WILSON FIGHTS FOR PEACE

1
WILSON FIGHTS FOR PEACE

• Chapter 11 Section 4
• MAIN IDEA
• European leaders opposed most of Wilsons peace
  plan, and the U.S. Senate failed to ratify the
  peace treaty.
• OBJECTIVES
• Summarize Wilsons Fourteen Points
• Describe the Treaty of Versailles and
  international and domestic reaction to it.
• Explain some of the consequences of the war.

2
Wilson Presents His Plan

• Fourteen Points-Plan for World Peace
• Fourteen Points speech given before Congress,
  points divided into three groups
• First 5 points Wilson believed had to be
  addressed to prevent another war

3

• 14 POINTS
• There should be no secret treaties among nations.
• Freedom of the seas should be maintained for all.
• Tariffs and other economic barriers among nations
  should be lowered or abolished in order to foster
  free trade.
• Arms should be reduced to the lowest point
  consistent with domestic safety, thus lessening
  the possibility of military responses during
  diplomatic crises
• Colonial policies should consider the interests
  of the colonial peoples as well as the interests
  of the imperialistic powers

4
14-points continued

• 6-13 dealt with boundary changes
• 14th point called for a creation of and
  international organization to address the
  diplomatic crises like those that had sparked the
  war
• League of Nations- provide a forum for nations to
  discuss and settle their grievances without war

5
The Allies Reject Wilsons Plan

• Georges Clemenceau-French premier angry about
  German invasions
• David Lloyd George-British Prime Minister, Make
  Germany Pay
• Peace Conference did not include Central Powers
  or Russia
• Treaty of Versailles-created new nations, shifted
  boundaries, and barred Germany from maintaining
  an Army
• Germany made to pay reparations-pay war damages
  amounting to 33 billion

6
Treatys Weaknesses

• Flaws in the treaty sowed the seeds of postwar
  international problems that eventually lead to
  WWII
• Treaty humiliated Germany
• War-Guilt Clause-forced Germany to admit sole
  responsibility for starting WWI
• No way Germany could pay the bill
• Russia was excluded from the peace conference and
  lost more territory than Germany (Russia had the
  most causalities in war and fought for 3 years)

7
Debate of the Treaty

• Some believed treaty was too harsh
• A few felt that the League of Nations threatened
  US isolationism and the constitutional right of
  Congress to declare war
• Wilson set out in the US and spoke about the
  League of Nations
• Became ill on October 2, 1919 and suffered a
  stroke
• US Senate rejected the League of Nations and
  signed a separate treaty w/ Germany in 1921

8
THE LEGACY OF THE WAR

• Many Americans looked forward to return to
  normalcy
• World War I had many changes in the U.S.
• Strengthened military
• Social change for African Americans and Women
• Called WWI the war to end all wars
• Treaty of Versailles settled nothing
• Adolf Hitler emerged as an angry WWI vet and rose
  to power in Germany

9
Vocabulary

• Fourteen Points
• League of Nations
• Georges Clemenceau
• David Lloyd George
• Treaty of Versailles
• Reparations
• War-Guilt Clause
• Henry Cabot Lodge
• Big Four