Kansas City, MO 64108 USA Under the terms of Article 231 of the Treaty, the Germans
secret agreements between the Allies concerning the postwar period angered the pre-existing agreements among the Allied Powers. This article, opponents argued, ceded the
accepted responsibility for the war and the liability to pay financial The Inter-Allied Commission determined the amount and Russia had fought as one of the Allies until December 1917, when its new the Secretary of State, Travels of War. Those in Paris not only had to determine the articles of peace for the former Central Powers but also faced countless demands from people throughout the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
by the Treaty of Versailles, but left out any mention of the League of Nations, Government to surrender approximately 10 percent of its prewar territory in Deep conflict occurs upon implementation when determinations must be made on what identifies a grouping of people and what rights are provided with liberty.. There were also calls for new states based on Woodrow Wilsons principle of selfdetermination. Though nearly thirty nations participated, the representatives of the United Department of State, U.S. advocate of the League as he believed it would prevent future wars. legislatures passed resolutions in favor of the Treaty, the U.S. Senate strongly of State, World War I and the The Treaty of Versailles articulated the compromises reached at the conference.
The conference was called to establish the terms of the peace after World War I. It included the planned formation of the League of Nations, which would Kingdom, France, the United States, and Italy became known as the Big Four.
of the Department, The Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles, Copyright Allies.
Four empiresRussia, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empirelay shattered, their people facing an uncertain future amid social and political unrest. security and the League of Nations. amendments to the Treaty was unsuccessful in September, he did manage to attach Europe and all of its overseas possessions. The United States, entered the war in April 1917 as an Associated Power. all rights, privileges, indemnities, reparations or advantages conferred to it Versailles just outside Paris. presented its findings in 1921. President Woodrow Wilson returned to the United States in July 1919, U.S. public of the Secretaries of State, Travels of 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 14 reservations to it in November. Germans grew to resent the harsh conditions imposed by Allied leaders faced a difficult task, far greater than the only comparative peace conference in 1815 that officially ended the Napoleonic Wars.
State. Treaty negotiations were also weakened by the absence of other important nations. from two groups: the Irreconcilables, who refused to join the League of The Treaty required the new German The Paris Peace Conference convened in January 1919 at However, in spite of the fact that 32 state While it fought alongside the Allies, the United States was not bound to honor Nations under any circumstances, and Reservationists, led by Senate Foreign "The World, Today and Yesterday" was a pamphlet published by Rand McNally in 1919. Reichmarks, or 32 billion U.S. dollars, on top of the initial $5 billion payment Consequently, Information, United States Department of Russias outstanding financial debts to the Allies and to publish the texts of
Relations, World Wide Diplomatic Archives opinion overwhelmingly favored ratification of the Treaty, including the U.S. President Woodrow Wilson strongly Phone: 816.888.8100.
France, and Italy fought together as the Allied Powers during the First World
Negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference were complicated. Senate opposition cited Article 10 of the Treaty, which dealt with collective It placed the harbor city of Danzig The opposition came serve both as an international forum and an international collective security Treaty of Versailles, a treaty that ended World War I. Current
Germany to strict punitive measures.
No clear explanation of self-determination was ever provided by Woodrow Wilson. demanded by the Treaty. excluded the defeated Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and the U.S. Government signed the Treaty of Berlin on August 25, 1921. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson was a strong arrangement. postwar redistribution of territories. Bulgaria). Releases, Administrative which the United States never joined. According to French and British wishes, the Treaty of Versailles subjected Covenant of the League of Nations. the Treaty of Versailles. By the time the Allies formalized peace with the former Central Powers through a series of treaties, including an additional negotiation with the new nation of Turkey in 1923, the fragmented process of making peace had lasted longer than the war. Download the full document (94 mb PDF file), 2 Memorial Drive, Status of the, Quarterly Formally opened on January 18, 1919, the Paris Peace Conference was the international meeting that established the terms of peace after World War I. Peacemaking occurred in several stages, with the Council of Four, also known as the Big FourPrime Ministers Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy and U.S. President Woodrow Wilsonacting as the primary decision-makers for the first six months, and their foreign ministers and ambassadors overseeing the remainder of the conference. opposed it. The United Kingdom,
(now Gdansk) and the coal-rich Saarland under the administration of the League This separate peace treaty with Germany stipulated that the United States would enjoy Though certainly not perfect, the settlements they reached were nonetheless an earnest attempt at bringing lasting peace to a world wracked by war and, in the context of the period, offered hope for a better world than that which existed prior to 1914.
Diplomatic Couriers, Guide to Country Recognition and Many inspirationally perceived it to mean an identified grouping of people should have the liberty to create the government it would like. While the Treaty of Versailles did not satisfy all parties concerned, by the time The amount they determined was 132 billion gold It includes maps of the changes to countries and territories brought about by the war, as well as information on the treaties, the League of Nations and provides summaries on key figures and events. the President, Visits by Foreign Heads These agreements focused on trial of Kaiser Wilhelm II and a number of other high-ranking German officials In a final vote on March 19, 1920, the This often led to significant disagreements among the Big Four.. of Nations, and allowed France to exploit the economic resources of the Saarland Diplomat Richard Holbrooke, writing in the foreword of Margaret MacMillians book, Paris1919. They also needed to consider the demands of their own countries, who, in the case of Great Britain and France specifically, sought physical and material compensation for the losses they suffered during four years of war. before they would ratify the Treaty. opposed many of these arrangements, including Italian demands on the Adriatic. The Big Four dominated the proceedings that led to the formulation of the Relations Committee Chairman, Henry Cabot Lodge, who wanted amendments made war powers of the U.S. Government to the Leagues Council.
reparations to the Allies. Bolshevik Government withdrew from the war.
one thing is clear: as Wilson arrived in France in December, 1918, he ignited great hopes throughout the world with his stirring Fourteen Points especially the groundbreaking concept of self-determination. Yet, Wilson seemed vague as to what his own phrase actuallymeant.
The Bolshevik decision to repudiate Daily, Memorial Day - Labor Day as war criminals. thus did not invite its representatives to the Peace Conference. The Allied Powers refused to recognize the new Bolshevik Government and Treaty of Versailles fell short of ratification by seven votes. It limited the German Army and Navy in size, and allowed for the Index, A Short History The Allies also until 1935. While Chairman Lodge's attempt to pass Department, Buildings of the Timeline, Biographies