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1. Welcome Back/Pick up notebooks!

2. NVC

3. Negotiating Peace: The Treaty of Versailles

Essential Question: What were the terms and conditions of the Treaty of Versailles that ended WWI?

Warm-Up

• What do you remember about how WWI came to an end?

Ending World War I• November 9, 1918 German

soldiers and sailors mutiny– Tired of fighting and upset

over stupidity of military commanders

• Leads to German Revolution– Kaiser Wilhelm flees and

German Empire collapses• November 11, 1918

Germany signs armistice with Entente Powers– Armistice= agreement to

temporarily stop fighting

Treaty of Versailles• January-June 1919 over 30

countries meet at Versailles to decide official peace terms with Germany

• “The Big Four”– United States– France– Britain– Italy

• These four countries negotiated the majority of the treaty

Treaty of Versailles Major Provisions

• Punishment of Germany– required to admit total

blame for World War I– Required to pay the total

cost of World War I– Army limited in size, air

force and navy abolished– Colonial possessions

divided among the allies

Treaty of Versailles Major Provisions

• Other Territorial Changes– Austria-Hungary Empire

divided into four different nations (Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia)

– Five other nations established along Germany’s borders

Treaty of Versailles Major Provisions• League of Nations

established– International

peacekeeping organization– Created to mediate

disputes between countries

– Member countries required to assist each other in stopping aggression

Issues NOT covered• Secret treaties NOT

eliminated• Rights of neutrals at sea

NOT addressed• Free trade NOT addressed• Colonies NOT given

independence• No country besides

Germany was required to reduce size of army/armaments

U.S. refuses to ratify• U.S. Congress refuses to

accept the Treaty of Versailles

• Problem: The League of Nations– Worried the League would

take away Congress’ power to DECLARE WAR

– Congress did not want U.S. getting dragged into wars

– Without U.S., League loses most of its power

German Reactions

“May the hand rot that signs this treaty”– German Chancellor Schiedemann, who resigned rather than sign the Treaty of Versailles

German Reactions “The demands go beyond the power of the German

Nation to deal with. We know the hate we are encountering here, and we have heard the passionate demand of the victors, who require us, the defeated, to pay the bill and plan to punish us as the guilty party. We are asked to confess as the sole culprits; in my view, such a confession would be a lie. We emphatically deny that the people of Germany, who were convinced that they were waging a war of defense, should be burdened with the sole guilt of that war.”– Count Brockorff-Rantzau

German Reactions

“Only childish and naïve minds can believe that they can correct the Versailles treaty by begging and pleading. No nation can remove this hand from its throat except by the sword. Only the concentrated might of a national passion, rearing up in its strength, can defy this attempt to enslave the German people”– Adolf Hitler

Journal Entry: Treaty of Versailles

• How was the Treaty you created similar to the real Treaty of Versailles? How was it different? Do you think the Treaty of Versailles was the right and fair way to end WWI? Explain