World History Summarized

1910 31 July Hawley Harvey Crippen Got Arrested at Sea

On, Hawley Harvey Crippen, better known as Dr Crippen, and Ethel Le Neve, his typist-turned-lover,
were arrested on board the Montrose while trying to flee west to Canada. On top of being a sensational
case and arrest, it was the first example of an arrest aided by wireless telegraphy.

Hawley Crippen, an American-born homeopath who received his degree from the Cleveland
Homeopathic Medical College in 1884, was first widowed in 1892. Following his first wife’s
death, Crippen worked as a homeopath in New York. Two years later, Crippen married Corrine
‘Cora’ Turner, an aspiring music hall singer with the stage name Belle Elmore.

The American couple moved to England in 1897 where Crippen continued to work for Dr
Munyon’s, a homeopathic pharmaceutical company. However, Crippen was let go in 1899 owing
to spending too much of his time managing his wife’s career instead of seeing to his own work.
Following this break with Munyon’s, Crippen took on the job of manager of Drouet’s Institution
for the Deaf. It was there that he met the young typist Ethel Le Neve.

Cora was known for her infidelity, by 1908, both she and her husband were having extramarital
affairs, Cora with one of their borders and Crippen with Ethel.

Cora disappeared following a party held at the Crippen residence on 31 January 1910. Crippen
told everyone that she had returned to America and later expanded this explanation to say that
she had subsequently died and was cremated. Her disappearance was first reported by her friend,
Kate Williams, a strongwoman, known as Vulcana. However, it wasn’t until the superintendent’s
friends, Lil Hawthorne and John Nash, voiced their concerns that the police investigation got
serious.

Shortly after Cora’s disappearance, Ethel moved in with Crippen and was frequently seen
wearing Cora’s clothing.

Crippen’s home was searched to no avail. Crippen was brought in and questioned by Chief
Inspector Walter Dew. During this interview, Crippen confessed to having lied about his wife’s
disappearance, saying that he was trying to save face rather than admit that she had run off with
one of her lovers. While Dew was satisfied with this explanation, Crippen was not privy to this
and he and Ethel fled the country.

1910 November 20 Mexican Revolution

Mexican Revolution, (1910–20), a long and bloody struggle among several factions in constantly
shifting alliances which resulted ultimately in the end of the 30-year dictatorship in Mexico and the
establishment of a constitutional republic. The revolution began against a background of widespread
dissatisfaction with the elitist and oligarchical policies of Porfirio Díaz that favoured wealthy landowners
and industrialists. When Díaz in 1908 said that he welcomed the democratization of Mexican political life
and appeared ambivalent about running for his seventh reelection as president in 1910, Francisco
Madero emerged as the leader of the Antireeleccionistas and announced his candidacy. Díaz had him
arrested and declared himself the winner after a mock election in June, but Madero, released from prison,
published his Plan de San Luis Potosí from San Antonio, Texas, calling for a revolt on November 20. The
revolt was a failure, but it kindled revolutionary hope in many quarters. In the north, Pascual
Orozco and Pancho Villa mobilized their ragged armies and began raiding government garrisons. In the
south, Emiliano Zapata waged a bloody campaign against the local caciques (rural political bosses). In the
spring of 1911 the revolutionary forces took Ciudad Juárez, forced Díaz to resign, and declared Madero
president.

Madero’s regime faltered from the start. Zapata turned against him, angered at his failure to effect the
immediate restoration of land to dispossessed Indians. Orozco, initially a supporter of Madero, was also
dissatisfied with the slow pace of reform under the new government and led a revolutionary movement in
the north. The U.S. government then turned against Madero as well, fearing that the new president was
too conciliatory to the rebel groups and concerned about the threat that civil warin Mexico was posing to
American business interests there. Tensions reached a peak when yet another faction of rebel forces, led
by Félix Díaz (the former dictator’s nephew), clashed with federal troops in Mexico City under the
command of Victoriano Huerta. On Feb. 18, 1913, after the ninth day of that melee (known as La Decena
Trágica, or “The Ten Tragic Days”), Huerta and Díaz met in the office of U.S. Ambassador Henry Lane
Wilson and signed the so-called “Pact of the Embassy,” in which they agreed to conspire against Madero
and to install Huerta as president. Huerta assumed the presidency the following day, after arresting
Madero, who was assassinated a few days later.
Opposition to Huerta’s drunken and despotic rule grew in the north, and an uneasy alliance was formed
between Pancho Villa, Álvaro Obregón, and Venustiano Carranza, whose Plan de Guadalupecalled for
Huerta’s resignation. In the spring and summer of 1914, the rebel forces converged on Mexico City,
forcing Huerta into exile. Carranza declared himself president on August 20, over Villa’s objections. A
state of anarchy and bloodshed ensued until Villa, Obregón, and Zapata held a convention at which it was
agreed that the rivalry between Villa and Carranza made order impossible, and they elected Eulalio
Gutiérrez interim president. Villa retained the support of Zapata and backed Gutiérrez. Obregón,
however, re-allied himself with Carranza and routed Villa in a bloody battle in April 1915 at Celaya.
Thereafter, both Zapata and Villa lost ground, and Villa, blaming his defeat on U.S. Pres.  Woodrow
Wilson’s support of Carranza, launched a vendetta against Americans in Mexico and in U.S. border
towns. He executed about 17 U.S. citizens at Santa Isabel in January 1916, and his raid on
Columbus, New Mexico, two months later, which claimed the lives of some 17 Americans, prompted
Pres. Woodrow Wilson to order Gen. John J. Pershing into the Mexican hills in futile pursuit. Carranza,
president again, presided over the writing of the constitution of 1917, which conferred dictatorial powers
on the president but gave the government the right to confiscate land from wealthy landowners,
guaranteed workers’ rights, and limited the rights of the Roman Catholic Church. Carranza remained in
power by eliminating those who opposed him (Zapata was assassinated in 1919), but in 1920 opposition
reached a climax when he tried to break up a railroad strike in Sonora. Deserted by virtually all his
supporters, including Obregón, he was killed attempting to flee the capital on May 21. Adolfo de la
Huerta became interim president until Obregón was elected in November.
Many historians regard 1920 as the end of the revolution, but sporadic violence and clashes between
federal troops and various rebel forces continued until the reformist president, Lázaro Cárdenas, took
office in 1934 and institutionalized the reforms that were fought for during the revolution and were
legitimized in the constitution of 1917.

1911 July 24 The discovery of Machu Picchu

On July 24, 1911, American historian Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu,
an ancient Inca settlement in Peru. Bingham was fascinated by the “lost” history of the Inca
Empire, and intrigued by the ruins he explored near the city of Cusco. A farmer told Bingham
and his team that there were more ruins on top of a nearby mountain. The farmer called the
mountain Machu Picchu, an indigenous phrase for "old peak." Bingham and his team walked and
rode mules to the top of the mountain, where they saw the stone entrance to the old city. 

Machu Picchu has enormous significance as an archaeological site, largely because it remained

untouched during Peru’s Spanish colonial period. Archaeologists consider pre-Columbian sites
like Machu Picchu “intact.” Machu Picchu, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is also one of the
most popular tourist destinations in the world.

14 December 1911: Roald Amundsen reaches the south pole

On 14 December 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to
reach the South Pole

On 14 December 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first people to
reach the South Pole. They beat Captain Robert Falcon Scott's British expedition by over a month. One
hundred years later and anniversary celebrations included Jens Stoltenberg, the Norwegian prime
minister, unveiling an ice sculpture of the man at the south pole's Amundsen-Scott scientific base.

It was to take several months for news of Amundsen's success to reach Europe. Confirmation came at the
beginning of March 1912 when his ship, the Fram, arrived at Hobart, Tasmania. On 10 March, the
Manchester Guardian congratulated the Norwegian and, rather grudgingly, said: "We shall not grudge
Amundsen his great success, which none but an explorer of great courage and resolution could win, but
we look forward also with keen expectation to the solution of the questions which his success has raised."

By November 1912 Amudsen was in Britain to promote The South Pole, his book about the expedition.
The Guardian and The Observer acknowledged the explorer's success, devoting a number of columns to
his conquest including praise from Sir Ernest Shackleton and a diary piece about him shaving off his
beard.

1912 April 15 Titanic Sinks on Maiden Voyage

The Titanic sunk over a century ago on April 15, 1912.  The iceberg collision ripped open Titanic's hull in
several places, including her five watertight compartments. The Titanic sinking transpired over two and a
half hours which was relatively fast for a ship of such size. 

Titanic carried 2224 people of all ages, genders and class that fateful night, and only 710 escaped in
lifeboats and later rescued by the RMS Carpathia. 1514 people died in the icy waters. The dead included a
number of large numbers of men whose place was given to the many women children on board. The dead
primarily consisted of men in the ship's second class. In fact, ninety per cent of these men died.

The disaster caused widespread changes for the better in ship-building, materials manufacturing, and
sailing vessel standards and practices on both sides of the Atlantic.

It has also been speculated that all forms of trade were profoundly affected by the ramifications of the
tragedy. The Titanic gave us a grim picture of the reality of maritime disasters at the very birth of the
international travel industry. The sinking of the titanic was a mixture of bad luck and terrible
management.  This page outlines the timeline of events that led to the Titanic's sinking on April 14, 1912.

The conditions in which Titanic sailed towards New York were almost too good to be true.  She was
making good time in perfect conditions.  Second Officer Charles Lightoller would later state “the sea was
like glass.”
Most passengers and crew were enjoying Sunday Luncheon except for the Titanic’s two wireless
operators Jack Phillips and his assistant Harold Bride.  They were capitalizing on the many personal
telegraphs being sent from Titanic’s well-heeled passengers about the grand time they were having on
board the world’s largest ocean liner.

Titanic boasted the most powerful radio telegraph system of any ship in the world in 1912,and it was put
to great use by Bride and Philips during Titanic’s maiden voyage.   This was even more so the case on
Sunday afternoon as a backlog of telegraphs existed from the previous evening in which the radio was out
of action for a number of hours due to a malfunction that was fixed around 5:00 am Sunday morning.

With the weight of telegraphs going out from Titanic seemed to dominate the six messages it had received
from nearby ships about iceberg sightings in the area.  They did not seem of major concern to many
including Captain Smith who shared this information with the ship’s owner Bruce Ismay and posted one
in the bridge for crew to see.

Both Ismay and Smith decided that in such optimal conditions that the ship should not be slowed,
however Captain Smith ordered the boat to head some ten miles south from its direct line and this should
bring her in to warmer and safer waters.

At 6:00 p.m. that evening Second Officer James Lightoller took control of Titanic until 10:00 p.m.
During this time many passengers refused to brave the icy and cold conditions on board the deck of
Titanic in which she now found herself.

At 7:15 that evening Harold Bride decided to give the stressed wireless radio system a well-deserved
break and cool down to take stock of the many inbound messages for passengers.
aptain Smith dined with some of the more prestigious passengers under a moonless yet starry sky whilst
Lightoller was at the helm.

