The Last Year of the War

After William II was forced to abdicate, thenew German republic and the Allies signed an armistice,ending the war on November 11, 1918.

Reading Connection Have you heard debates abouthow large the American military budget should be? Read tounderstand the role of American army support in the Alliedvictory of World War I.

The year 1917 had not been a good one for theAllies. Allied offensives on the Western Front were adisaster. The Russian Revolution, which began inNovember 1917, weakened the Allies when Russiawithdrew from the war a few months later. The causeof the Central Powers looked favorable, but the warhad taken a tremendous toll on their forces, too. Nowar had been fought with as much machinery—andas much sheer slaughter.

The main factor that pushed the Allies to victorywas the entry of the United States into the war in1917. The “Yanks” gave the Allies a much-neededpsychological boost, as well as fresh troops andmateriel. In 1918, the Americans proved crucial.

A New German Offensive For Germany, the with-drawal of the Russians offered new hope for a suc-cessful end to the war. Germany was now free toconcentrate entirely on the Western Front. Erich vonLudendorff, who guided German military opera-tions, decided to make one final military gamble—a grand offensive in the west to break the militarystalemate.

The German attack was launched in March 1918.By April, German troops were within about 50 miles(80 km) of Paris. However, the German advance wasstopped at the Second Battle of the Marne on July 18.French, Moroccan, and American troops (140,000fresh American troops had just arrived), supportedby hundreds of tanks, threw the Germans back overthe Marne. Ludendorff’s gamble had failed.

With more than a million American troops pour-ing into France, Allied forces began a steady advancetoward Germany. On September 29, 1918, GeneralLudendorff informed German leaders that the warwas lost. He demanded that the government ask forpeace at once.

Collapse and Armistice German officials soon dis-covered that the Allies were unwilling to make peacewith the autocratic imperial government of Germany.Reforms were begun to create a liberal government,but these efforts came too late for the exhausted andangry German people.

On November 3, sailors in the town of Kiel, innorthern Germany, mutinied. Within days, councilsof workers and soldiers were forming throughoutnorthern Germany and taking over civilian and mili-tary offices. William II gave in to public pressure andleft the country on November 9.

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One weapon, the tank, contributed to mortality,but it also played a role in ending the war. The new weapon was introduced in September 1916 onthe Western Front. An eyewitness recorded hisimpressions:

“We heard strange throbbing noises, and lum-bering slowly towards us came three hugemechanical monsters such as we had never seenbefore. My first impression was that they lookedready to topple on their noses, but their tails andthe two little wheels at the back held them downand kept them level. . . . Instead of going on tothe German lines the three tanks assigned to usstraddled our front line, stopped and thenopened up a murderous machine-gun fire. . . .They finally realized they were on the wrongtrench and moved on, frightening the Germansout of their wits and making them scuttle likefrightened rabbits.”

An early tank, invented and first used by the British

Hulton/Archive by Getty Images

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The Social Democrats under Friedrich Ebert thenannounced the creation of a democratic republic.Two days later, on November 11, 1918, this govern-ment signed an armistice—a truce or an agreementto stop the fighting.

Revolutionary Forces The war was over, but therevolutionary forces it had set in motion were notexhausted yet. A group of radical socialists, unhappywith the moderate policies of the Social Democrats,formed the German Communist Party in December1918. A month later, they tried to seize power in Berlin.

The new Social Democratic government, backedby regular army troops, crushed the rebels and mur-dered Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht(LEEP•KNEHKT), leaders of the German Commu-nists. A similar attempt at Communist revolution inthe city of Munich, in southern Germany, was alsocrushed.

The new German republic had been saved fromradical revolution. The attempt at revolution, how-ever, left the German middle class with a deep fear ofcommunism.

Austria-Hungary, too, experienced disintegrationand revolution. As war weariness took hold of theempire, ethnic groups increasingly sought to achievetheir independence. By the time the war ended, theAustro-Hungarian Empire was no more.

The empire had been replaced by the independentrepublics of Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia,along with the large monarchical state calledYugoslavia. Rivalries among the nations that suc-ceeded Austria-Hungary would weaken easternEurope for the next 80 years.

