War and Peace

WWI—Its Result and

Consequences
 The War
The First World War broke out on 28th July,
1914 when Austria declared war on Serbia
The belligerents were the Central Powers and
the Allies
The Central Powers were Germany , Austria-
Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey
The Allies included France, Britain, Russia,
Serbia and Japan. Italy, the U.S. joined, and
Russia withdrawn the Allies later
 The War
Most battles were fought in Europe. Some
battles were fought in the colonies of the
Powers in Africa and Asia
Although most of the powers thought that
the war would end soon, it last for more
than 4 years because of the Trench war
fares
 The War
Italy joined the Allies in May 1915 because
Austria was her traditional enemy, and she was
promised to have Trentino and Trieste after the
war
The U-boat policy of Germany force the U.S. to
declared war on Germany in April 1917
In March, 1918, the Bolsheviks concluded peace
with Germany by signing the Treaty of Brest-
Litovsk
On November 1918, the new government,
formed after the abdication of Kaiser William II,
signed the surrender to end the First World War
 The Cost of the War
About 10 million men died in total
About 5 million civilians died from
diseases related to food shortages
(Textbook p. 94)
The War ended four empires: Turkey,
Germany, Austria and Russia
The estimation of money used during the
war period was $330,700,000,000
The damages were huge, too
 The Peace Conference at
Versailles
A peace conference was held at
Versailles, Paris on January 1919
27 nations were represented
Communist Russia and the defeated were
not allowed to join the conference
Most of the decisions were first made by
the big three
 The Big Three
President Woodrow Wilson of The US
Being a former Professor of
Princeton University, he was viewed
as an idealist
He proposed his famous “14 points”
which stressed on self-
determination, fair and equal status
for all nations and a League of
Nations should be sat up to promote
peace
 The Big Three
Georges Clemenceau, the French Prime Minister

•He had twice seen his country

invaded by the Germans, in
1870 and 1914. He proposed to
keep Germany permanently
weak
 The Big three
Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister
He favoured moderate terms in
dealing with Germany and he realized
the need for restoring German
prosperity in maintaining peace
However, he had promise to punish
Germany during election
He thus had to mediate to
Clememceau’s harsh terms and
Wilson’s lenient attitude at the
Conference
 Italy’s Attitude
Italy was represented by Vittorio Orlando
He was interested in securing for more
territories for Italy
He was one of the “Big Four”, however, he
found himself excluded from the inner
circle
When Italy’s territorial demands were not
fully satisfied, the Italians regarded
themselves being deceived
 The Treaty of Versailles
(with Germany)
A. Territorial Clauses
Lost of her overseas
colonies
Alsace-Lorraine
returned to France
A special corridor was
created for Poland
The Port of Danzig
was to come under the League of Nations
 The Treaty of Versailles
B. Military clauses
A demilitarized zone was to be created in
Rhineland
The Germany army was reduced 100,000
Germany would not allowed to have
aircraft, conscription or submarine
Germany was also not allowed to import
or manufacturing war materials
 The Treaty of Versailles
C. The War Guilt Clause
The allies believed that the war was
caused by German
Therefore, Article 231 of the Treaty of
Versailles claimed that Germany was
solely responsible for provoking the War
Germany had to compensate the Allies at
£6500 million
 The Treaty of Versailles
D. Other provisions of the Treaty
Opened some of the rivers in Germany
and the Kiel Canal to ships of all nations
Germany and Austria were forbidden to
united
Germany had to give up the territories
gains from Russia in March 1918
 Reactions and Comments of
German to the Treaty
The Germans were angry with the “War-Guilt
Clause”
The German not regarded themselves defeated
The German resented the dictated Treaty
The Germans felt having been deceived, by the
Wilson 14 points
The huge reparations made German felt upset
People also complained that the treaty ignored
economic recovery
 Other Treaties
The Treaty of St Germain (with
Austria)
The Treaty of Neuilly (with
Bulgaria)
The Treaty of Trianon (with
Hungary)
The Treaty of Sevres (with
Turkey in 1920) and the Treaty
of Lausanne (with Turkey in
1923)
 Achievements of the Peace
Conference
The Settlement achieved a higher degree
of ethnic self-determination than had
existed before
The League of Nations was established.
Its existence marked a great step beyond
the international anarchy before 1914
 Defects of the Peace Conference
The terms of the peace treaties created
anger, especially for the Central Powers:
2. Austria lost ¾ of its territories
3. Bulgaria was deprived of outlets to Aegean
Sea
4. Hungary was reduced to a small state with a
small population
5. Turkey lost most of her European territories
6. Germany was angry for the “War-Guilt
clause”, the huge reparation and the territorial
losses
Defects of the Peace Conference
Even the Allies were dissatisfied with the
settlement:
 Italy were dissatisfied with the limited land
reward
 China were dissatisfied with the arrangement
of Shantung province
 Russia denounced the cession of Russian
territories
 The US never ratified the Treaty of Versailles
 Many people from the Allies thought that the
settlement was unfair and unworkable
 Consequences of the War
Enormous casualties and serious
destruction to properties and equipment:
 Over 12 million of soldiers died and 15
million civilians casualties
 There were serious material destruction
 Normal daily life and economic activities
upset
 Nations joined the war borrow heavily
 Consequences of the War
New Balance of
power in Europe
and the world
2. Four vast empire
disappeared
3. Britain and France
were weaken, the
US and Japan
emerged as strong
power
 Consequences of the War
The formation of the League of Nations
A beginning of decolonization
Improvement of the status of women
Improvements in industrial techniques and
the art of war