Page 17 - PowerPoint Presentation

Bahria Town School and College (Girls Campus) Lahore
End of WWI and Post War

• The United States did not sign the Treaty of
Versailles, but established its own treaty with
In August of 1918, the Allied commanders on the western front decided to Germany.
go on the offensive. Starting on August 8th, a series of battles were fought • The United States also did not join the
called the Hundred Days Offensive. These battles included the Battle of League of Nations which was first introduced
Amiens, the Second Battle of the Somme, and several battles along by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his
Germany's Hindenburg Line. The Germans were pushed out of France and Fourteen Points.
were forced to retreat • The reparations that Germany owed from
the Treaty of Versailles were renegotiated
several times and were not finally paid off
By the end of the Hundred Days Offensive, the German forces were until well after World War II.
exhausted and running out of food and supplies. On November 11, 1918 People celebrating after the armistice • Four European Empires disappeared after
they requested an armistice. An armistice is when both sides agree to stop World War I including the German, Russian,
Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian Empires.
fighting while a peace treaty is negotiated. The Allies agreed to the The Big Four
armistice and at 11 AM on November 11, 1918 the fighting in World War I
came to an end.

The Allied Nations met in Paris at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 to
decide the fate of Germany and the Central Powers. Although a number of
nations took part in the negotiations, the major decisions and discussions
were between the leaders of the "Big Four" nations which included
Georges Clemenceau (Prime Minister of France), David Lloyd George
(Prime Minister of Great Britain), Woodrow Wilson (President of the
United States), and Vittorio Orlando (Prime Minister of Italy).
Each of the four nations had different opinions on how Germany should be treated. President Woodrow Wilson felt that the best solution was to incorporate his Fourteen
Points. He thought that Germany should not be blamed for the war or punished too harshly. However, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau felt that Germany was
responsible for the war and should take the blame and be forced to pay large reparations.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed between the Allied Powers and Germany on June 28, 1919. This officially ended World War I. The treaty was extremely harsh on Germany.
It forced Germany to "accept the responsibility for causing all the loss and damage" of the war. Germany was forced to disarm, give up land to France, and to pay reparations
of 132 billion Marks.
Dua e Sehar

The map of Europe changed significantly after World War I. Several new independent countries were formed including Poland, Finland, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia. Russia
became the Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire later became the country of Turkey. Germany also had to give up the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to France. 17