The End of the WarTreaty of Versailles

Casualties

Examine the number of casualties between each of the countries involved:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWdeaths.htm

Destruction

Destruction

Destruction

Destruction

The Village of Esnes Before

The Village of Esnes After

Destruction

What emotions are evoked by these images?

Why is it significant that major civic buildings were destroyed?

How long do you think it would take to rebuild these buildings and communities?

How much do you think it would cost?

Can a community ever really recover from such destruction?

What now?

How might France's goals for the postwar settlement differ from U.S. goals?

What might France fear? What would France probably want

with respect to Germany? Why? Would those desires be reasonable?

Why or why not? Why might the U.S. be able to take a

more idealistic perspective?

From Wilson’s Fourteen Points

It will be our wish and purpose that the processes of peace, when they are begun, shall be absolutely open and that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret understandings of any kind. The day of conquest and aggrandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret covenants entered into in the interest of particular governments and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace of the world. It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every public man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of the world to avow nor or at any other time the objects it has in view.

We entered this war because violations of right had occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life of our own people impossible unless they were corrected and the world secure once for all against their recurrence. What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in; and particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force and selfish aggression. All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest, and for our own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it will not be done to us. The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our program; and that program, the only possible program, as we see it, is this: 

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

What are the goals of the United States?

What is his hope for the world and for the postwar talks?

From Wilson’s Fourteen PointsWe have no jealousy of German greatness, and there is nothing in this program that impairs it. We grudge her no achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enterprise such as have made her record very bright and very enviable. We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish to fight her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade if she is willing to associate herself with us and the other peace- loving nations of the world in covenants of justice and law and fair dealing. We wish her only to accept a place of equality among the peoples of the world, -- the new world in which we now live, -- instead of a place of mastery. 

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

What is Wilson's stated attitude toward Germany?

How would this attitude differ from France's?

Again, in the context of the information from above, why might the U.S. be more inclined than France to take an idealistic perspective?

A Treaty of the Victors

What are the top 5 postwar goals for: France Germany United States

Negotiate a treaty in groups

A Treaty of the Victors

Were there any common goals? Were compromises made? Which country was most pleased

with how the negotiations turned out? Most displeased?

On balance, did each country feel it had achieved its most important goal?

Were there any particular impasses or impediments to agreements?

Europe before the War

Europe after the War

Land Lost

How much European land did Germany lose?

Which regions specifically? To which countries did this land go? What land worldwide was lost by

Germany? To which countries did this land go?

More Land Lost

Read Rhineland and Saar Basin from Treaty of Versailles Why were these clauses probably inserted? What benefits did these clauses give France? Was it reasonable to establish the

demilitarized Rhineland buffer zone? How would the terms regarding the Saar

Basin affect the German economy? How would Germany probably react to these

terms?

Rhineland and Saar Basin

Military Lost

See Table No. 1 from the Treaty of Versailles What were the terms for Germany? What sovereign powers did Germany

lose? How might these clauses have

satisfied France? How would Germany probably react? Is it reasonable to disarm a former

enemy belligerent?

Punishment

Why does it single out Germany and not the other Central Powers?

Is this clause accurate? Does Germany warrant more responsibility than other countries?

Do the Allies bear any responsibility? How much was Germany to pay? How might this affect the German

economy?

Germany’s Response

Read German Reply Memorandum What objections does Germany raise

to the treaty? Are these objections valid? Should the Allies have modified the

treaty in any way to address these points?

Hitler’s ResponseThe German Kaiser abdicated at the close of World War I, to be succeeded by a democratic republic known as the Weimar Republic. It was representatives of the Weimar Republic who signed the Versailles Treaty. Why is Hitler so vitriolic concerning the Weimar Republic? What does he blame the Weimar Republic for? What other goals does he link to the elimination of the treaty? What imagery does he use? What actions is he alluding to at the end? How might this speech appeal to the emotions of the listener? Consider how the treaty may have contributed to the rise of

Nazism, and by extension, World War II. Would Hitler have been able to give such a powerful speech or to find a receptive audience if the treaty had been different?

Evaluation

Was the German response to the Treaty of Versailles justified?

Take a stand on whether the treaty was fair or unfair, with specific evidence to justify your ideas.

You will receive a grade based on your participation in a discussion.