Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles

Open Ended

Bellwork: World War I was described as the War to End All Wars. Do you think we will ever achieve the goal of ending all wars for good? Explain your answer.

Great Britain, America and France were the three most
powerful Allies and they wanted to exert their influence upon
the Treaty of Versailles (“Big Three”)

Yet they wanted different things…

David
Lloyd
George

Woodward
Wilson
George

Clemenceau

Lloyd George (UK)

•Germany to be justly
punished, but not too harshly

•Germany to lose its navy and
colonies as these were a
threat to Britain's own navy
and empire

•Germany and Britain to become
trading partners

BUT Overall, Lloyd George did not want to punish Germany too harshly

as he did not want Germany seeking revenge in the future

Poll

What do you think about England's views on how to punish Germany?

• I think it was very justified

• Meh, it was okay. They could have done more or less

• I think it was harsh

• I'm pretty indifferent (I don't really care)

George Clemenceau
(France)

• wanted to cripple Germany

so it couldn't attack
France again.

•Wanted Germany broken down
into smaller states
(weakened).

France had suffered the most
during the war so Clemenceau
was under great pressure from

the French people to make

Germany pay.

Poll

What do you think about France's views on how to punish Germany?

• I think it was very justified

• Meh, it was okay. They could have done more or less

• I think it was harsh

• I'm pretty indifferent (I don't really care)

Woodward
Wilson (USA)

• a better and more peaceful world

• a League of Nations and 14 Points
that would help and support each
other and help to promote world
peace

•the right to self-determination. The
right to decide which country you
wish to be governed by

The U.S.A. had joined war late (1917) and

hadn't suffered as much as the other Allies in

terms of human and material costs.

Poll

What do you think about the US's views on how to punish Germany?

• I think it was very justified

• Meh, it was okay. They could have done more or less

• I think it was harsh

• I'm pretty indifferent (I don't really care)

Let’s take a look!!!

Germany had to accept
total responsibility for
starting the First World War.

this was called the War Guilt
Clause or Article 231.

Multiple Choice

Who had to accept responsibility for WWI?

• Great Britain

• Germany

• France

• US

Germany had to pay millions
in reparations to cover war
damages and other Allied
losses.

These were called “war
reparations”

Multiple Choice

What are war reparations?

• Money owed to pay for damages and losses

• Where the victors of war have to honor those who lost their lives

Germany had to hand over
some 70,000 square
kilometres of land.
(43495.983 miles)

This accounted for about 13%
of all of her land and six million
of her people who lived there.

Germany was to have her
colonies taken away from her.

These colonies were to
become mandates run by the
Allies on behalf of the League
of Nations (“mandates”).

Open Ended

Why do you think that the Big Three would take lands away from Germany?

The German army was to
have no more than 100,000
men and the navy was limited
to 15,000 sailors.

There was to be no airforce
and no submarines.

The German navy was only
allowed six battleships and
Germany was forbidden to
buy any more weapons and
other war material.

An Allied Army was to occupy
the Rhineland for a period
of fifteen years.

No German troops were to be
allowed into the occupation
zone.

Multiple Choice

What happened to Germany's military?

• They were able to keep their military but they couldn't engage in any wars.

• Their military shrunk and could not be in the Rhineland

• They couldn't have an army or navy but they could keep the airforce and submarines.

• The military could only be in the Rhineland

Germany also gets a new
“democracy” government to
help prevent future dictators /
wars…very weak…

This is known as the Weimar
Republic

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of the Weimar Republic?

• To create a strong democratic government that will join the Big Three

• To create a weak government to prevent future dictators

The Treaty also created an
international organization
(The League of Nations) to
oversee that no future wars
started & all aspects of the
Treaty were followed