The Treaty of

Versailles and
Post-WWI
Canada
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
November 11, 1918, 11:00am – The First World War comes
to an end – at least the fighting does
Armistice that was signed on November 11, ended the
fighting in World War I but didn't officially end the war
Armistice definition - "a formal agreement of warring parties
to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may
constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is
made to negotiate a lasting peace"
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
What is going to follow after
November 11 is the Paris Peace
Conference and the Treaty of
Versailles which will officially end
the war
Treaty definition - "a formally
concluded and ratified agreement
between countries."
Depiction of "The Signing of the
Peace in the Hall of Mirrors"
The Treaty of Versailles and Post-WWI
Canada
Germany had allies that fought on its side during
the war – known as the "Central Powers"
Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria
Each had their own treaty
Germany's treaty was the Treaty of Versailles – the
most studied and famous and the one that we talk
about in this course
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
For the Canadian troops in Europe, the armistice
didn't mean they could go home right away
Canadians like the other allied nations had to act
as an occupying force in the occupation of
Germany
Military occupation definition – "control and
possession of enemy/hostile territory."
Canadian occupation took place in the British
sector at Cologne
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
The reason for it was to make sure Germany
wouldn't try and launch another attack – but that
proved to be unlikely
In December, 1918 – Canadian soldiers marched
across the Rhine River into Germany
Their duties included – guarding bridges,
overseeing the movement of civilians and
returning soldiers and ensuring the distribution of
food and other goods
Canadians cross the Rhine River into Germany
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
Canadian soldiers in Germany
were not happy occupiers mainly
because they wanted to go home
January 1919 – Canadian soldiers
are sent back to Belgium, then
England where they would wait
several months to go home
Canadians at the Rhine
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
In Russia after the 1917
revolution and Russia's withdrawal
from the war, Russia itself fell into
a Civil War
War was fought between the
Bolshevik "Reds" and the
Imperialist "Whites"
Several allied nations attempted
to intervene in the Russian Civil
War by supporting the Whites
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
In 1918, Canadian government
sent the "Canadian Siberian
Expeditionary Force" to back the
Whites – 4,000 troops
Two reasons –
Bolshevism/Communism was seen
as an international threat and the
allies wanted Russia back in the
war
Canadians pose with Russians in
Siberia
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
The allied intervention in Russia didn’t work
mainly because after having fought for years in
World War I, nobody wanted to get caught up in
another war
June 1919 – The Canadian Siberian
Expeditionary Force was called back to Canada
The Reds eventually win the war and establish
the Soviet Union in 1922
Canadians in Siberia
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
Talks and negotiations for the Treaty of Versailles
started in January 1919, about 2 months after the
armistice
Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden demanded that
Canada have a seat at the conference and be
represented as its own nation
On top of that, he also demanded that Canada have its
own signature on the final treaty
Borden got his demands but Canada's role at the Peace
Conference was small and often taken over by Britain
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
The key players at the Treaty of Versailles were
known as "The Big Four"
US President Woodrow Wilson
British Prime Minister Lloyd George
French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau
Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando
Each put forward their own ideas on how to
deal with Germany
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
Woodrow Wilson puts forward his "Fourteen Points" for
Peace
Wanted to see a peaceful end to the war – one that
wasn't harsh on Germany
A Europe where boundaries are set based on different
ethnic populations
Also wants to form a "general association of nations"
where disputes could be solved diplomatically
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
Lloyd George wants to rebuild Germany and turn it into
a strong trading partner for Britain
Also wants to see some reprimands against Germany
but not too harsh
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
France's Georges Clemenceau wants to make sure that
Germany never attacks France again
Wants heavy reparations laid against Germany
Doesn't want Germany's economy to recover – forcing
them into submission
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
Vittorio Orlando wants territorial demands that were
promised to Italy when they joined the war on the allied
side
Also wants Italy to be a major world power like Britain
and the US
He's mostly ignored making The Big Four more like "The
Big Three"
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
In the end the terms of the Versailles Treaty
were very harsh against Germany. Some of the
terms include:
Losing 10% of its territory and all overseas
colonies
Demilitarization and occupation of the
Rhineland on Germany's western border
Limited the size of its army and navy and no air
force
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
Map of Germany, 1914, prior to
the start of the war
The Treaty of
Versailles and Post-
WWI Canada
Map of Germany, 1919, after
the signing of the Treaty of
Versailles
The Treaty of
Versailles and
Post-WWI
Canada
Map of Europe, 1914
The Treaty of
Versailles and
Post-WWI
Canada
Map of Europe, 1919
Notice the changes of the
political boundaries of Major
European Powers
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
But even worse was "Article 231" known as the
"war guilt clause"
Forced Germany to accept full blame for the
war and pay enormous reparations
$132 billion Reichmarks (or $33 billion)
A sum so high no expected Germany to actually
pay it in full
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
The Treaty of Versailles was
signed on June 28, 1919 – on the
five year anniversary of the
assassination of Archduke Franz
Ferdinand
To ordinary Germans, this was a
humiliation
Many believed that they had
been betrayed or "stabbed in the
back" by those that signed the
Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
On a higher note, Wilson's idea for a "general
association of nations" does get carried out
1920 the "League of Nations" is formed – even
though the United States itself does not join
Think of it as the prequel to the United Nations
The Treaty of Versailles
and Post-WWI Canada
The League of Nations became the world's first
intergovernmental organization whose main
purpose was to maintain world peace
Headquarters in Switzerland
A place where disputes between nations could
be solved peacefully without the threat of war
Doesn't prevent the conflicts that lead up to
World War II and eventually fails
The Treaty of Versailles and Post-WWI
Canada
The short-lived Weimar Republic that replaced Imperial
Germany after the war faced many political and economic
difficulties that only got worse with the Great Depression
It was at this time that many Germans looked to someone
that could lift their country up again and bring Germany
back to its former glory...