Treaty+of+Versailles


 * Video:** [|Treaty of Versailles]

Europe In 1815, the powers of Europe united to defeat French Emperor Napoleon. For a century since that time, there had been no major war in Europe, but countries organized themselves in a complex system of alliances. After Napoleon's defeat, the European powers - the United Kingdom, France, Prussia, Russia, and Austria - met in [|Vienna]. The nations decided that if power in Europe was balanced, then no nation would become so powerful as to pose a threat to the others. The most important of these was [|the German Confederation]. In 1871, after defeating France and Prussia, several small German nations merged into [w:German Empire | the German Empire]] upsetting the traditional balance of power. German Chancellor [|Otto von Bismarck] began to construct a complex web of alliances to protect German dominance. Germany and the United Kingdom were on good terms since Germany did not rival British sea power by building up a navy. In 1873, Russia, the [|w:Austro-Hungarian Empire], and Germany entered [|the Three Emperors' League.] Nine years later, Austria-Hungary, [|w:Italy], and Germany formed the [w:Triple Alliance (1882) | Triple Alliance]]. In 1887, the [|Reinsurance Treaty] ensured that Russia would not interfere in a war between France and Germany. In 1890, Bismarck was fired by Kaiser [|Wilhelm II], who then began to undo almost all of Bismarck's policies. He decided to build up a German navy, leading to animosity with the United Kingdom. He did not renew German agreements with Russia. This, in 1894, led Russia to form a new alliance with Germany's rival France. In 1904, France and the United Kingdom decided to bury the hatchet. They ended centuries of bitter enmity and signed the [|Entente Cordiale]. Three years later, those two nations and Russia entered the [|Triple Entente.] The Triple Entente began to build up its army, as did Germany and Austria-Hungary. 

War Breaks Out
War was triggered by the assassination of the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary was a patchwork of several nations ruled by the Habsburg family. Several ethnic groups resented rule by the Habsburgs. In June, 1914, the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, traveled to Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip, who had a profound distaste for rule by the Habsburgs, assassinated the Archduke and his wife. The Austro-Hungarian government decided to use the opportunity to crush Serbian nationalism. They threatened the Serbian government with war. But Russia came to the aid of the Serbs, leading Austria-Hungary to call on Germany for aid. The same was agreed to by Emperor Wilhelm II; Germany handed Austria-Hungary a "blank check," that is, it agreed to give Austria-Hungary whatever it needed to win the war. In July, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary, Russia, and Germany began to mobilize their troops. The conflict in Austria-Hungary quickly began to spread over Europe. In August, Germany declared war on France. The Germans demanded that Belgium allow German troops to pass through the neutral nation. When King Albert of Belgium refused, Germany violated Belgian neutrality and invaded. Belgium appealed to the United Kingdom for aid; the British House of Commons threatened that the UK would wage war against Germany unless it withdrew from Belgium. The Germans refused, and the UK joined the battle. The Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary, were pitted against the Allies, the United Kingdom, Russia, and France. 

The Early Stages
German troops entered Belgium on August 4. By August 16, they had begun to enter France. The French Army met the Germans near the French border with Belgium. France lost tens of thousands of men in less than a week, causing the French Army to retreat to Paris. The Germans penetrated deep into France, attempting to win a quick victory. The Allies won a key battle at Marne, repelling the German offensive. The Germans lost especially due to a disorganized supply line and a weak communications network. The French Army, however, had not completely defeated the Germans. Both sides continually fought each other, to no avail. On the Western Front, Germany and France would continue to fight for more than three years without any decisive victories for either side. Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, Germany faced Russia. In the third week of August, Russian troops entered the eastern part of Germany. Germany was at a severe disadvantage because it had to fight on two different fronts, splitting its troops. However, despite Germany's disadvantage, no decisive action occurred for three years. The United Kingdom used its powerful Royal Navy in the war against Germany. British ships set up naval blockades. The Germans, however, countered with submarines called U-boats. U-boats sank several ships, but could not, during the early stages of the war, seriously challenge the mighty Royal Navy. The war spread to Asia when Japan declared war on Germany in August, 1914. The Japanese sought control of German colonies in the Pacific. Germany already faced a two-front war, and could not afford to defend its Pacific possessions. In October, 1914, the Ottoman Empire entered, allying itself with the Central Powers. The entry of the Ottoman Empire was disastrous to the Allies. The Ottoman Empire controlled the Dardanelles strait, which provided a route between Russia and the Mediterranean. The Ottoman sultan declared holy war- //jihad//- against the Allies. Muslims in the British Empire and French Empire were thus encouraged to rebel against their Christian rulers. However, the Allies' concerns were premature. Few Muslims accepted the sultan's proclamation. In fact, some Muslims in the Ottoman Empire supported the Allies so that the Ottoman Empire could be broken up, and the nations they ruled could gain independence. 

The Middle Stages
Between 1914 and 1917, the war was characterized by millions of deaths leading nowhere. Neither side could gain a decisive advantage on either front. In 1915, the Germans began to realize the full potential of Submarines. German Submarines engaged in official unrestricted warfare, engaging and sinking any ship found within the war zone regardless of the flag flown. Germany's justification for this use of force was that there was no certain method to ascertain the ultimate destination of the passengers and cargo carried by the ships in the war zone, and thus they were all taken as attempts at maintaining the anti-German blockade. The final straw in this unrestricted warfare for the United States of America was the sinking of the [|Cunard Line] passenger ship [|RMS Lusitania], which operated under the flag of Great Britain. The ship carried over one hundred Americans, and the incident strained relations between the US and Germany. In May, 1915, Italy broke the Triple Alliance by becoming an Allied Power. In October, Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. Each side had induced their new partners to join by offering territorial concessions. Italy prevented Austria-Hungary from concentrating its efforts on Russia, while Bulgaria prevented Russia from having connections with other Allied Powers. In May, 1916, one of the most significant naval battles in World War I occurred. The Royal Navy faced a German fleet during the Battle of Jutland. The Battle proved that the Allied naval force was still superior to that possessed by the Central Powers. The Germans grew even more dependent on U-boats in naval battle. In August, 1916, Romania joined the Allies. Romania invaded Transylvania, a province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But when the Central Powers struck back, they took control of important Romanian wheat fields. 