Describing What happened withinGermany after the armistice?

Reading Check

The Peace Settlements

The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany,established new nations, and created a League of Nationsto solve international problems.

Reading Connection What recent world issues has theUnited Nations focused attention on? Read to learn why theAmerican president wanted a League of Nations after WorldWar I.

In January 1919, representatives of 27 victoriousAllied nations met in Paris to make a final settle-ment of the Great War. Over a period of years, thereasons for fighting World War I had changed dra-matically. When European nations had gone to warin 1914 they sought territorial gains. By the begin-ning of 1918, more idealistic reasons were also beingexpressed.

Wilson’s Proposals No one expressed these idealis-tic reasons better than the U.S. president, WoodrowWilson. Even before the war ended, Wilson outlined“Fourteen Points” to the United States Congress—hisbasis for a peace settlement that could justify the enormous military struggle being waged.

Wilson’s proposals for a just and lasting peaceincluded reaching the peace agreements openlyrather than through secret diplomacy; reduc-ing armaments or military forces to a “point consistent with domestic safety”; and ensuring self-determination, the right of each people to have itsown nation.

Wilson portrayed World War I as a people’s waragainst “absolutism and militarism.” These two ene-mies of liberty, he argued, could be eliminated only

Georges Clemenceau1841–1929—French statesman

Georges Clemenceau was one of France’s wartime leaders. He had a long political careerbefore serving as French premier (prime minister) from 1917 to 1920. When Clemenceaubecame premier in 1917, he suspended basic civil liberties for the rest of the war. He hadthe editor of an antiwar newspaper executed on a charge of helping the enemy.Clemenceau also punished journalists who wrote negative war reports by having themdrafted.

Clemenceau strongly disliked the Germans. “For the catastrophe of 1914 the Germans areresponsible,” he said. “Only a professional liar would deny this.”

449CHAPTER 8 War and RevolutionReunion des Musees Nationaux/Art Resource, NY

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decisive victory in elections in December 1918. Hisplatform was simple: make the Germans pay.

France’s approach to peace was chiefly guided byits desire for national security. To GeorgesClemenceau (KLEH•muhn•SOH), the premier ofFrance, the French people had suffered the most fromGerman aggression. The French desired revenge andsecurity against future German aggression. Clemen-ceau wanted Germany stripped of all weapons, vastGerman payments—reparations—to cover the costsof the war, and a separate Rhineland as a buffer statebetween France and Germany.

The most important decisions at the Paris PeaceConference were made by Wilson, Clemenceau, andLloyd George. Italy, as one of the Allies, was consid-ered one of the so-called Big Four powers. However,it played a smaller role than the other key powers—the United States, France, and Great Britain, called theBig Three. Germany was not invited to attend, andRussia could not be present because of its civil war.

In view of the many conflicting demands at thepeace conference, it was no surprise that the Big

Who Caused World War I?Immediately after World War I,historians began to assesswhich nation was mostresponsible for begin-ning the war. As these four selections show,opinions have varied considerably.

“The Allied and Associated Governmentsaffirm and Germany accepts the responsibility ofGermany and her allies for causing all the lossand damage to which the Allied and AssociatedGovernments have been subjected as a conse-quence of the war imposed upon them by theaggression of Germany and her allies.”

Treaty of Versailles, Article 231, 1919

“None of the powers wanted a EuropeanWar. . . . But the verdict of the Versailles Treatythat Germany and her allies were responsiblefor the War, in view of the evidence now avail-able, is historically unsound. It should thereforebe revised.”

—Sidney Bradshaw FayOrigins of the World War, 1930

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by creating democratic governments and a “generalassociation of nations.” This association would guar-antee “political independence and territorial integ-rity to great and small states alike.”

Wilson became the spokesperson for a new worldorder based on democracy and international cooper-ation. When he arrived in Europe for the peace con-ference, he was enthusiastically cheered by manyEuropeans. Wilson soon found, however, that morepractical motives guided other states.

