The Great War - History Book Chapter Page 21
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A Flawed Peace
MAIN IDEA
WHY IT MATTERS NOW
TERMS & NAMES
POWER AND AUTHORITY After
Hard feelings left by the peace
• Woodrow
• self-
winning the war, the Allies
settlement helped cause World
Wilson
determination
dictated a harsh peace
War II.
• Georges
• Treaty of
settlement that left many
Clemenceau
Versailles
nations feeling betrayed.
• Fourteen Points
• League of Nations
SETTING THE STAGE
World War I was over. The killing had stopped. The
terms of peace, however, still had to be worked out. On January 18, 1919, a con-
ference to establish those terms began at the Palace of Versailles, outside Paris.
Attending the talks, known as the Paris Peace Conference, were delegates repre-
senting 32 countries. For one year, this conference would be the scene of vigor-
ous, often bitter debate. The Allied powers struggled to solve their conflicting
aims in various peace treaties.
The Allies Meet and Debate
TAKING NOTES
Clarifying Use a
Despite representatives from numerous countries, the meeting’s major decisions
chart to record the
were hammered out by a group known as the Big Four:
Woodrow Wilson
of the
reaction by various
groups to the Treaty
United States,
Georges Clemenceau
of France, David Lloyd George of Great
of Versailles.
Britain, and Vittorio Orlando of Italy. Russia, in the grip of civil war, was not rep-
resented. Neither were Germany and its allies.
Reaction to Treaty
Wilson’s Plan for Peace
In January 1918, while the war was still raging,
Germany
President Wilson had drawn up a series of peace proposals. Known as the
Fourteen Points
, they outlined a plan for achieving a just and lasting peace.
Africans
& Asians
The first four points included an end to secret treaties, freedom of the seas,
Italy
y
free trade, and reduced national armies and navies. The fifth goal was the adjust-
& Japan
ment of colonial claims with fairness toward colonial peoples. The sixth through
thirteenth points were specific suggestions for changing borders and creating
self-determination
new nations. The guiding idea behind these points was
. This
meant allowing people to decide for themselves under what government they
wished to live.
Finally, the fourteenth point proposed a “general association of nations” that
would protect “great and small states alike.” This reflected Wilson’s hope for an
organization that could peacefully negotiate solutions to world conflicts.
The Versailles Treaty
As the Paris Peace Conference opened, Britain and
France showed little sign of agreeing to Wilson’s vision of peace. Both nations
were concerned with national security. They also wanted to strip Germany of its
war-making power.
The differences in French, British, and U.S. aims led to heated arguments among
Treaty of Versailles
the nations’ leaders. Finally a compromise was reached. The
858
Chapter 29
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