtually so large that there was no way Germany would ever be able to completely pay them back.
Another important part of the Treaty of Versailles was Wilson's Fourteen Points. President Woodrow Wilson created a series of plans (fourteen of them) to try and keep peace in the future, and make it possible to settle disputes with diplomacy (peaceful discussions and bargaining) rather than military action. One of those fourteen points was the creation of the League of Nations. This was a peace-keeping organization that eventually led the way for the United Nations that is in place today. The purpose of this organization was to help keep peace on Earth by supporting one another financially and politically. Ironically, when the final papers were drawn for the League of Nations, the only nation that ended up NOT joining the League of Nations was the United States. Back in the United States, the public hated the idea of being required to involve the US in European affairs again after 1919.
The leaders of the Allies and the Central Powers met in Versailles, France in 1919 to sign a peace treaty. Just like in the wars we have studied that happened before, the losers of the war are often the ones who get the rough end of the treaty! After calculating the amounts of death, devastation, and loss of property from World War I, the leaders of the Allied nations were furious with Germany. Since Germany was the first country to declare war, many of them looked at the war as being their fault. As a result, Germany was ordered to pay reparations. Reparations were large amounts of money and supplies that Germany was made to pay to the Allies, which bankrupted the country of Germany and sank its people into poverty. The reparations were virtually so large that there was no way Germany would ever be able to completely pay them back.
Another important part of the Treaty of Versailles was Wilson's Fourteen Points. President Woodrow Wilson created a series of plans (fourteen of them) to try and keep peace in the future, and make it possible to settle disputes with diplomacy (peaceful discussions and bargaining) rather than military action. One of those fourteen points was the creation of the League of Nations. This was a peace-keeping organization that eventually led the way for the United Nations that is in place today. The purpose of this organization was to help keep peace on Earth by supporting one another financially and politically. Ironically, when the final papers were drawn for the League of Nations, the only nation that ended up NOT joining the League of Nations was the United States. Back in the United States, the public hated the idea of being required to involve the US in European affairs again after 1919.
The "War to End All Wars?"
The Great War, or World War I, was also known at the time as "The War to End All Wars". After all of the devastation and death caused by the war, many believed that no civilized country would ever want to take part in those horrors again. However, the idea that World War I was the "War to End All Wars" was far from accurate. As a matter of fact, World War I accomplished very little in the grand scheme of history other than essentially causing World War II! Remember those reparations that Germany was required to pay, as well as having to take the blame for World War I? Germany's people were still proud to be Germans, and their nationalism sparked a great deal of anger and resentment once Germany became snubbed in the Treaty of Versailles. The peace treated created the opposite of peace in Germany: the German people were starving, the country was bankrupt, and their government was in chaos! It is out of that chaos that rose a well-spoken, enthusiastic leader who the Germans felt could bring Germany back to its earlier glory only a few years later; that leader was Adolf Hitler, the future leader of the Nazi party. |