By 8:55 pm Captain Smith had returned to the bridge in which he and Lightoller had a discussion about
the weather conditions.  “Yes, it is very cold, sir” Lightoller agreed.  “In fact it is only one degree above
freezing.  I have sent word down to the carpenter and rung up the engine room and told them it will be
freezing during the night.” Charles Lightoller

Captain Smith had decided to retire for the evening, but did remind Lightoller to slow the ship if
conditions became hazy, and to inform the crow’s nest to be on the lookout for bergs.

By 9:30 p.m. the radio room had made contact with mainland America and had a mass of telegraphs to
communicate to the United States.  At this point Bride made a fateful decision not to pass on an ice
warning from the nearby steamer Mesaba warning the titanic of pack ice and large bergs. 

Jack Philips failure to pass on crucial ice warnings would prove fatal.

Telegraph operator Jack Phillips had now taken over from Harold Bride felt too busy with unsent
messages and confident that he had previously sent all other ice-warnings to the bridge as a precaution.

At 10:00 pm the lights in the public rooms of second and third class were put out to encourage passengers
to head to bed whilst the drinks, cigars and conversations continued in first class.

Lightoller handed over the helm of Titanic to First officer Murdoch.  The pair discussed the conditions
and the wishes of Captain Smith if visibility changed.  Lightoller went to bed following a quick
inspection of the decks.

Jack Phillips was still working furiously in the telegraph room when at around 10:40 pm he received a
very loud message from the liner Californian.  “Say, Old man, we are stopped and surrounded by ice.”
The stressed and tired Phillips replied “Shut up!  Shut Up! I am busy. 

1913 June 4 Emily Wilding Davison

As an emblem of women's emancipation Emily Wilding Davison has always been controversial. The
suffragette who was fatally injured at the Epsom racecourse during the Derby 100 years ago under the
hooves of the king's horse has been saluted by some as a brave martyr and attacked by others as an
irresponsible anarchist. Now detailed analysis of film footage of the incident has shed new light on the
contentious moments on 4 June 1913 that were to go down in the history of political protest.
Despite the fact that film technology was in its early days, the incident was captured on three newsreel
cameras and a new study of the images has shown that the 40-year-old campaigner was not, as assumed,
attempting to pull down Anmer, the royal racehorse, but in fact reaching up to attach a scarf to its bridle.

The analysis, carried out by a team of investigators for a television documentary to be screened tonight
on Channel 4, also indicates that the position of Davison before she stepped out on to the track would
have given her a clear view of the oncoming race, contrary to the argument that she ran out recklessly to
kill herself.

Presenter Clare Balding and investigators Stephen Cole and Mike Dixon returned to the original nitrate
film stocks taken on the day and transferred them to a digital format. This was done so that they could be
cleaned and so that new software could cross-reference the three different camera angles.

"It has been such an extraordinary adventure to discover more about her, about what she stood for, about
the suffragette movement," said Balding this weekend on her work with the team making Secrets of a
Suffragette.

"It is hugely significant as a moment in history, a moment that absolutely sums up the desperation of
women in this country who wanted the vote."

Historians have suggested that Davison was trying to attach a flag to King George V's horse and police
reports suggested two flags were found on her body. Some witnesses believed she was trying to cross the
track, thinking the horses had passed by, others believed she had tried to pull down Anmer. The fact that
she was carrying a return train ticket from Epsom and had holiday plans with her sister in the near future
have also caused some historians to claim that she had no intention of killing herself.

In 2011 the horse-racing historian Michael Tanner argued that as Davison was standing in crowds on the
inside of the bend at Tattenham Corner it would have been impossible for her to see the king's horse.

But new cross-referencing between the cameras has revealed, say the C4 programme makers, that
Davison was closer to the start of Tattenham Corner than thought and so had a better line of sight. In this
position she could have seen and singled out Anmer.

Historians have suggested that Davison and other suffragettes were seen "practising" at grabbing horses in
the park near her mother's house and that they then drew lots to determine who should go to the Derby.

After colliding with Anmer, Davison collapsed unconscious on the track. The horse went over, but then
rose, completing the race without a jockey. Davison died of her injuries four days later in Epsom Cottage
Hospital.

At the funeral of the leading suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst in 1928, the jockey who had ridden Anmer
that day, Herbert Jones, laid a wreath "to do honour to the memory of Mrs Pankhurst and Miss Emily
Davison". Jones had suffered a mild concussion in the 1913 collision, but afterwards claimed he was
"haunted by that poor woman's face".

In 1951, his son found Jones dead in a gas-filled kitchen. The jockey had killed himself.
1914 August 4 German Invasion In Belgium
The German invasion of Belgium was a military campaign which began on 4 August 1914. Earlier, on 24
July, the Belgian government had announced that if war came it would uphold its historic  neutrality. The
Belgian government mobilised its armed forces on 31 July and a state of heightened alert ( Kriegsgefahr) was
proclaimed in Germany. On 2 August, the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium, demanding
passage through the country and German forces invaded Luxembourg. Two days later, the Belgian
Government refused the demands and the British Government guaranteed military support to Belgium. The
German government declared war on Belgium on 4 August, troops crossed the border and began the  Battle of
Liège.
German military operations in Belgium were intended to bring the 1st, 2nd and 3rd armies into positions in
Belgium from which they could invade France, which after the fall of Liège on 7 August, led to sieges of
Belgian fortresses along the Meuse river at Namur and the surrender of the last forts (16–17 August). The
government abandoned the capital, Brussels, on 17 August and after fighting on the Gete river, the Belgian
field army withdrew westwards to the National Redoubt at Antwerp on 19 August. Brussels was occupied the
following day and the Siege of Namur began on 21 August.
After the Battle of Mons and the Battle of Charleroi, the bulk of the German armies marched south into
France, leaving small forces to garrison Brussels and the Belgian railways. The III Reserve Corps advanced to
the fortified zone around Antwerp and a division of the IV Reserve Corps took over in Brussels. The Belgian
field army made several sorties from Antwerp in late August and September to harass German
communications and to assist the French and the British Expeditionary Force (BEF), by keeping German
troops in Belgium. German troop withdrawals to reinforce the main armies in France were postponed to
repulse a Belgian sortie from 9 to 13 September and a German corps in transit was retained in Belgium for
several days. Belgian resistance and German fear of francs-tireurs, led the Germans to implement a policy of
terror (schrecklichkeit) against Belgian civilians soon after the invasion, in which massacres, executions,
hostage taking and the burning of towns and villages took place and became known as the Rape of Belgium.
While the French armies and the BEF began the Great Retreat into France (24 August – 28 September), the
Belgian army and small detachments of French and British troops fought in Belgium against German cavalry
and Jäger. On 27 August, a squadron of the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) flew to Ostend, to conduct air
reconnaissance between Bruges, Ghent and Ypres. British marines landed in France on 19/20 September and
began scouting unoccupied Belgium in motor cars; an RNAS Armoured Car Section was created by fitting
vehicles with bulletproof steel. On 2 October, the Marine Brigade of the Royal Naval Division was moved to
Antwerp, followed by the rest of the division on 6 October. From 6 to 7 October, the 7th Division and the 3rd
Cavalry Division landed at Zeebrugge and naval forces collected at Dover were formed into the Dover Patrol,
to operate in the Channel and off the French–Belgian coast. Despite minor British reinforcement, the  Siege of
Antwerp ended when its defensive ring of forts was destroyed by German super-heavy artillery. The city was
abandoned on 9 October and Allied forces withdrew to West Flanders.
At the end of the Great Retreat, the Race to the Sea (17 September – 19 October) began, a period of reciprocal
attempts by the Germans and Franco-British to outflank their opponents, extending the front line northwards
from the Aisne, into Picardy, Artois and Flanders. Military operations in Belgium also moved westwards as the
Belgian army withdrew from Antwerp to the area close to the border with France. The Belgian army fought the
defensive Battle of the Yser (16–31 October) from Nieuwpoort (Nieuport) south to Diksmuide (Dixmude), as
the German 4th Army attacked westwards and French, British and some Belgian troops fought the  First Battle
of Ypres (19 October – 22 November) against the 4th and 6th armies. By November 1914, most of Belgium
was under German occupation and Allied naval blockade. A German military administration was established
on 26 August 1914, to rule through the pre-war Belgian administrative system, overseen by a small group of
German officers and officials. Belgium was divided into administrative zones, the General Government of
Brussels and its hinterland; a second zone, under the 4th Army, including Ghent and Antwerp and a third zone
under the German Navy along the coastline. The German occupation lasted until late 1918
1915 APRIL 25 Allied forces in Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles
Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from
Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British
and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major
land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well
as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Lack of sufficient
intelligence and knowledge of the terrain, along with a fierce Turkish resistance, hampered the
success of the invasion. By mid-October, Allied forces had suffered heavy casualties and had
made little headway from their initial landing sites. Evacuation began in December 1915, and
was completed early the following January .

1916 February 21 German Attack on Verdun

The Battle of Verdun (French: Bataille de Verdun [bataj də vɛʁdœ̃]; German: Schlacht um Verdun [ʃlaxt
ʔʊm ˈvɛɐ̯dœ̃]), fought from 21 February to 18 December 1916, the longest battle of the  First World
War was fought on the Western Front between the German and French armies. The battle took place on
the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse in north-eastern France. The German 5th Army attacked the defences
of the Fortified Region of Verdun (RFV, Région Fortifiée de Verdun) and those of the French Second
Army on the right bank of the Meuse. Inspired by the experience of the Second Battle of Champagne in
1915, the Germans planned to capture the Meuse Heights, an excellent defensive position with good
observation for artillery-fire on Verdun. The Germans hoped that the French would commit their strategic
reserve to recapture the position and suffer catastrophic losses in a battle of annihilation, at little cost to
the Germans, dug in on tactically advantageous positions on the heights.

