World War I Aftermath

World War I Aftermath — page 7 — from France and Belgium allow Allied troops to occupy three cities on Germany's side of the Rhine River and submit to other severe terms HARSH TERMS AT VERSAILLES The Allies threatened to resume the war if Germany should take any hostile actions or break the terms of the armistice The leaders of the United Kingdom France the United States and Italy agreed to meet in Versailles near the French capital of Paris They would draw up an agreement formally ending the war and setting permanent terms of the peace on Germany SUBMARINED INTO WAR The sinking of the Lusitania was only one to believe open submarine warfare was the of many incidents that led to American way to victory After all the United States involvement in World War In the spring of was already supplying arms to Germany's 1916 after a German submarine sank the enemies which made the United States in unarmed French ship Sussex Woodrow effect an enemy combatant A few sinkings Wilson threatened to cut off all diplomatic might even end the war before the Americans ties with Germany The result was the Sussex could send troops across the Atlantic Pledge in May 1916 Germany agreed that In January Germany declared its intention U boats would not attack any passenger ships to resume unrestricted submarine warfare or ships of neutral countries U boat captains and by the end of March 1917 U boats had would also allow crews of enemy merchant sent several American ships to the bottom ships to abandon their vessels before of the Atlantic Ocean For Wilson this was an attack the last straw that would make the president As the war dragged on without result break his own pledge of neutrality in the war however German naval commanders came

World War I Aftermath — page 8 — WOODROW WILSON 1856 1924 Running on the slogan He kept us out of war Woodrow Wilson was reelected president of the United States in 1916 But within six months he had brought the United States into World War I on the side of the Allies Wilson emerged as the global political hero of World War I But as the Europeans hailed his accomplishment Wilson came to believe he did not need to compromise with Germany with the Allies or with the opposing political party at home Wilson a Democrat appointed no Republicans to the Versailles peace commission He tolerated no opposition to the League of Nations the newly formed international organization dedicated to world peace among the leaders of the United Kingdom and France And he made no concessions to treaty opponents in Congress insisting the document be ratified just as he had negotiated it As a result the treaty was defeated in Congress Opposing politicians believed it would set the United States up for dangerous entanglements in future European troubles Bitter and disappointed Wilson suffered declining health and in the last months of his presidency became bedridden 11

World War I Aftermath — page 9 — The Treaty of Versailles was signed in January 1919 For Germany the terms were harsh Germany had to surrender Alsace Lorraine a long contested region along the border between France and Germany Germany also had to give up significant portions of its eastern territory In addition Germany was to have no military presence at all in the Rhineland the country's industrial heartland The Allies would occupy this region to prevent any future German attacks on France or Belgium Germany had to disband its air force and scrap its submarine fleet The treaty also limited the German army to 100 000 men WILSON S OPPONENTS AT HOME Although he won two terms as president States getting tangled in European conflicts Woodrow Wilson did not enjoy universal He had this to say about Wilson's efforts support for his foreign policy His opponents Our allies and our enemies and in the Republican Party did not want the Woodrow Wilson himself should all United States further entangling itself understand that Mr Wilson has no in European affairs or trying to impose authority whatever to speak for the high minded philosophical notions on a American people at this time His continent that seemed eternally at war leadership and the Fourteen points and President Theodore Roosevelt who served his four supplementary points and his two terms before Wilson's time in office five complementary points and all his was not a fan of Wilson or the Treaty of utterances every which way have ceased to Versailles Although Roosevelt supported have any shadow of right to be accepted the use of American military and economic as expressive of the will of the American power around the world he was suspicious of people Wilson's idealism and did not want the United

World War I Aftermath — page 10 — World leaders gathered to negotiate the Treaty of Versailles It was not just the loss of territory or the dismantling of its military that weighed the most on Germany Instead the biggest outrage in the minds of many German citizens was Article 231 This war guilt clause placed blame for the war squarely on Germany It also formed the basis of the demand for reparations payments Germany must make to the Allied governments for war damages Germans believed they were wrongly blamed however The war had started with the mobilization of Austria Hungary against Serbia Austria Hungary had then called on Germany to come to its aid these two countries became known as the Central powers The Austro Hungarian government believed it would have to also fight Russia an ally of

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