WWI - Results of the War (Lesson)

Results of the War.

In January of 1919, the allied powers gathered in Paris to determine the terms of the peace treaties. The "Big Four":

• Great Britain - David Lloyd George
• France - Georges Clemenceau
• US - Woodrow Wilson
• Italy - Vittorio Orlando

Sidenote: Italy had few troops and even fewer supplies during the war. Their status as one of the "Big Four" was given to them as a courtesy due to the alliance.

The Central Powers were not allowed to participate. Germany had surrendered based on the promise of a peace based on Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points. However, by the time the treaty talks began, Britain and France were determined to gain revenge. France, in particular, was determined to secure its border - remember that the Western Front was fought entirely in France and much of the nation was destroyed. Wilson, determined that the League of Nations was vital to Europe's future peace, negotiated away all of his lofty plans in order to achieve assurances from Great Britain and France that the League would be created.

 

WWI Treaties.

There were five separate peace treaties that ended World War I - one for each of the losing nations. Find out what happened to each of the involved nations and learn more about the treaties in the activity below.

 

Allies permit German armies to remain inside Russia, Ukraine and Poland to prevent the spread of Bolsheviks. They are also left to hold railway lines in the Baltics to keep them from falling into communist hands.

Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia formed the "Little Entente" partly to secure themselves against Hungary and Bulgaria (both are demanding a revision of the Treaty of Versailles), all agreed to work with France.

 

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