1916 July 1 Bloodiest Morning

The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert (1–13
July), the name given by the British to the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme. Nine corps of the
French Sixth Army and the British Fourth and Third armies, attacked the German 2nd
Army (General Fritz von Below) from Foucaucourt south of the Somme northwards across the Ancre
to Serre and at Gommecourt, 2 mi (3.2 km) beyond, in the Third Army area. The objective of the attack
was to capture the German first and second positions from Serre south to the Albert–Bapaume road and
the first position from the road south to Foucaucourt.
The German defence south of the road mostly collapsed and the French had "complete success" on both
banks of the Somme, as did the British from Maricourt on the army boundary, where XIII Corps took
Montauban and reached all its objectives and XV Corps captured Mametz and isolated Fricourt. The III
Corps attack on both sides of the Albert–Bapaume road was a disaster, making only a short advance south
of La Boisselle, where the 34th Division had the largest number of casualties of any Allied division on 1
July. Further north, the X Corps attack captured the Leipzig Redoubt, failed opposite Thiepval and had a
great but temporary success on the left flank, where the German front line was overrun by the  36th Ulster
Division, which then captured Schwaben and Stuff redoubts.
German counter-attacks during the afternoon recaptured most of the lost ground north of the Albert–
Bapaume road and more British attacks against Thiepval were costly failures. On the north bank of the
Ancre, the attack of VIII Corps was a disaster, with large numbers of British troops being shot down in no
man's land. The VII Corps diversion at Gommecourt was also costly, with only a partial and temporary
advance south of the village. The German defeats from Foucaucourt to the Albert–Bapaume road left the
German defence on the south bank incapable of resisting another attack and a substantial German retreat
began, from the Flaucourt plateau to the west bank of the Somme close to Péronne, while north of the
Somme, Fricourt was abandoned overnight.
Several truces were observed to recover wounded from no man's land on the British front, where the
Fourth Army had lost 57,470 casualties, of whom 19,240 men were killed. The French had 1,590
casualties and the German 2nd Army lost 10,000–12,000 men. Orders were issued to the Anglo-French
armies to continue the offensive on 2 July and a German counter-attack on the north bank of the Somme
by the 12th Division, intended for the night of 1/2 July, took until dawn on 2 July to begin and was
destroyed. Since 1 July 1916, the cost of the battle and the "meagre gains" have been a source of grief and
controversy in Britain; in German and French writing, the first day of the Battle of the Somme has been
little more than a footnote to the mass losses of 1914–1915 and the Battle of Verdun.

1971 October 15 Mata Hari Executed

Margaretha Geertruida "Margreet" MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 1876 – 15 October 1917), better
known by the stage name Mata Hari (/ˈmɑːtə ˈhɑːri/), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was
convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I[1] and executed by firing squad in France.
Mata Hari was the stage name Dutch-born Margaretha Zelle took when she became one of Paris' most
popular exotic dancers on the eve of World War I. Although details of her past are sketchy, it is believed
that she was born in the Netherlands in 1876 and married a Dutch Army officer 21 years her senior when
she was 18. She quickly bore him two children and followed him when he was assigned to Java in 1897.
The marriage proved rocky. The couple returned to the Netherlands in 1902 with their daughter (their
other child, a son, had died mysteriously in Java). Margaretha's husband obtained a divorce and retained
custody of his daughter.
Margaretha then made her way to Paris where she reinvented herself as an 
Indian temple dancer thoroughly trained in the erotic dances of the East. She took on the
name Mata Hari and was soon luring audiences in the thousands as she performed in Paris, Mata
Berlin, Vienna, Madrid and other European capitals. She also attracted a number of highly- Hari
placed, aristocratic lovers willing to reward her handsomely for the pleasure of her company.
With the outbreak of World War I, Mata Hari's cross-border liaisons with German political and military
figures came to the attention of the French secret police and she was placed under surveillance. Brought
in for questioning, the French reportedly induced her to travel to neutral Spain in order to develop
relationships with the German naval and army attaches in Madrid and report any intelligence back to
Paris. In the murky world of the spy, however, the French suspected her of being a double agent. In
February 1917 Mata Hari returned to Paris and immediately arrested; charged with being a German spy.
Her trial in July revealed some damning evidence that the dancer was unable to adequately explain. She
was convicted and sentenced to death.
In the early-morning hours of October 15, Mata Hari was awakened and taken by car from her Paris
prison cell to an army barracks on the city's outskirts where she was to meet her fate.
1918 April 21 Death of Red Baron
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen (2 May 1892 – 21 April 1918), also known as the "Red Baron", was
a fighter pilot with the German Air Forceduring World War I. He is considered the ace-of-aces of the war,
being officially credited with 80 air combat victories.
Originally a cavalryman, Richthofen transferred to the Air Service in 1915, becoming one of the first members
of fighter squadron Jagdstaffel 2 in 1916. He quickly distinguished himself as a fighter pilot, and during 1917
became leader of Jasta 11 and then the larger fighter wing unit Jagdgeschwader 1, better known as "The
Flying Circus" or "Richthofen's Circus" because of the bright colours of its aircraft, and perhaps also because
of the way the unit was transferred from one area of allied air activity to another – moving like a travelling
circus, and frequently setting up in tents on improvised airfields. By 1918, Richthofen was regarded as a
national hero in Germany, and respected by his enemies.
Richthofen was shot down and killed near Vaux-sur-Somme on 21 April 1918. There has been considerable
discussion and debate regarding aspects of his career, especially the circumstances of his death. He remains
one of the most widely known fighter pilots of all time, and has been the subject of many books, films and
other media.

Tsar and His Family Murdered

The Russian Imperial Romanov family (Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Tsarina Alexandra and their five
children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei) and all those who chose to accompany them into
imprisonment—notably Eugene Botkin, Anna Demidova, Alexei Trupp and Ivan Kharitonov, according to the
conclusion of the investigator Sokolov, were shot and bayoneted to death[1][2] in Yekaterinburg on the night of
16–17 July 1918.[3] According to the official state version in the USSR, former Tsar Nicholas Romanov, along
with members of his family and retinue, was executed by firing squad, by order of the Ural Regional Soviet,
due to the threat of the city being occupied by Whites (Czechoslovak Legion By the assumption of a number
of researchers, this was done according to instructions by Lenin, Yakov Sverdlov and Felix Dzerzhinsky. Their
bodies were then taken to the Koptyaki forest where they were stripped and mutilated. [6][2] In 1919, White
Army investigation (of Sokolov) failed to find the gravesite, concluding that the imperial family's remains had
been cremated at the mineshaft called Ganina Yama, since evidence of fire was found. [7]. In 1979 and 2007, the
remains of the bodies were found in two unmarked graves in a field called Porosenkov Log
Following the February Revolution, the Romanov family and their loyal servants were imprisoned in
the Alexander Palace before being moved to Tobolskand then Yekaterinburg, where they were killed, allegedly
at the express command of Vladimir Lenin.[9] Despite being informed that "the entire family suffered the same
fate as its head",[10] the Bolsheviks only announced Nicholas's death,[11][12] with the official press release that
"Nicholas Romanov's wife and son have been sent to a secure place." [10] For over eight years,[13] the Soviet
leadership maintained a systematic web of disinformation as to the fate of the family, [14] from claiming in
September 1919 that they were murdered by left-wing revolutionaries[15] to denying outright in April 1922 that
they were dead.[14] They acknowledged the murders in 1926 following the publication of an investigation by
a White émigré, but maintained that the bodies were destroyed and that Lenin's Cabinet was not responsible.
[16]
 The Soviet cover-up of the murders fuelled rumours of survivors,[17] leading to the emergence of Romanov
impostors that drew media attention away from Soviet Russia.[14] Discussion regarding the fate of the family
was suppressed by Joseph Stalin from 1938.
The burial site was discovered in 1979 by an amateur sleuth,[19] but the existence of the remains was not made
public until 1989, during the glasnostperiod.[20] The identity of the remains was confirmed by forensic and
DNA investigation. They were reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg in 1998, 80 years
after they were killed, in a funeral that was not attended by key members of the  Russian Orthodox Church,
who disputed the authenticity of the remains.[ A second, smaller grave containing the remains of two Romanov
children missing from the larger grave was discovered by amateur archaeologists in 2007. [19] However, their
remains are kept in a state repository pending further DNA tests.[23] In 2008, after considerable and protracted
legal wrangling, the Russian Prosecutor General's office rehabilitated the Romanov family as "victims of
political repressions".[24] A criminal case was opened by the post-Soviet government in 1993, but nobody was
prosecuted on the basis that the perpetrators were dead.[23]
Some historians attribute the order to the government in Moscow, specifically Sverdlov and Lenin who wished
to prevent the rescue of the Imperial Family by the approaching Czechoslovak Legion (fighting with the White
Army against the Bolsheviks) during the ongoing Russian Civil War.[25][26] This is supported by a passage
in Leon Trotsky's diary.[27] An investigation led by Vladimir Solovyov concluded in 2011 that, despite the
opening of state archives in the post-Soviet years, there is yet no written document found that indicates that
either Lenin or Sverdlov instigated the orders; however, they did endorse the executions after they occurred. [28]
[29][30][31]
 Lenin had close control over the Romanovs although he ensured his name was not associated with their
fate in any official documents.[32] President Boris Yeltsin described the killings as one of the most shameful
pages in Russian history

1918 October 1 Capture of Damascus

The Capture of Damascus occurred on 1 October 1918 after the capture of Haifa and the victory at the Battle
of Samakh which opened the way for the pursuit north from the Sea of Galilee and the Third Transjordan
attack which opened the way to Deraa and the inland pursuit, after the decisive Egyptian Expeditionary
Force victory at the Battle of Megiddo during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. Damascus
was captured when Desert Mounted Corps and Prince Feisal's Sherifial Hejaz Army encircled the city, after a
cavalry pursuit northwards along the two main roads to Damascus. During the pursuit to Damascus, many
rearguards established by remnants of the Ottoman Fourth, Seventh and Eighth Armies were attacked and
captured by Prince Feisal's Sherifial Army, Desert Mounted Corps' Australian Mounted Division the 4th and
the 5th Cavalry Divisions. The important tactical success of capturing Damascus resulted in political
manoeuvring by representatives from France, Britain and Prince Feisal's force.
Following the victories at the Battle of Sharon and Battle of Nablus during the Battle of Megiddo, on 25
September, the combined attacks by the XXI Corps, Desert Mounted Corps, the XX Corps supported
by extensive aerial bombing attacks, gained all objectives. The Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies in the
Judean Hills were forced by the attacks at Tulkarm, and Tabsor to disengage and retreat, in turn forcing the
Fourth Army, east of the Jordan River to avoid outflanking by retreating from  Amman when they were
attacked by Chaytor's Force. As a consequence of these withdrawals large numbers of prisoners were captured
at Jenin while the surviving columns retreated behind a strong rearguard at Samakh.
The commander of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, General Edmund Allenby ordered Lieutenant
General Harry Chauvel's Desert Mounted Corps to pursue the remnants of the three Ottoman armies and
capture Damascus. The 4th Cavalry Division began the pursuit, attacking rearguards along the inland road
at Irbid on 26 September, at Er Remta and Prince Feisal's Sherifial Army captured Deraa on 27 September.
The Australian Mounted Division attacked rearguards along the main road, at Jisr Benat Yakub on 27
September, occupying Quneitra the next day, at Sa'sa' on 29/30 September, and at Kaukab and
the Barada Gorge on 30 September, while the 5th Cavalry Division also attacked a rearguard at Kiswe the
same day. Following these successful attacks and advances the 3rd Light Horse Brigade was ordered to move
north of Damascus, marching through the city on the morning of 1 October to continue their attack on the
retreating columns, cutting the road to Homs.
1919 April 13 Amritsar Massacre: An Empire of Fear and the Making of a
Massacre
On the afternoon of April 13th 1919 General Reginald Dyer led a column of troops and armoured cars
through the streets of ancient Amritsar, holy city of the Sikh faith. Their destination was a dusty, enclosed
clearing called the Jallianwala Bagh. Failing to squeeze the vehicles and machine-guns through a narrow
entrance, Dyer entered with just the soldiers. Before them was a crowd of about 15,000 peaceful,
unarmed Indian men, women and children quietly listening to political speeches. Many had come out of
idle curiosity.
During World War I (1914–18) the British government of India enacted a series of repressive emergency
powers that were intended to combat subversive activities. By the war’s end, expectations were high
among the Indian populace that those measures would be eased and that India would be given more
political autonomy. The Montagu-Chelmsford Report, presented to the British Parliamentin 1918, did in
fact recommend limited local self-government. Instead, however, the government of India passed what
became known as the Rowlatt Acts in early 1919, which essentially extended the repressive wartime
measures.
The acts were met by widespread anger and discontent among Indians, notably in the Punjab region.
Gandhi in early April called for a one-day general strike throughout the country. In Amritsar the news
that prominent Indian leaders had been arrested and banished from that city sparked violent protests on
April 10, in which soldiers fired upon civilians, buildings were looted and burned, and angry mobs killed
several foreign nationals and severely beat a Christian missionary. A force of several dozen troops
commanded by Brigadier General Reginald Edward Harry Dyer was given the task of restoring order.
Among the measures taken was a ban on public gatherings.
On the afternoon of April 13, a crowd of at least 10,000 men, women, and children gathered in an open
space known as the Jallianwalla Bagh, which was nearly completely enclosed by walls and had only one
exit. It is not clear how many people there were protesters who were defying the ban on public meetings
and how many had come to the city from the surrounding region to celebrate Baisakhi, a spring festival.
Dyer and his soldiers arrived and sealed off the exit. Without warning, the troops opened fire on the
crowd, reportedly shooting hundreds of rounds until they ran out of ammunition. It is not certain how
many died in the bloodbath, but, according to one official report, an estimated 379 people were killed, and
about 1,200 more were wounded. After they ceased firing, the troops immediately withdrew from the
place, leaving behind the dead and wounded.