The United States Declares War
Until 1917, the United States had stayed neutral. They adopted the policy of //isolationism// because they felt that the events in Europe had no impact on North America. American opinions began to change after the sinking of the //Lusitania//, An Irish ship carrying primarily civilians. However, the US was calmed by the Germans, who agreed to limit submarine warfare. In 1917, the Germans reinstated unrestricted submarine warfare in order to cripple the British economy by destroying merchant ships, and break the sea blockade of Britain. President Woodrow Wilson responded to the German threat by asking Congress to declare war. Congress complied on April 6, 1917. The US had to mobilize its military before it could aid the Allies by sending troops. However, the US did help the Allies with monetary assistance. Increased taxes and the sale of bonds allowed the US to raise enormous sums of money. 

Revolution in Russia
he two factions of the Party, and there was much bloodshed. Eventually Lenin won, and he was made head of the country, which came to be called the Union of the Soviets or the Soviet Union. Lenin was Head of Party and Leon Trotsky was named Commissar of War. Lenin's representatives signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers in the spring of 1918. Russia ended its participation in the war. It also lost Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic States to Germany. The Germans were then free to concentrate their troops on the Western Front. Lenin tried later to make other rebellions but was unsuccessful. He said that he fought to "pull the Bearded Man (God) out of the Sky." Lenin's slogans were "Brotherhood and Freedom" and "Rebellion to Authority." The later is popularly called //NIN// and in the United States is a common gang sign. Trotsky is known for his policy of permanent revolution and for being assassinated in Mexico in 1940 by Stalinists as part of the Great Purge. 

The End of the War
Despite the fact that the Germans could concentrate their efforts in one area, the Central Powers faced grim prospects in 1918. Encouraged by the United States joining the war, several nations joined the Allied Powers. The four Central Powers of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria faced the combined might of the Allied Powers of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, France, Belgium, Japan, Serbia, Montenegro, San Marino, Italy, Portugal, Romania, the United States, Cuba, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Haiti, Costa Rica, Brazil, Liberia, Siam (Thailand) and China (some of the above nations did not support the war with troops, but did contribute monetarily.) The Germans launched a final, desperate attack on France, but it failed miserably. Due to Allied counterattacks, the Central Powers slowly began to capitulate. Bulgaria was the first to collapse. A combined force of Italians, Serbs, Greeks, Britons, and Frenchmen attacked Bulgaria through Albania in September, 1918. By the end of September, Bulgaria surrendered, withdrawing its troops from Serbia and Greece, and even allowing the Allies to use Bulgaria in military operations. British forces, led by T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), together with nationalist Arabs, were successful in the Ottoman Empire. About a month after Bulgaria's surrender, the Ottoman Empire surrendered, permitting Allies to use the Ottoman territory, including the Dardanelles Strait, in military operations. The Austro-Hungarian Empire also decided to surrender in October. The royal family, the Habsburgs, and the Austro-Hungarian government desperately sought to keep the Empire of diverse nationalities united. Though Austria-Hungary surrendered, it failed to unite its peoples. The once-powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire was destroyed by the end of October, splitting into Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia. Germany, remaining all alone, also decided to surrender. President Wilson required that Germany accede to the terms of the Fourteen Points, which, among other things, required Germany to return territory acquired by the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk to Russia and the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France. Germany found the terms too harsh, while the Allies found them too lenient. But when German Emperor Wilhelm II abdicated the throne, the new German government quickly agreed to Wilson's demands. On November 11, 1918, World War I had come to an end. 

Treaty of Versailles
Woodrow Wilson with the American Peace Commissions in Paris to negotiate the Versailles treaty. In 1919, the chief Allied Powers of the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, and Japan met with the Central Powers in France to discuss a peace settlement. Each of the Allied Powers had distinct interests during the talks. The UK wanted to keep the Royal Navy supreme by dismantling the German Navy, and also wished to end Germany's colonial empire, which might have proved to be a threat to the vast British Empire. Italy wanted the Allies to fulfill the promise of territory given to them at the beginning of the war. France wanted Germany to compensate them for the damage caused to France during the War. Japan had already accomplished its interests by taking over German Pacific colonies. President Wilson's main goal for the conference was the creation of the League of Nations; he felt such an organization would be the only way to prevent future wars. Many historians believe that his concentration on the league, forcing him to sacrifice possible kindnesses to Germany, would lead to WWII. The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to cede Alsace and Lorraine to France, dismantle its Army and Navy, give up its colonial Empire, pay massive reparations to the Allies, and take full responsibility for causing the war. The conference also led to the creation of the League of Nations. The US Senate, however, did not consent to the Treaty, and the European powers were left to enforce its provisions themselves. This eventually led to violations of the treaty by Germany, which then led to the Second World War. The treaty crippled Weimar Germany and led to great bitterness in Germany. This bitterness eventually led to the rise of fascism and Adolf Hitler. Retrieved from "http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/US_History/Contents/World_War_I"