The Paris Peace Conference Delegates met inParis in early 1919 to determine the peace settlement.Complications soon became obvious. For one thing,secret treaties and agreements that had been madebefore the war had raised the hopes of Europeannations for territorial gains. These hopes could not betotally ignored, even if they did conflict with theprinciple of self-determination put forth by Wilson.

National interests also complicated the delibera-tions of the Paris Peace Conference. David LloydGeorge, prime minister of Great Britain, had won a

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many, signed at Versailles near Paris on June 28, 1919,was by far the most important.

The Germans considered it a harsh peace. Theywere especially unhappy with Article 231, the so-called War Guilt Clause, which declared that Ger-many (and Austria) were responsible for starting thewar. The treaty ordered Germany to pay reparationsfor all the damage Allied governments and their peo-ple had suffered from a war “imposed upon them bythe aggression of Germany and her allies.”

The military and territorial provisions of theTreaty of Versailles also angered the Germans. Ger-many had to reduce its army to a hundred thousandmen, cut back its navy, and eliminate its air force.Alsace and Lorraine, taken by the Germans fromFrance in 1871, were now returned. Sections of east-ern Germany were awarded to a new Polish state.

German land along both sides of the Rhine wasmade a demilitarized zone and stripped of allweapons and fortifications. This, it was hoped,would serve as a barrier to any future German mili-tary moves westward against France. Outraged bythe “dictated peace,” the new German governmentcomplained but, unwilling to risk a renewal of thewar, they accepted the treaty.

A New Map of Europe As a result of the war, theTreaty of Versailles, and the separate peace treatiesmade with the other Central Powers—Austria, Hun-gary, Bulgaria, and Turkey—the map of easternEurope was largely redrawn. Both the German andRussian empires lost much territory in easternEurope. The Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared.

New nation-states emerged from the lands ofthese three empires: Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithua-nia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary.

New territorial arrangements were also made inthe Balkans. Romania acquired additional lands fromRussia, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Serbia formed thenucleus of a new state, called Yugoslavia, which com-bined Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.

The Paris Peace Conference was supposedly guidedby the principle of self-determination. The mixtures ofpeoples in eastern Europe made it impossible, how-ever, to draw boundaries along neat ethnic lines. Com-promises had to be made, sometimes to satisfy thenational interests of the victors. France, for example,had lost Russia as its major ally on Germany’s easternborder. Thus, France wanted to strengthen and expandPoland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania asmuch as possible. Those states could then serve as bar-riers against Germany and Communist Russia.

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1. Write a quote of your own that reflects your viewson which nation caused World War I. Supportyour quote with passages from the text.

“In estimating the order of guilt of the variouscountries we may safely say that the only directand immediate responsibility for the World Warfalls upon Serbia, France and Russia, with theguilt about equally divided.”

—Harry Elmer Barnes The Genesis of the World War, 1927

“As Germany willed and coveted the Austro-Serbian war and, in her confidence in her militarysuperiority, deliberately faced the risk of a conflictwith Russia and France, her leaders must bear a substantial share of the historical responsibilityfor the outbreak of general war in 1914.”

—Fritz Fischer Germany’s Aims in the First World War, 1961

Three quarreled. Wilson wanted to create a worldorganization, the League of Nations, to preventfuture wars. Clemenceau and Lloyd George wantedto punish Germany. In the end, only compromisemade it possible to achieve a peace settlement.

Wilson’s wish that the creation of an internationalpeacekeeping organization be the first order of busi-ness was granted. On January 25, 1919, the confer-ence accepted the idea of a League of Nations. Inreturn, Wilson agreed to make compromises on terri-torial arrangements. He did so because he believedthat the League could later fix any unfair settlements.

Clemenceau also compromised to obtain someguarantees for French security. He gave up France’swish for a separate Rhineland and instead accepted adefensive alliance with Great Britain and the UnitedStates. The U.S. Senate refused to ratify this agreement,which weakened the Versailles peace settlement.