The shooting was followed by the proclamation of martial law in the Punjab that included public
floggings and other humiliations. Indian outrage grew as news of the shooting and subsequent British
actions spread throughout the subcontinent. The Bengali poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath
Tagore renounced the knighthood that he had received in 1915. Gandhi was initially hesitant to act, but he
soon began organizing his first large-scale and sustained nonviolent protest (satyagraha) campaign,
the noncooperation movement (1920–22), which thrust him to prominence in the Indian nationalist
struggle.
The government of India ordered an investigation of the incident (the Hunter Commission), which in
1920 censured Dyer for his actions and ordered him to resign from the military. Reaction in Britain to the
massacre was mixed, however. Many condemned Dyer’s actions—including Sir Winston Churchill, then
secretary of war, in a speech to the House of Commons in 1920—but the House of Lords praised Dyer
and gave him a sword inscribed with the motto “Saviour of the Punjab.” In addition, a large fund was
raised by Dyer’s sympathizers and presented to him. The Jallianwalla Bagh site in Amritsar is now
a national monument.
Abdication of Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was the last German
Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918
shortly before Germany's defeat in World War I. He was the eldest grandchild of Queen Victoria of the United
Kingdom and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe, most notably his first cousin King George V of
the United Kingdom and Emperor Nicholas II of Russia, whose wife, Alexandra, was Wilhelm and George's
first cousin.
Assuming the throne in 1888, he dismissed the country's longtime chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, in 1890
before launching Germany on a bellicose "New Course" to cement its status as a respected world power.
However, due to his impetuous personality, he frequently undermined this aim by making tactless, alarming
public statements without consulting his ministers beforehand. He also did much to alienate other Great
Powers from Germany by initiating a massive build-up of the German Navy, challenging French control over
Morocco, and backing the Austrian annexation of Bosnia in 1908.
Wilhelm II's turbulent reign culminated in his guarantee of military support to Austria-Hungary during
the crisis of July 1914, which resulted in the outbreak of World War I. A lax wartime leader, he left virtually
all decision-making regarding military strategy and organisation of the war effort in the hands of the German
General Staff. This broad delegation of authority gave rise to a de facto military dictatorship whose
authorisation of unrestricted submarine warfare and the Zimmerman Telegram led to the United States' entry
into the conflict in April 1917. After Germany's defeat in 1918, Wilhelm lost the support of the German
army, abdicated on 9 November 1918, and fled to exile in the Netherlands, where he died in 1941.

JUNE 15, 1919: FIRST NONSTOP FLIGHT CROSSES ATLANTIC

John Alcock and Arthur Brown land their Vickers Vimy airplane in a bog in Clifden, Ireland, marking the
end of the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic.
It's a good bet to win a drink at a bar: "Do you know who was the first person to fly across the Atlantic in
an airplane, nonstop?" Most takers think it's Charles Lindbergh.
But the true answer is the kind of knowledge only the most die-hard aviation geeks would know: Alcock
and Brown.
In 1913, the British newspaper the Daily Mail offered a prize of 10,000 pounds sterling (about $1.1
million in today's money) to the first aviator to cross the Atlantic. But World War I intervened the
following year before anybody could make an attempt, and the competition was suspended.
In reality, it was unlikely anybody could have made the crossing in 1913. But by the end of the war,
aviation technology had improved significantly. In late 1918, the competition to fly across the Atlantic
resumed and stipulated the flight must be made in less than 72 hours. With fighting still fresh in the minds
of the British, a new rule prevented teams of "enemy origin" to enter.
By the spring of 1919, several teams had gathered in St. Johns, Newfoundland, vying to be the first to
cross the Atlantic and collect the prize. There were so many teams that Alcock and Brown had a difficult
time finding a suitable field they could use as a runway for their flight.
There were no airports in the area. The Vickers Vimy airplane they had prepared for the attempt back in
England was still en route by steamship, and other teams had already set up camp at the best locations.
The Vickers Vimy was a large airplane for the time. The twin engine bomber was developed for use in
World War I, but it wasn't ready until after the war had ended, and it never saw combat over Europe. With
a wingspan of more than 67 feet, the biplane was powered by a pair of 12-cylinder Rolls-Royce engines
producing 360 horsepower each.
The airplane used for the record-setting attempt was modified by removing the bomb racks and adding
extra fuel tanks, so it could carry 865 gallons for the flight. The pilot and navigator sat in an open cockpit
at the front of the airplane.
By mid-May, one of the rival teams had flown nearly 20 hours east across the ocean before engine
troubles forced the crew to ditch at sea. Fortunately, the plane crashed near a ship that was able to rescue
the two-man crew. Another attempt at the prize ended in a crash before the airplane was even able to get
airborne.
The Vickers Vimy arrived in Newfoundland on May 26. Two teams had failed to make the crossing, and
the prize was still up for grabs, as was some good real estate for a suitable runway. The team was allowed
to use a small field to assemble the airplane, but it was not long enough for the heavily fuel-laden airplane
to take off.
The Vimy arrived in 13 crates and was assembled in a large canvas tent in just two weeks. At the same
time the airplane was being assembled, Alcock had found a suitable takeoff field. Groups of people
worked to clear rocks and fill ditches to make it smooth enough for use as a runway.
After a few days waiting out bad weather, the decision was made to fuel the airplane at its new field and
make an attempt for the first nonstop crossing of the Atlantic. (A U.S. Navy Curtiss seaplane had flown
from Newfoundland to Portugal in May, after a 10-day stop in the Azores.) After a few last-minute
repairs to fix a broken landing gear that failed under the weight of the fuel, Alcock and Brown lifted off
from Lester's Field on the afternoon of June 14.
Brown radioed the message, "All well and started," to announce they had begun their journey.
Unfortunately, it would be the first and last radio message the crew would make. The wind-powered
generator failed shortly after, and the duo was left without a radio for the remainder of the flight.
Using a sextant and a drift-bearing plate, Brown was able to determine their position as they flew. Shortly
after the radio went out, fog covered the sea, so he could not determine their drift. A haze developed, and
he was unable to use the sextant to determine their location.
At night approached, Brown urged Alcock to climb above the clouds so he could use the stars to get a fix
on their position. It was good news: He calculated they were averaging 106 miles per hour, faster than
they had planned.
But soon they flew into another bank of clouds, and Alcock became disoriented and lost control of the
aircraft. The airspeed indicator had been stuck and Alcock didn't realize the airplane was slowing down.
Eventually it stalled and entered a spin.
They lost more than 4,000 feet as they spiraled toward the North Atlantic. Breaking out of the clouds at
around 100 feet, Alcock was able to recover from the spin and with very little room to spare, leveled off
and continued flying east toward Ireland.
The weather did not improve, and rain turned to snow as they flew farther east. Ice covered the airplane,
and Brown had to frequently stand up in the open cockpit and clear ice and snow from the instrument
sensors which were outside the cockpit.
Eventually, the ice covered the air intake of one of the engines. Alcock decided to shut the engine down
before the backfiring could destroy it. Descending into warmer air, the duo hoped the ice would melt
before they hit the water. At around 500 feet, they broke into clear skies and were able to restart the
engine.
It seemed nothing more could go wrong with their flight, and sure enough less than half an hour after
restarting the engine, Alcock and Brown spotted solid land. They had reached Ireland.
In a less-than-ceremonious landing, Alcock put the plane down in a bog he had mistaken for a smooth
field. The wheels dug in, and the plane tipped onto its nose.
With a gentle crash at 8:40 a.m., they completed the first nonstop flight across the Atlantic. Accounts
vary, but the flight of approximately 1,890 miles across the shortest part of the Atlantic had taken around
16 hours, averaging roughly 118 mph.
They were awarded the prize money in London by the British Secretary of State for War and Air,
Winston Churchill. They were later knighted by King George V.
Over the course of the next several years, many more pilots would fly airplanes across the Atlantic, and
even more would cross in airships. Different teams flew different routes between North America and
Europe.
Eventually in 1927, Charles Lindbergh would make his historic flight between New York and Paris to
win the Orteig Prize. It was the first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic and the first to link the two
major cities. Lindbergh was, however, the 19th person to cross the Atlantic in an airplane.
Pilots Steve Fossett and Mark Rebholz recreated the flight of Alcock and Brown in a replica Vickers
Vimy in 2005.

Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (French: Traité de Versailles) was the most important of the peace treaties that
brought World War I to an end. The Treaty ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied
Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919 in Versailles, exactly five years after the assassination of
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which had directly led to World War I. The other Central Powers on the
German side of World War I signed separate treaties.  Although the armistice, signed on 11 November
1918, ended the actual fighting, it took six months of Allied negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference to
conclude the peace treaty. The treaty was registered by the Secretariat of the  League of Nations on 21
October 1919.
Of the many provisions in the treaty, one of the most important and controversial required "Germany [to]
accept the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage" during the war
(the other members of the Central Powers signed treaties containing similar articles). This article, Article
231, later became known as the War Guilt clause. The treaty required Germany to disarm, make ample
territorial concessions, and pay reparations to certain countries that had formed the Entente powers. In
1921 the total cost of these reparations was assessed at 132 billion marks (then $31.4 billion or
£6.6 billion, roughly equivalent to US$442 billion or UK£284 billion in 2019). At the time economists,
notably John Maynard Keynes (a British delegate to the Paris Peace Conference), predicted that the treaty
was too harsh—a "Carthaginian peace"—and said the reparations figure was excessive and counter-
productive, views that, since then, have been the subject of ongoing debate by historians and economists
from several countries. On the other hand, prominent figures on the Allied side such as
French MarshalFerdinand Foch criticized the treaty for treating Germany too leniently.
The result of these competing and sometimes conflicting goals among the victors was a compromise that
left no one content: Germany was neither pacified nor conciliated, nor was it permanently weakened. The
problems that arose from the treaty would lead to the Locarno Treaties, which improved relations
between Germany and the other European powers, and the re-negotiation of the reparation system
resulting in the Dawes Plan, the Young Plan, and the indefinite postponement of reparations at
the Lausanne Conference of 1932.
Although it is often referred to as the "Versailles Conference", only the actual signing of the treaty took
place at the historic palace. Most of the negotiations were in Paris, with the "Big Four" meetings taking
place generally at the Quai d'Orsay
First World War
On 28 June 1914 the Bosnian-Serbs assassinated the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary in the
name of Serbian nationalism This caused a rapidly escalating July Crisis resulting in Austria-
Hungary declaring war on Serbia, followed quickly by the entry of most European powers
into First World War. Two alliances faced off, the Central Powers (led by Germany) and
the Triple Entente (led by Britain, France and Russia). Other countries entered as fighting ranged
widely across Europe, as well as the Middle East, Africa and Asia. In 1917, two
revolutions occurred within the Russian Empire. The new Bolshevik government under Vladimir
Lenin in March 1918 signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk that was highly favourable to Germany.
Sensing victory before American armies could be ready, Germany now shifted forced to the
Western Front and tried to overwhelm the Allies. It failed. Instead the Allies won decisively on
the battlefield and forced an armistice in November 1918 that resembled a surrender.

US entry and the Fourteen Points

On 6 April 1917, the United States entered the war against the Central Powers. The motives were
twofold: German submarine warfare against merchant ships trading with France and Britain,
which led to the sinking of the RMS Lusitania and the loss of 128 American lives; and the
interception of the German Zimmermann Telegram, urging Mexico to declare war against the
United States. The American war aim was to detach the war from nationalistic disputes and
ambitions after the Bolshevik disclosure of secret treaties between the Allies. The existence of
these treaties tended to discredit Allied claims that Germany was the sole power with aggressive
ambitions.
On 8 January 1918, President Woodrow Wilson issued the nation's postwar goals, the Fourteen
Points. It outlined a policy of free trade, open agreements, and democracy. While the term was
not used self-determination was assumed. It called for a negotiated end to the war, international
disarmament, the withdrawal of the Central Powers from occupied territories, the creation of
a Polish state, the redrawing of Europe's borders along ethnic lines, and the formation of
a League of Nations to guarantee the political independence and territorial integrity of all
states. It called for a just and democratic peace uncompromised by territorial annexations. The
Fourteen Points were based on the research of the Inquiry, a team of about 150 advisors led by
foreign-policy advisor Edward M. House, into the topics likely to arise in the expected peace
conference.
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918
After the Central Powers launched Operation Faustschlag on the Eastern Front, the new Soviet
Government of Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany on 3 March 1918.
[15]
 This treaty ended the war between Russia and the Central powers and annexed 1,300,000
square miles (3,400,000 km2) of territory and 62 million people.  This loss equated to a third of
the Russian population, a quarter of its territory, around a third of the country's arable land,
three-quarters of its coal and iron, a third of its factories (totalling 54 percent of the nation's
industrial capacity), and a quarter of its railroads.
Armistice
During the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers began to collapse. Desertion rates within the
German army began to increase, and civilian strikes drastically reduced war production. [19][20] On
the Western Front, the Allied forces launched the Hundred Days Offensive and decisively
defeated the German western armies. Sailors of the Imperial German Navy at Kiel mutinied,
which prompted uprisings in Germany, which became known as the German Revolution.[22]
[23]
The German government tried to obtain a peace settlement based on the Fourteen Points, and
maintained it was on this basis that they surrendered. Following negotiations, the Allied powers
and Germany signed an armistice, which came into effect on 11 November while German forces
were still positioned in France and Belgium.
Occupation
The terms of the armistice called for an immediate evacuation of German troops from occupied
Belgium, France, and Luxembourg within fifteen days.[27] In addition, it established that Allied
forces would occupy the Rhineland. In late 1918, Allied troops entered Germany and began the
occupation.

Blockade
Both the German Empire and Great Britain were dependent on imports of food and raw
materials, primarily from the Americas, which had to be shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. The
Blockade of Germany (1914–1919) was a naval operation conducted by the Allied Powers to
stop the supply of raw materials and foodstuffs reaching the Central Powers. The
German Kaiserliche Marine was mainly restricted to the German Bight and used commerce
raiders and unrestricted submarine warfare for a counter-blockade. The German Board of Public
Health in December 1918 stated that 763,000 German civilians had died during the Allied
blockade, although an academic study in 1928 put the death toll at 424,000 people.
Talks between the Allies to establish a common negotiating position started on 18 January 1919,
in the Salle de l'Horloge at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d'Orsay in Paris. Initially, 70
delegates from 27 nations participated in the negotiations. [31] Russia was excluded due to their
signing of a separate peace (the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk) and early withdrawal from the war.
Furthermore, German negotiators were excluded to deny them an opportunity to divide the Allies
diplomatically.
Initially, a "Council of Ten" (comprising two delegates each from Britain, France, the United
States, Italy, and Japan) met officially to decide the peace terms. This council was replaced by
the "Council of Five", formed from each countries foreign ministers, to discuss minor
matters. Prime Minister of France Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of Italy Vittorio
Emanuele Orlando, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Lloyd George, and President
of the United States Woodrow Wilson formed the "Big Four" (at one point becoming the "Big
Three" following the temporally withdrawal of Vittorio Emanuele Orlando). These four men met
in 145 closed sessions to make all the major decisions, which were later ratified by the entire
assembly. The minor powers attended a weekly "Plenary Conference" that discussed issues in a
general forum but made no decisions. These members formed over 50 commissions that made
various recommendations, many of which were incorporated into the final text of the treaty
French aims
France had lost 1.3 million soldiers, including 25% of French men aged 18–30 and 400,000
civilians. France had also been more physically damaged than any other nation (the so-
called zone rouge (Red Zone); the most industrialized region and the source of most coal and
iron ore in the north-east had been devastated and in the final days of the war mines had been
flooded and railways, bridges and factories destroyed. Clemenceau intended to ensure the
security of France, by weakening Germany economically, militarily, territorially and by
supplanting Germany as the leading producer of steel in Europe. A position British economist
and Versailles negotiator John Maynard Keynes summarized as attempting to "set the clock back
and undo what, since 1870, the progress of Germany had accomplished."
Clemenceau told Wilson: "America is far away, protected by the ocean. Not
even Napoleon himself could touch England. You are both sheltered; we are not".[41] The French
wanted a frontier on the Rhine, to protect France from a German invasion and compensate for
French demographic and economic inferiority.[42][43] American and British representatives refused
the French claim and after two months of negotiations, the French accepted a British pledge to
provide an immediate alliance with France if Germany attacked again, and Wilson agreed to put
a similar proposal to the Senate. Clemenceau had told the Chamber of Deputies, in December
1918, that his goal was to maintain an alliance with both countries. Clemenceau accepted the
offer, in return for an occupation of the Rhineland for fifteen years and that Germany would
also demilitarise the Rhineland.
French negotiators required reparations, to make Germany pay for the destruction induced
throughout the war and to decrease German strength. The French also wanted the iron ore and
coal of the Saar Valley, by annexation to France. The French were willing to accept a smaller
amount of reparations than the Americans would concede and Clemenceau was willing to
discuss German capacity to pay with the German delegation, before the final settlement was
drafted. In April and May 1919, the French and Germans held separate talks, on mutually
acceptable arrangements on issues like reparation, reconstruction and industrial collaboration.
France, along with the British Dominions and Belgium, opposed mandates and favored
annexation of former German colonies.
British aims
Britain had suffered little land devastation during the war. However, the British wartime
coalition was re-elected during the so-called Coupon election at the end of 1918, with a policy of
squeezing the German "'til the pips squeak". Public opinion favoured a "just peace", which would
force Germany to pay reparations and be unable to repeat the aggression of 1914, although those
of a "liberal and advanced opinion" shared Wilson's ideal of a peace of reconciliation. In private
Lloyd George opposed revenge and attempted to compromise between Clemenceau's demands
and the Fourteen Points, because Europe would eventually have to reconcile with Germany.
Lloyd George wanted terms of reparation that would not cripple the German economy, so that
Germany would remain a viable economic power and trading partner. By arguing that British
war pensions and widows' allowances should be included in the German reparation sum, Lloyd
George ensured that a large amount would go to the British Empire.
Lloyd George also intended to maintain a European balance of power to thwart a French attempt
to establish itself as the dominant European power. A revived Germany would be a
counterweight to France and a deterrent to Bolshevik Russia. Lloyd George also wanted to
neutralize the German navy to keep the Royal Navy as the greatest naval power in the world;
dismantle the German colonial empire with several of its territorial possessions ceded to Britain
and others being established as League of Nations mandates, a position opposed by
the Dominions.
American aims
Prior to the American entry into the war, Wilson had talked of a 'peace without victory'. This
position fluctuated following the US entry into the war. Wilson spoke of the German aggressors,
with whom there could be no compromised peace However, on 8 January 1918, Wilson
delivered a speech (known as the Fourteen Points) that declared the American peace objectives:
the rebuilding of the European economy, self-determination of European ethnic groups, the
promotion of free trade, the creation of appropriate mandates for former colonies, and above all,
the creation of a powerful League of Nations that would ensure the peace. The aim of the latter
was to provide a forum to revise the peace treaties as needed, and deal with problems that arose
as a result of the peace and the rise of new states.
Wilson brought along top intellectuals as advisors to the American peace delegation, and the
overall American position echoed the Fourteen Points. Wilson firmly opposed harsh treatment on
Germany.[54]While the British and French wanted to largely annex the German colonial empire,
Wilson saw that as a violation of the fundamental principles of justice and human rights of the
native populations, and favored them having the right of self-determination via the creation of
mandates. The promoted idea called for the major powers to act as disinterested trustees over a
region, aiding the native populations until they could govern themselves.[56] In spite of this
position and in order to ensure that Japan did not refuse to join the League of Nations, Wilson
favored turning over the former German colony of Shandong, in Eastern China, to Japan rather
than return the area to Chinese control. [  Further confounding the Americans, was US internal
partisan politics. In November 1918, the Republican Party won the Senate election by a slim
margin. Wilson, a Democrat, refused to include prominent Republicans in the American
delegation making his efforts seem partisan, and contributed to a risk of political defeat at home.
[54]

