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PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE - 1919
The dominating participants: “THE BIG FOUR”

David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain

Georges Clemençeau, Premier of France

Vittorio Orlando, Prime Minister of Italy

Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States
The conflicting national interests of the principal Allied Powers:
Great Britain:

To extend its colonial empire (to gain colonies from Germany and the Ottoman Empire)

To weaken Germany militarily ending its dominance of the Continent

To restore the balance of power
France:

To weaken Germany militarily and economically ending its status as a European power

To recover Alsace-Lorraine and other territory in the Rhineland rich in resources

To extend its colonial empire (to gain colonies from Germany and the Ottoman Empire)
Italy:

To complete Italian national unity (to gain Italia Irredenta, territory in old Austria-Hungary)

To gain colonies
United States:

To prevent future wars through a just peace applying the Fourteen Points, ending
international bitterness and establishing the League of Nations as an international
organization to keep world peace
The Treaty of Versailles (with Germany)

Germany lost territory: Alsace-Lorraine to France; The Saar to a League of Nations
mandate (France would receive the revenue from the coal mines; the future would be
decided by a plebiscite); Border areas went to Belgium and Denmark; the creation of the
new nation of Poland with an outlet to the sea included the “Polish Corridor”; Danzig was
a free city under League of Nations mandate

Germany lost all colonies to the Allies under League of Nations mandate: the African
colonies went to Britain and France; the holding in China and Pacific Islands went to
Japan

Germany was disarmed: the army was limited to 100,000 volunteers (no conscription
allowed); the navy was reduced and limited to only small warships and no submarines; no
air force

The Rhineland (the border with France) was demilitarized

Germany accepted sole responsibility for the war

Germany agreed to pay war reparations to the Allies
The Treaties of St. Germain and the Trianon (with Austria-Hungary)

Austria-Hungary was dissolved: Austria and Hungary became separate and sovereign,
and Czechoslovakia was created

Lost territory also went to Poland, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, and Yugoslavia (old Serbia)

Anschluss (union) with Germany was forbidden
The Treaties of Sèvres and Lausanne (with the Ottoman Empire)

The Ottoman Empire was dissolved and Turkey created as a republic

The Middle East territory was transferred to Britain and France by League of Nations
mandate

Territory given to Greece caused war between Turkey and Greece and a revision of the
Treaty of Sèvres: Turkey’s loss of European territory was reduced in the Treaty of
Lausanne
Other Major Decisions

Russia lost territory to create Finland, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and to increase
Romania

The League of Nations was established to prevent future wars by establishing a
permanent site for diplomacy and guaranteeing peace through collective security

A SUMMARY OF THE RESULTS OF WORLD WAR I
SOCIAL RESULTS:
 Approximately 10 million soldiers were killed and over 20 million wounded totaling
more than 30 million casualties.
 Almost 2 million civilians died as an result of the war and many more from famine, and
disease caused by the war.
 The world was left with hatred, intolerance, bitterness, and extreme nationalism bent
on revenge for losses, humiliation or goals not achieved.
 The masses of Europe now had more political power than ever before but little
education and background in government.
ECONOMIC RESULTS:
 The total cost of the war was over $350 billion. Paying for the war brought heavy
taxation and lower living standards to all European nations.
 Nations raised tariffs and tried for economic self-sufficiency but hurt international
trade and raised resentment over these economic barriers.
 The first communist government came to power in Russia as a result of the pressures of
the war and introduced a new economic system that challenged capitalism in Europe
and the rest of the world.
 The Great Depression began in 1929 caused mainly by economic problems which
resulted from World War I.
POLITICAL RESULTS:
 The United States emerged as a leading world power yet denied international
responsibilities by refusing to join the League of Nations. Instead, the U.S. followed
isolationist policies from 1921-1940. The U.S. attempted to ignore the world scene as
totalitarian dictatorships rose.
 Three major European dynasties: the Hohenzollerns in Germany, the Habsburgs in
Austria, and the Romanovs in Russia (the 3 which had dominated Eastern Europe for
over 200 years) as well as that of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, were dethroned. They
had ruled their countries for centuries, but were now replaced by new governments
that were inexperienced and not trusted. Especially Germany saw its new government
as conceived and born in defeat.
 Many countries had democratic governments for the first time. When the problems of
the 1930’s struck, these governments were unable to cope. Many blamed democracy
and capitalism for the problems.
 New nation-states arose in central Europe. Several contained subject nationalities,
especially the German-speaking peoples of Czechoslovakia and Poland. These new
states were inexperienced and many of their citizens were unhappy with the change in
status.
 The League of Nations was established to solve international problems and advance
world peace. However, the organization and the system of collective security were
untried and untrusted.
 Many European nations, unable to deal with the economic and political problems
resulting from the war, turned to totalitarian dictatorships -- most notably Russia (the
Soviet Union), Italy, Germany and Japan.
GENERAL RESULTS: The war ended the world order that had prevailed in Europe for
centuries and replaced it with a new order that was untried, unsure, and unsettled.
Hatred, bitterness, suspicion, and the desire for revenge were larger than ever. Each
nation blamed the others for all of the resulting problems which few truly understood
because these problems were different than any the world had ever before faced. World
War I ended the old European aristocratic system and the notion of war as a heroic
contest. Today, the two World Wars (1914-1918 and 1939-1945) are seen by some as a
single great conflict with a 20-year cease-fire.