1. The 1st World War
The aftermath of the
war María Jesús Campos
Chusteacher
Wikiteacher
2. Losses and casualties
• “Total war”: the
combatants mobilised all
their resources, military,
industrial and human.
• The number of men
mobilised by both sides
during the war totalled
over 65 million.
• Historians estimate that
up to 10 million men died
on the battlefield and
around 20 million were
wounded.
3. The Aftermath of World War I
• The Armistice was signed 11 • After the war:
of November of 1818 – The political map of
• Everybody felt that the First Europe would be
World War should be the redrawn (the Ottoman
“war to end all wars”. and the Habsburg
Empires dissapeared)
– European countries
suffered a difficult
economic situation.
Some countries had
been devastaded.
4. The mood in 1919
• People felt that Germany
should be blamed and
pay for the war.
• Not only because they
thought Germany has
caused the war but
because of the harsh
conditions of the Treaty
of Brest-Litovsk signed
between Germany and
Russia.
5. The Paris Peace Conference, 1919-20
• Took place in Versailles
• 32 nations were
represented but not
the defeated countries
• The “Big Three” (Great
Britain, USA, France)
took all the important
decissions.
6. The “Big Three”
George Woodrow David Lloyd
Clemenceau, Wilson, George, Great
France Britain
USA
- France had been - Was usually in the
devastated and 2/3 - Believed in
middle ground
soldiers had been peaceful
between Clemenceau
injured or Killed cooperation
and Wilson
among nations
- Germany should and the right to - Germany should be
be harshly self- punished but not
punished and pay determination harshly to prevent a
for the war new war
7. Treaty of
Versailles
- 1919
Treaty of
Sevres 1920 - Germany Treaty of Saint
Germain
Treaty of
- 1919
Lausanne 1923 - Austria
Turkey
Peace Treaties
of the First
World War
Treaty of Treaty of
Trianon Neuilly
- 1919 - 1919
- Hungary - Bulgaria
8. Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Germany had to accept:
• War guilt: accept the blame
of the war
• Reparations: pay for the
damage (lifes and
infrastructures) caused to
the Allies
• Army: limited to 100.000
soldiers, 6 battleships, no
tanks, submarines or
aircraft Punch, 19 February 1919. Caption: German
Criminal to Allied Police: Here, I say, stop! You’re
hurting me! [Aside: If I only whine enough I may
be able to wriggle out of this yet.]
11. • The Treaty of Versailles also included the creation
of the League of Nations, an international
organization to keep peace and prevent war
• Germany was not allowed to become a member
until demonstrating “it was a peace-loving
country”
12. German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles
• Outrage: Germans did not feel that they had started
the war or that they had lost it as its country has not
been occupied.
• Germany lost 10% of its land which meant a 12.5% of
its population.
• Reparations were too heavy for Germany’s weak
economy.
Mass demonstration against the
Treaty of Versailles before the
Reichstag in Berlin
13. • The new socialist
government, led by
Ebert, reluctantly
signed the Treaty on
28 June 1919
• The German
democratic
government was
fragile:
– The Communists
attempted a coup
d’etat: the Spartacists
uprising
– The radical right-wing
attempted a coup
d’etat: the Kapp putsch
14. The impact of the Treaty on Germany
• Germany fell behind on its
reparation payments in
1922
• The Ruhr region was
occupied by France and
Belgium weakening
German’s economy even
more.
• To pay the workers the
German government
printed more money which
caused and hyperinflation
(money became worthless)
• Germans blamed the Treaty
for their problems.
15. Nobody liked the Treaty of Versailles
• Germany blamed the
Treaty for their difficulties
• France thought the Treaty
was not harsh enough
with Germany
• Great Britain feared that
it would bring a new war
• USA’s Senate refused to
be a member of the
League of Nations and
ratify the Treaty
16. Treaty of Saint Germain, 1919
Austria had to accept:
• Disarmament and
Reparations
• The Habsburg Empire was
divided into different
states (Austria, Hungary,
Czechoslovakia,
Yugoslavia…)
• Populations from other
nationalities remained in
Austria
17. Treaty of Sevres, 1920 & Lausanne, 1923
Turkey :
• Ataturk, nationalist leader, rejected the terms of the Treaty of
Sevres.
• The Treaty of Lausanne recognized the Turkish rights over
Smyrna and most of Anatolia.
• In exchange, Turkey had to cede Lebanon and Syria to France and
Palestine, Irak and Trasjordan to Great Britain.
18. Other consequences of the Treaties
New states appeared:
• Czechoslovakia (which became a strong industrialized state)
• Poland (whose borders were not recognized by the USSR)
• Yugoslavia (which merged Serbia with populations from Austria
and Hungary)