The Treaty of Versailles The final peace settlementof Paris consisted of five separate treaties with thedefeated nations—Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bul-garia, and Turkey. The Treaty of Versailles with Ger-

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officially called mandates. As a result, the peace set-tlement created the mandate system. According tothis system, a nation officially governed anothernation as a mandate from the League of Nations, butit did not own the territory.

The War’s Legacy World War I shattered the liberal, rational society that had existed in the latenineteenth and early twentieth century. The death of

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World War I dramatically changed political boundaries.

1. Interpreting Maps Rank the countries and empireslisted in the map legend according to the amount of lostterritory, from largest loss to smallest loss.

2. Applying Geography Skills Look back at the map onpage 423, then examine the map above. Now, knowingthe outcome of the war, predict which countries wouldlose the most territory. Why does the actual loss ofterritory, as shown above, differ from (or match) yourpredictions?

Austria-HungaryBulgariaGermanyOttoman EmpireRussia

Territory lost by:

Rhineland

As a result of compromises, almost every easternEuropean state was left with ethnic minorities. Therewere Germans in Poland, and Hungarians, Poles,and Germans were living in Czechoslovakia. Roma-nia also had a significant population of Hungarians,while Yugoslavia had a mixture of Serbs, Croats,Slovenes, Macedonians, and Albanians. In somecases, these ethnic groups had a long history of con-flict over territory. Not surprisingly, the new bound-aries were not always satisfactory.

Yet another centuries-old empire—the OttomanEmpire—was broken up by the peace settlement. Togain Arab support against the Ottoman Turks duringthe war, the Western Allies had promised to recog-nize the independence of Arab states in the OttomanEmpire. Once the war was over, however, the West-ern nations changed their minds. France took controlof Lebanon and Syria, and Britain received Iraq andPalestine.

Woodrow Wilson was opposed to the Allies’annexing territory. Therefore these acquisitions were

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almost 10 million people, as well as the incredibledestruction caused by the war, undermined thewhole idea of progress. Entire populations had par-ticipated in a devastating slaughter.

World War I was a total war—one that involved acomplete mobilization of resources and people. Dur-ing its course, the power of governments over thelives of citizens increased. Freedom of the press andspeech were limited in the name of national security.World War I thus made the practice of strong centralgovernment a way of life.

The turmoil of the war also seemed to open thedoor to greater insecurity. Revolutions broke up oldempires and created new states, which led to newproblems. The hope that the world would return tonormalcy was, however, soon dashed.

Identifying What clause in the Treatyof Versailles particularly angered the Germans?

Reading Check

453CHAPTER 8 War and Revolution

Checking for Understanding1. Vocabulary Define: concentrate,

armistice, consistent, reparation, clause,mandate.

2. People Identify: Erich von Ludendorff,Friedrich Ebert, David Lloyd George,Georges Clemenceau.

3. Places Locate: Kiel, Alsace, Lorraine,Poland.

Reviewing Big Ideas4. List some of President Wilson’s propos-

als for creating a lasting peace. Whydid he feel the need to develop theseproposals?

Critical Thinking5. Connecting

Events Although Woodrow Wilsoncame to the Paris Peace Conferencewith high ideals, the other leaders hadmore practical concerns. Why do youthink that was so?

6. Compare and Contrast Using a Venndiagram like the one below, compareWilson’s Fourteen Points with theTreaty of Versailles.

Analyzing Visuals7. Compare the photograph of troops

going to war on page 431 with thepainting on page 417. How do you thinkthe soldiers’ expectations compared totheir actual experiences?

CA HI1

8. Informative Writing You are areporter for a large newspaper, sentto the Paris Peace Conference tointerview one of the leaders of theBig Three. Prepare a written set ofquestions you would like to ask theleader you have selected.

CA 10WS1.3

Treaty of Versailles

Fourteen Points

In this painting of the Paris peace talks, American president Woodrow Wilson (second row, center right) shows British leader LloydGeorge a report. French premier Georges Clemenceau sits on Wilson’s other side.

For help with the concepts in this section of Glencoe WorldHistory—Modern Times, go to andclick on Study Central.

wh.mt.glencoe.com

Study CentralHISTORY

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution/Art Resource, NY

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