In June 1919, the Allies declared that war would resume if the German government did not sign
the treaty they had agreed to among themselves. The government headed by Philipp
Scheidemann was unable to agree on a common position, and Scheidemann himself resigned
rather than agree to sign the treaty. Gustav Bauer, the head of the new government, sent a
telegram stating his intention to sign the treaty if certain articles were withdrawn, including
Articles 227, 230 and 231.[nb 1] In response, the Allies issued an ultimatum stating that Germany
would have to accept the treaty or face an invasion of Allied forces across the Rhine within 24
hours. On 23 June, Bauer capitulated and sent a second telegram with a confirmation that a
German delegation would arrive shortly to sign the treaty. [58] On 28 June 1919, the fifth
anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the immediate impetus for the
war), the peace treaty was signed.[2] The treaty had clauses ranging from war crimes, the
prohibition on the merging of Austria with Germany without the consent of the League of
Nations, freedom of navigation on major European rivers, to the returning of a Koran to the king
of Hedjaz.[59][60][61][62]
Territorial changes
The treaty stripped Germany of 25,000 square miles (65,000 km2) of territory and 7 million
people. It also required Germany to give up the gains made via the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and
grant independence to the protectorates that had been established. [17] In Western Europe Germany
was required to recognize Belgian sovereignty over Moresnet and cede control of the Eupen-
Malmedy area. Within six months of the transfer, Belgium was required to conduct
a plebiscite on whether the citizens of the region wanted to remain under Belgian sovereignty or
return to German control, communicate the results to the League of Nations and abide by the
League's decision.] To compensate for the destruction of French coal mines, Germany was to
cede the output of the Saar coalmines to France and control of the Saar to the League of
Nations for 15 years; a plebiscite would then be held to decide sovereignty. [64] The treaty
"restored" the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to France by rescinding the treaties
of Versailles and Frankfurt of 1871 as they pertained to this issue. The sovereignty of Schleswig-
Holstein was to be resolved by a plebiscite to be held at a future time)
In  Germany was to recognize the independence of Czechoslovakia and cede parts of the
province of Upper Silesia  Germany had to recognize the independence of Poland and renounce
"all rights and title over the territory". Portions of Upper Silesia were to be ceded to Poland, with
the future of the rest of the province to be decided by plebiscite. The border would be fixed with
regard to the vote and to the geographical and economic conditions of each locality. [68] The
province of Posen (now Poznań), which had come under Polish control during the Greater
Poland Uprising, was also to be ceded to Poland. Pomerelia (Eastern Pomerania), on historical
and ethnic grounds, was transferred to Poland so that the new state could have access to the sea
and became known as the Polish Corridor. The sovereignty of part of southern East Prussia was
to be decided via plebiscite while the East Prussian Soldau area, which was astride the rail line
between Warsaw and Danzig, was transferred to Poland outright without plebiscite. An area of
51,800 square kilometres (20,000 square miles) was granted to Poland at the expense of
Germany. Memel was to be ceded to the Allied and Associated powers, for disposal according to
their wishes. Germany was to cede the city of Danzig and its hinterland, including the delta of
the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea, for the League of Nations to establish the Free City of
Danzig.
Mandates

Article 119 of the treaty required Germany to renounce sovereignty over former colonies and
Article 22 converted the territories into League of Nations mandates under the control of Allied
states.[77] Togoland and German Kamerun (Cameroon) were transferred to France. Ruanda and
Urundi were allocated to Belgium, whereas German South-West Africa went to South Africa and
the United Kingdom obtained German East Africa.[78][79][80] As compensation for the German
invasion of Portuguese Africa, Portugal was granted the Kionga Triangle, a sliver of German
East Africa in northern Mozambique.[81] Article 156 of the treaty transferred German concessions
in Shandong, China, to Japan, not to China. Japan was granted all German possessions in the
Pacific north of the equator and those south of the equator went to Australia, except for German
Samoa, which was taken by New Zealand.[79][82]
Military restrictions
The treaty was comprehensive and complex in the restrictions imposed upon the post-war
German armed forces (the Reichswehr). The provisions were intended to make
the Reichswehr incapable of offensive action and to encourage international disarmament. [83]
[84]
 Germany was to demobilize sufficient soldiers by 31 March 1920 to leave an army of no more
than 100,000 men in a maximum of seven infantry and three cavalry divisions. The treaty laid
down the organisation of the divisions and support units, and the General Staff was to be
dissolved.[85] Military schools for officer training were limited to three, one school per arm, and
conscription was abolished. Private soldiers and non-commissioned officers were to be retained
for at least twelve years and officers for a minimum of 25 years, with former officers being
forbidden to attend military exercises. To prevent Germany from building up a large cadre of
trained men, the number of men allowed to leave early was limited.[86]
The number of civilian staff supporting the army was reduced and the police force was reduced
to its pre-war size, with increases limited to population increases; paramilitary forces were
forbidden.[87] The Rhineland was to be demilitarized, all fortifications in the Rhineland and 50
kilometres (31 miles) east of the river were to be demolished and new construction was
forbidden.[88] Military structures and fortifications on the islands of Heligoland and Düne were to
be destroyed.[89] Germany was prohibited from the arms trade, limits were imposed on the type
and quantity of weapons and prohibited from the manufacture or stockpile of chemical
weapons, armoured cars, tanks and military aircraft.[90] The German navy was allowed six pre-
dreadnought battleships and was limited to a maximum of six light cruisers (not exceeding 6,000
long tons (6,100 t)), twelve destroyers (not exceeding 800 long tons (810 t)) and twelve torpedo
boats (not exceeding 200 long tons (200 t)) and was forbidden submarines.[91] The manpower of
the navy was not to exceed 15,000 men, including manning for the fleet, coast defences, signal
stations, administration, other land services, officers and men of all grades and corps. The
number of officers and warrant officers was not allowed to exceed 1,500 men.[92] Germany
surrendered eight battleships, eight light cruisers, forty-two destroyers, and fifty torpedo boats
for decommissioning. Thirty-two auxiliary ships were to be disarmed and converted to merchant
use.[93] Article 198 prohibited Germany from having an air force, including naval air forces, and
required Germany to hand over all aerial related materials. In conjunction, Germany was
forbidden to manufacture or import aircraft or related material for a period of six months
following the signing of the treaty.[94]
Reparations

In Article 231 Germany accepted responsibility for the losses and damages caused by the war "as
a consequence of the ... aggression of Germany and her allies." [95][nb 2] The treaty required
Germany to compensate the Allied powers, and it also established an Allied "Reparation
Commission" to determine the exact amount which Germany would pay and the form that such
payment would take. The commission was required to "give to the German Government a just
opportunity to be heard", and to submit its conclusions by 1 May 1921. In the interim, the treaty
required Germany to pay an equivalent of 20 billion gold marks ($5 billion) in gold,
commodities, ships, securities or other forms. The money would help to pay for Allied
occupation costs and buy food and raw materials for Germany.

To ensure compliance, the Rhineland and bridgeheads east of the Rhine were to be occupied by

Allied troops for fifteen years.[102] If Germany had not committed aggression, a staged
withdrawal would take place; after five years, the Cologne bridgehead and the territory north of a
line along the Ruhr would be evacuated. After ten years, the bridgehead at Coblenz and the
territories to the north would be evacuated and after fifteen years remaining Allied forces would
be withdrawn.[103] If Germany reneged on the treaty obligations, the bridgeheads would be
reoccupied immediately.[104]
International organizations
Part I of the treaty, as per all the treaties signed during the Paris Peace Conference, [nb 3] was
the Covenant of the League of Nations, which provided for the creation of the League, an
organization for the arbitration of international disputes. [105] Part XIII organized the establishment
of the International Labour Officer, to regulate hours of work, including a maximum working
day and week; the regulation of the labour supply; the prevention of unemployment; the
provision of a living wage; the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury
arising out of his employment; the protection of children, young persons and women; provision
for old age and injury; protection of the interests of workers when employed abroad; recognition
of the principle of freedom of association; the organization of vocational and technical education
and other measures. The treaty also called for the signatories to sign or ratify the International
Opium Convention

Britain

A British news placard announces the signing of the peace treaty.

The delegates of the Commonwealth and British Government had mixed thoughts on the treaty,
with some seeing the French policy as being greedy and vindictive. [108][109]Lloyd George and his
private secretary Philip Kerr believed in the treaty, although they also felt that the French would
keep Europe in a constant state of turmoil by attempting to enforce the treaty.
[110]
 Delegate Harold Nicolson wrote "are we making a good peace?", while General Jan Smuts (a
member of the South African delegation) wrote to Lloyd-George, before the signing, that the
treaty was unstable and declared "Are we in our sober senses or suffering from shellshock? What
has become of Wilson's 14 points?" He wanted the Germans not be made to sign at the "point of
the bayonet".[111][112] Smuts issued a statement condemning the treaty and regretting that the
promises of "a new international order and a fairer, better world are not written in this treaty".
Lord Robert Cecil said that many within the Foreign Office were disappointed by the treaty.
[111]
 The treaty received widespread approval from the general public. Bernadotte Schmitt wrote
that the "average Englishman ... thought Germany got only what it deserved" as a result of the
treaty.[113] However, public opinion changed as German complaints mounted.[114]
The surrendering of the German High Seas Fleet following the armistice, its internment, and
eventual scuttling at Scapa Flow meant that Britain's primary war goal was achieved prior to the
signing of the treaty.[citation needed] As a result, British policy towards Germany began diverging
from France's almost from the moment the guns fell silent and focused on establishing Germany
as a bulwark against the threat posed by the new Soviet Union.[citation needed]
By the 1930s, Lloyd George's position on the treaty has changed. In 1938, he published his
memoir titled The Truth About the Peace Treaties, in which he repudiated the terms of the treaty
that bore his signature.[115] Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, following the German re-
militarisation of the Rhineland in 1936, stated that he was "pleased" that the treaty was
"vanishing", expressing his hope that the French had been taught a "severe lesson".[116]
France
The signing of the treaty was met with roars of approval, singing, and dancing from a crowd
outside the Palace of Versailles. In Paris proper, people rejoiced at the official end of the war,
[117]
 the return of Alsaceand Lorraine to France, and that Germany had agreed to pay reparations
While France ratified the treaty and was active in the League, the jubilant mood soon gave way
to a political backlash for Clemenceau. The French Right saw the treaty as being too lenient and
saw it as failing to achieve all of France's demands. Left-wing politicians attacked the treaty and
Clemenceau for being too harsh (the latter turning into a ritual condemnation of the treaty, for
politicians remarking on French foreign affairs, as late as August 1939). Marshal Ferdinand
Foch stated "this (treaty) is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years."; a criticism over the
failure to annex the Rhineland and for compromising French security for the benefit of the
United States and Britain. When Clemenceau stood for election as President of France in January
1920, he was defeated.[
Italy
Reaction in Italy to the treaty was extremely negative. The country had suffered high casualties,
yet failed to achieve most of its major war goals, notably gaining control of the Dalmatian
coast and Fiume. President Wilson rejected Italy's claims on the basis of "national self-
determination." For their part, Britain and France—who had been forced in the war's latter stages
to divert their own troops to the Italian front to stave off collapse—were disinclined to support
Italy's position at the peace conference. Differences in negotiating strategy between
Premier Vittorio Orlando and Foreign Minister Sidney Sonnino further undermined Italy's
position at the conference. A furious Vittorio Orlando suffered a nervous collapse and at one
point walked out of the conference (though he later returned). He lost his position as prime
minister just a week before the treaty was scheduled to be signed, effectively ending his active
political career. Anger and dismay over the treaty's provisions helped pave the way for the
establishment of Benito Mussolini's dictatorship three years later.
Portugal
Portugal entered the war on the Allied side in 1916 primarily to ensure the security of its African
colonies, which were threatened with seizure by both Britain and Germany. To this extent, she
succeeded in her war aims. The treaty recognized Portuguese sovereignty over these areas and
awarded her small portions of Germany's bordering overseas colonies. Otherwise, Portugal
gained little at the peace conference. Her promised share of German reparations never
materialized, and a seat she coveted on the executive council of the new League of Nations went
instead to Spain—which had remained neutral in the war. In the end, Portugal ratified the treaty,
but got little out of the war, which cost more than 8,000 Portuguese troops and as many as
100,000 of her African colonial subjects their lives.[123]
United States

