Download The World after the Great War

The World after the Great War
TREATY OF VERSAILLES, DEPRESSION, AND
CHINA & JAPAN
World War 1: The Great War
Costs of War
 8.5 Million Dead
 Europe in ruins
 Pandemic of Influenza kills 20 Million more people
 Postwar animosity that would haunt the world
 Europe loses its innocence, its Romanticism, its
optimism, and its faith
Paris Peace Conference
 Big Three at the Paris Peace Conference dictated
terms
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Woodrow Wilson (U.S.A)- Urged peace without victory as he
sought to build a new world order
David Lloyd George (Great Britain)
Georges Clemenceau (France)- Fiercely anti-German
 Wilson’s 14 Points focused on Self-determination,
spreading democracy, and creating a United World
against future wars- “League of Nations”
 Many other nations were in attendance; Germany
and the Soviet Union were not
Clemenceau, Wilson, and Lloyd George
Paris Peace Conference
 Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points
were largely ignored in favor of
retaliation and quick fixes.
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Wilson did help create a League of
Nations which failed
The league’s purpose was to promote
disarmament and prevent war.
The league had not military force of its
own, so it depended on the help of its
member states.
U.S. Congress did not allow the U.S. to
join this League
 The Treaty of Versailles was
drafted and Germany was
summoned to sign it
Treaty of Versailles
 War guilt clause forced Germany to assume full
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blame for causing the war
Germany was forced to pay huge reparations that
would destroy the already damaged German
economy.
Germany was to give up Alsace & Lorraine to France
It also gave up land on the east to Poland
Germany also was stripped of its overseas colonies
and forced to give up hundreds of miles of land on its
Eastern and Western borders
Germany forced to greatly decrease the size & power
of its military.
Other Changes following Treaty
 The Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided into
several new national states.
 Turkey lost its territories in the Middle East
 A new independent Poland was created giving the
nation sovereignty for the first time since 1794
Economic Depression
 European Nations owed huge war debts
 Returning Veterans needed jobs
 War-ravaged lands required massive rebuilding
 The Russian Revolution which was occurring during
these economic hardships led many to fear the
spread of communism.
 Depression was worst in Germany, where the
payment of massive reparations and the loss of their
most resource rich lands led German money to
become practically worthless.
German Inflation
Post WWI U.S.
 The United States emerged from the war as the world’s
greatest economic power
 During the war, Britain & France had purchased war
goods from the United States on credit. Now they were
deeply in debt.
 Following the war American consumers soon began
buying mass-produced goods made in American
factories.
 One of the most important factors promoting American
prosperity was the invention of the automobile which
came into widespread use in the U.S. following WWI
U.S. Great Depression
 Due to overproduction, margin buying, real estate
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over speculation and various other reasons, the
United States fell into its Great Depression after the
Stock Market crash of October 1929.
This led the Global Depression to grow more severe
Extremists proclaimed an end to capitalism and
pointed to the failure of Democracy to fix problems
Left Wing Extremists- Communist, Socialist
Right Wing Extremists- Intense Nationalism, Virtues
of Authoritarianism, need to rearm
Treaty of Versailles Revisited
 The Treaty also angered Italy, because promised land
from Austria-Hungary was not given to them
 Self Determination led to the creation Latvia,
Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria,
Hungary, and the Serb dominated Yugoslavia
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Due to overlap in ethnic boundaries, tensions would continue
in Eastern Europe
 Japan protested the refusal of European nations to
recognize its claims in China
Japan
 During 19th Century European Imperialism Japan
radically changed their society to become more
Western
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Rather than be exploited by the West, they wanted to be seen
as equals
 During WWI, the Japanese economy grew as its
exports to allied nations soared.
 It also used the time period to exert greater power
over East Asia
 It sought further rights in China with its 21 Demands
China
 China had been the premiere Asian power for most
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of its existence.
It saw itself as the center of the world
During the era of European Imperialism China’s
unwillingness to adapt and change led it to become
exploited and embarrassed
China went through great change and turmoil in the
early 1900’s as it tried to regain its former glory
Seeing China’s weakness, Japan sought to exploit
and control China
Japan vs. China
 Japan (a small island) sought to colonize all of Asia
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for its own use
The once great China would be Japan’s greatest prize
Japan defeated China in both Sino-Japanese Wars
Japan used brutal force to take and maintain control
of China, Korea, and other Asian nations
One such example is the Rape of Nanking where
Japan murdered almost 300,000 people in a matter
of days.
Treaty of Versailles Song Activity
 You will be assigned either the Allies perspective or the German
perspective at the Treaty of Versailles
 Use at least 7 of the following words or concepts to make a song
from your assigned perspective:
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Treaty of Versailles
Reparations
Buffer Zone
Germany
Destruction
War to end Wars
Punishment
Payback
War Guilt
Inflation
Lost Land
Respect
Limited Military
Embarrassment
France