After the Versailles conference, Democratic President Woodrow Wilson claimed that "at last the
world knows America as the savior of the world! However, the Republican Party, led by Henry
Cabot Lodge, controlled the US Senate after the election of 1918, and the senators were divided
into multiple positions on the Versailles question. It proved possible to build a majority coalition,
but impossible to build a two-thirds coalition that was needed to pass a treaty.[125]
A discontent bloc of 12–18 "Irreconcilables", mostly Republicans but also representatives of the
Irish and German Democrats, fiercely opposed the treaty. One block of Democrats strongly
supported the Versailles Treaty, even with reservations added by Lodge. A second group of
Democrats supported the treaty but followed Wilson in opposing any amendments or
reservations. The largest bloc, led by Senator Lodge,[126] comprised a majority of the
Republicans. They wanted a treaty with reservations, especially on Article 10, which involved
the power of the League of Nations to make war without a vote by the US Congress. [127] All of
the Irreconcilables were bitter enemies of President Wilson, and he launched a nationwide
speaking tour in the summer of 1919 to refute them. However, Wilson collapsed midway with a
serious stroke that effectively ruined his leadership skills.[128]
The closest the treaty came to passage was on 19 November 1919, as Lodge and his Republicans
formed a coalition with the pro-Treaty Democrats, and were close to a two-thirds majority for a
Treaty with reservations, but Wilson rejected this compromise and enough Democrats followed
his lead to permanently end the chances for ratification. Among the American public as a whole,
the Irish Catholics and the German Americans were intensely opposed to the treaty, saying it
favored the British.[129]
After Wilson's presidency, his successor Republican President Warren G. Harding continued
American opposition to the formation of the League of Nations. Congress subsequently passed
the Knox–Porter Resolution bringing a formal end to hostilities between the United States and
the Central Powers. It was signed into law by President Harding on 2 July 1921. [130][131] Soon
after, the US–German Peace Treaty of 1921 was signed in Berlin on 25 August 1921, and two
similar treaties were signed with Austriaand Hungary on 24 and 29 August 1921, in Vienna and
Budapest respectively.
House's views
Wilson's former friend Edward Mandell House, present at the negotiations, wrote in his diary on
29 June 1919:
I am leaving Paris, after eight fateful months, with conflicting emotions. Looking at the
conference in retrospect, there is much to approve and yet much to regret. It is easy to say what
should have been done, but more difficult to have found a way of doing it. To those who are
saying that the treaty is bad and should never have been made and that it will involve Europe in
infinite difficulties in its enforcement, I feel like admitting it. But I would also say in reply that
empires cannot be shattered, and new states raised upon their ruins without disturbance. To
create new boundaries is to create new troubles. The one follows the other. While I should have
preferred a different peace, I doubt very much whether it could have been made, for the
ingredients required for such a peace as I would have were lacking at Paris.
Many in China felt betrayed as the German territory in China was handed to Japan. Wellington
Koo refused to sign the treaty and the Chinese delegation at the Paris Peace Conference was the
only nation that did not sign the Treaty of Versailles at the signing ceremony. The sense of
betrayal led to great demonstrations in China like the May 4th movement and the fall of the
nascent Chinese Republic's government and poisoned relations with the West. There was
immense dissatisfaction with Duan Qirui’s government, which had secretly negotiated with the
Japanese in order to secure loans to fund their military campaigns against the south.
Germany
On 29 April, the German delegation under the leadership of the Foreign Minister Ulrich Graf von
Brockdorff-Rantzau arrived in Versailles. On 7 May, when faced with the conditions dictated by
the victors, including the so-called "War Guilt Clause", von Brockdorff-Rantzau replied to
Clemenceau, Wilson and Lloyd George: "We know the full brunt of hate that confronts us here.
You demand from us to confess we were the only guilty party of war; such a confession in my
mouth would be a lie. Because Germany was not allowed to take part in the negotiations, the
German government issued a protest against what it considered to be unfair demands, and a
"violation of honour", soon afterwards withdrawing from the proceedings of the peace
conference.
Germans of all political shades denounced the treaty—particularly the provision that blamed
Germany for starting the war—as an insult to the nation's honor. They referred to the treaty as
"the Diktat" since its terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis. Germany's
first democratically elected head of government, Philipp Scheidemann, resigned rather than sign
the treaty. In a passionate speech before the National Assembly on 21 March 1919, he called the
treaty a "murderous plan" and exclaimed,
Which hand, trying to put us in chains like these, would not wither? The treaty is unacceptable.
[137]

After Scheidemann's resignation, a new coalition government was formed under Gustav

Bauer. President Friedrich Ebert knew that Germany was in an impossible situation. Although he
shared his countrymen's disgust with the treaty, he was sober enough to consider the possibility
that the government would not be in a position to reject it. He believed that if Germany refused
to sign the treaty, the Allies would invade Germany from the west—and there was no guarantee
that the army would be able to make a stand in the event of an invasion. With this in mind, he
asked Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg if the army was capable of any meaningful resistance
in the event the Allies resumed the war. If there was even the slightest chance that the army
could hold out, Ebert intended to recommend against ratifying the treaty. Hindenburg—after
prodding from his chief of staff, Wilhelm Groener—concluded the army could not resume the
war even on a limited scale. However, rather than inform Ebert himself, he had Groener inform
the government that the army would be in an untenable position in the event of renewed
hostilities. Upon receiving this, the new government recommended signing the treaty.
The National Assembly voted in favour of signing the treaty by 237 to 138, with five abstentions
(there were 421 delegates in total). This result was wired to Clemenceau just hours before the
deadline. Foreign minister Hermann Müller and colonial minister Johannes Bell travelled to
Versailles to sign the treaty on behalf of Germany. The treaty was signed on 28 June 1919 and
ratified by the National Assembly on 9 July by a vote of 209 to 116.[138]

Demonstration against the treaty in front of the Reichstag.

Conservatives, nationalists and ex-military leaders condemned the treaty. Politicians of the
Weimar Republic who supported the treaty, socialists, communists, and Jewswere viewed with
suspicion as persons of questionable loyalty. was rumored that Jews had not supported the war
and had played a role in selling Germany out to its enemies. Those who seemed to benefit from a
weakened Germany and the newly formed Weimar Republic were regarded as having "stabbed
Germany in the back". Those who instigated unrest and strikes in the critical military industries
on the home front or who opposed German nationalism were seen to have contributed to
Germany's defeat.[citation needed] These theories were given credence by the fact that when Germany
surrendered in November 1918, its armies were still on French and Belgian territory.
Furthermore, on the Eastern Front, Germany had already won the war against Russia and
concluded the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. In the West, Germany had seemed to have come close to
winning the war with the Spring Offensive earlier in 1918. Its failure was blamed on strikes in
the arms industry at a critical moment of the offensive, leaving soldiers with an inadequate
supply of materiel. The strikes were regarded by nationalists as having been instigated by
traitors, with the Jews taking most of the blame.
On 5 May 1921, the reparation Commission established the London Schedule of Payments and a
final reparation sum of 132 billion gold marks to be demanded of all the Central Powers. This
was the public assessment of what the Central Powers combined could pay, and was also a
compromise between Belgian, British, and French demands and assessments. Furthermore, the
Commission recognized that the Central Powers could pay little and that the burden would fall
upon Germany. As a result the sum was split into different categories, of which Germany was
only required to pay 50 billion gold marks (US$12.5 billion); this being the genuine assessment
of the Commission on what Germany could pay, and allowed the Allied powers to save face with
the public by presenting a higher figure. Furthermore, payments made between 1919 and 1921
were taken into account reducing the sum to 41 billion gold marks.[139][140]
In order to meet this sum, Germany could pay in cash or kind: coal, timber, chemical dyes,
pharmaceuticals, livestock, agricultural machines, construction materials, and factory machinery.
Germany's assistance with the restoration of the university library of Louvain, which was
destroyed by the Germans on 25 August 1914, was also credited towards the sum. Territorial
changes imposed by the treaty were also factored in. [141][142] The payment schedule
required US$250 million within twenty-five days and then US$500 million annually, plus 26 per
cent of the value of German exports. The German Government was to issue bonds at five per
cent interest and set up a sinking fund of one per cent to support the payment of reparations.[143]
Territorial changes
In February and March 1920, the Schleswig Plebiscites were held. The people of Schleswig were
presented with only two choices: Danish or German sovereignty. The northern Danish-speaking
area voted for Denmark while the southern German-speaking area voted for Germany, resulting
in the province being partitioned.[66] The East Prussia plebiscite was held on 11 July 1920. There
was a 90% turn out with 99.3% of the population wishing to remain with Germany. Further
plebiscites were held in Eupen, Malmedy, and Prussian Moresnet. On 20 September 1920, the
League of Nations allotted these territories to Belgium. These latter plebiscites were followed by
a boundary commission in 1922, followed by the new Belgian-German border being recognized
by the German Government on 15 December 1923.[144] The transfer of the Hultschin area, of
Silesia, to Czechoslovakia was completed on 3 February 1921.[145]
Following the implementation of the treaty, Upper Silesia was initially governed by Britain,
France, and Italy.[146] Between 1919 and 1921, three major outbreaks of violence took place
between German and Polish civilians, resulting in German and Polish military forces also
becoming involved. In March 1921, the Inter-Allied Commission held the Upper Silesia
plebiscite, which was peaceful despite the previous violence. The plebiscite resulted in c. 60 per
cent of the population voting for the province to remain part of Germany. [148] Following the vote,
the League of Nations debated the future of the province. [149] In 1922, Upper Silesia was
partitioned: Oppeln, in the north-west, remained with Germany while Silesia Province, in the
south-east, was transferred to Poland.[146]
The French garrison withdrew, and in February the Allies agreed to attach Memel as an
"autonomous territory" to Lithuania. [150] On 8 May 1924, after negotiations between the
Lithuanian Government and the Conference of Ambassadors and action by the League of
Nations, the annexation of Memel was ratified. [151] Lithuania accepted the Memel Statute, a
power-sharing arrangement to protect non-Lithuanians in the territory and its autonomous status
while
Rhineland occupation
In late 1918, American, Belgian, British, and French troops entered the Rhineland to enforce the
armistice. Prior to the treaty, the occupation force stood at roughly 740,000 men. Following the
signing of the peace treaty, the numbers drastically decreased and by 1926 the occupation force
numbered only 76,000 men. As part of the 1929 negotiations that would become the Young Plan,
Stresemann and Aristide Briand negotiated the early withdrawal of Allied forces from the
Rhineland. On 30 June 1930, after speeches and the lowering of flags, the last troops of the
Anglo-French-Belgian occupation force withdrew from Germany.
Belgium maintained an occupation force of roughly 10,000 troops throughout the initial
years. This figure fell to 7,102 by 1926, and continued to fall as a result of diplomatic
developments.
The British Second Army, with some 275,000 veteran soldiers, entered Germany in late 1918. In
March 1919, this force became the British Army of the Rhine(BAOR). The total number of
troops committed to the occupation rapidly dwindled as veteran soldiers were demobilized and
were replaced by inexperienced men who had finished basic training following the cessation of
hostilities By 1920, the BAOR consisted of only 40,594 men and the following year had been
further reduced to 12,421. The size of the BAOR fluctuated over the following years, but never
rose above 9,000 men The British did not adhere to all obligated territorial withdrawals as
dictated by Versailles, on account of Germany not meeting her own treaty obligations. [166] A
complete withdrawal was considered, but rejected in order to maintain a presence to continue
acting as a check on French ambitions and prevent the establishment of an
autonomous Rhineland Republic.
The French Army of the Rhine was initially 250,000 men strong, including at a peak 40,000
African colonial troops . By 1923, the French occupation force had decreased to roughly 130,000
men, including 27,126 African troops. The troop numbers peaked again at 250,000 during the
occupation of the Ruhr, before decreasing to 60,000 men by 1926. Germans viewed the use of
French colonial troops as a deliberate act of humiliation, and used their presence to create a
propaganda campaign dubbed the Black shame. This campaign lasted throughout the 1920s and
30s, although peaked in 1920 and 1921. For example, a 1921 German Government memo
detailed 300 acts of violence from colonial troops, which included 65 murders and 170 sexual
offenses. Historical consensus is that the charges were exaggerated for political and propaganda
purposes, and that the colonial troops behaved far better than their white counterparts. An
estimated 500–800 Rhineland Bastards were born as a result of fraternization between colonial
troops and German women, and whom would latter be persecuted.
The United States Third Army entered Germany with 200,000 men. In June 1919, the Third
Army demobilized and by 1920 the US occupation force had been reduced to 15,000 men.
Wilson further reduced the garrison to 6,500 men, prior to the inauguration of Warren G.
Harding in 1921 On 7 January 1923, after the Franco–Belgian occupation of the Ruhr, the US
senate legislated the withdrawal of the remaining force.  On 24 January, the American garrison
started their withdrawal from the Rhineland, with the final troops leaving in early February.
Reparations
The German economy was so weak that only a small percentage of reparations was paid in hard
currency.[ Nonetheless, even the payment of this small percentage of the original reparations
(132 billion gold marks) still placed a significant burden on the German economyAlthough the
causes of the devastating post-war hyperinflation are complex and disputed, Germans blamed the
near-collapse of their economy on the treaty, and some economists estimated that the reparations
accounted for as much as one-third of the hyper-inflation
In March 1921, French and Belgian troops occupied Duisburg, which formed part of the
demilitarized Rhineland, according to the Treaty of Versailles. In January 1923, French and
Belgian forces occupied the rest of the Ruhr area as a reprisal after Germany failed to fulfill
reparation payments demanded by the Versailles Treaty. The German government answered with
"passive resistance", which meant that coal miners and railway workers refused to obey any
instructions by the occupation forces. Production and transportation came to a standstill, but the
financial consequences contributed to German hyperinflation and completely ruined public
finances in Germany. Consequently, passive resistance was called off in late 1923. [ The end of
passive resistance in the Ruhr allowed Germany to undertake a currency reform and to negotiate
the Dawes Plan, which led to the withdrawal of French and Belgian troops from the Ruhr Area in
1925.
Military
In 1920, the head of the Reichswehr Hans von Seeckt clandestinely re-established the General
Staff, by expanding the Truppenamt (Troop Office); purportedly a human resources section of
the army. In March, 18,000 German troops entered the Rhineland under the guise of attempting
to quell possible unrest by communists and in doing so violated the demilitarized zone. In
response, French troops advanced further into Germany until the German troops withdrew.[177]
German officials conspired systematically to evade the clauses of the treaty, by failing to meet
disarmament deadlines, refusing Allied officials access to military facilities, and maintaining and
hiding weapon production.[177] As the treaty did not ban German companies from producing war
material outside of Germany, companies moved to the Netherlands, Switzerland,
and Sweden. Bofors was bought by Krupp, and in 1921 German troops were sent to Sweden to
test weapons.[  The establishment of diplomatic ties with the Soviet Union, via the Genoa
Conference and Treaty of Rapallo, was also used to circumvent the Treaty of Versailles.
Publicly, these diplomatic exchanges were largely in regards to trade and future economic
cooperation. However, secret military clauses were included that allowed for Germany to
develop weapons inside the Soviet Union. Furthermore, it allowed for Germany to establish three
training areas for aviation, chemical and tank warfare. [179][180][181][182] In 1923, the British
newspaper The Times made several claims about the state of the German Armed Forces: that it
had equipment for 800,000 men, was transferring army staff to civilian positions in order to
obscure their real duties, and warned of the militarization of the German police force by the
exploitation the Krümper system.[183][nb 4]
The Weimar Government also funded domestic rearmament programs, which were covertly
funded with the money camouflaged in "X-budgets", worth up to an additional 10% of the
disclosed military budget.[185] By 1925, German companies had begun to design tanks and
modern artillery. During the year, over half of Chinese arms imports were German and worth 13
million Reichsmarks. In January 1927, following the withdrawal of the Allied disarmament
committee, Krupps ramped up production of armor plate and artillery. Production increased so
that by 1937, military exports had increased to 82,788,604 Reichsmarks. Production was not the
only violation: "Volunteers" were rapidly passed through the army to make a pool of trained
reserves, and paramilitary organizations were encouraged with the illegally militarized police.
Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) were not limited by the treaty, thus this loophole was
exploited and as such the number of NCOs were vastly in excess to the number needed by
the Reichswehr.[
In December 1931, the Reichswehr finalized a second rearmament plan that called for 480
million Reichsmarks to be spent over the following five years: this program sought to provide
Germany the capability of creating and supplying a defensive force of 21 divisions supported by
aircraft, artillery, and tanks. This coincided with a 1 billion Reichsmark programme that planned
for additional industrial infrastructure that would be able to permanently maintain this force. As
these programs did not require an expansion of the military, they were nominally legal. On 7
November 1932, the Reich Minister of Defense Kurt von Schleicher authorized the
illegal Umbau Plan for a standing army of 21 divisions based on 147,000 professional soldiers
and a large militia. Later in the year at the World Disarmament Conference, Germany withdrew
to force France and the United Kingdom to accept German equality of status. The United
Kingdom attempted to get Germany to return with the promise of all nations maintaining an
equality in armaments and security. The British later proposed and agreed to an increase in
the Reichswehr to 200,000 men, and for Germany to have an air force half the size of the French.
It was also negotiated for the French Army to be reduced.
In October 1933, following the rise of Adolf Hitler and the founding of Nazi regime, Germany
withdrew from League of Nations and the World Disarmament Conference. In March 1935,
Germany reintroduced conscription followed by an open rearmament programme, the official
unveiling of the Luftwaffe(air force), and signed the Anglo-German Naval Agreement that
allowed a surface fleet 35% of the size of the Royal Navy. The resulting rearmament programs
was allotted 35 billion Reichsmarks over an eight-year period.
Territorial
On 7 March 1936, German troops entered and remilitarized the Rhineland. On 12 March 1938,
following German pressure to the collapse the Austrian Government, German troops crossed into
Austria and the following day Hitler announced the Anschluss: the annexation of Austria by
Germany. The following year, on 23 March 1939, Germany annexed Memel from Lithuania.

Eighteenth Amendment (Amendment XVIII)

The  of the United States Constitution established the prohibition of "intoxicating liquors" in the United
States. The amendment was proposed by Congress on December 18, 1917, and was ratified by the
requisite number of states on January 16, 1919. The Eighteenth Amendment was repealed by the Twenty-
first Amendment on December 5, 1933.
The Eighteenth Amendment was the product of decades of efforts by the temperance movement, which
held that a ban on the sale of alcohol would ameliorate poverty and other societal issues. The Eighteenth
Amendment declared the production, transport, and sale of intoxicating liquors illegal, though it did not
outlaw the actual consumption of alcohol. Shortly after the amendment was ratified, Congress passed
the Volstead Act to provide for the federal enforcement of Prohibition. The Volstead Act declared
that liquor, wine, and beer all qualified as intoxicating liquors and were therefore prohibited. Under the
terms of the Eighteenth Amendment, Prohibition began on January 17, 1920, one year after the
amendment was ratified.
Although the Eighteenth Amendment led to a decline in alcohol consumption in the United States,
nationwide enforcement of Prohibition proved difficult, particularly in cities. Organized crime and other
groups engaged in large-scale bootlegging, and speakeasies became popular in many areas. Public
sentiment began to turn against Prohibition during the 1920s, and 1932 Democratic presidential
nominee Franklin D. Roosevelt called for the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment in his platform. The
Twenty-first Amendment repealed the Eighteenth Amendment in 1933, making the Eighteenth
Amendment the only amendment to the U.S. Constitution ever to be repealed in its entirety.