Chapter 23: World War One: Section 3 and 4

​1917-Allies near defeat

Russians left war

Germans and Austrians had single front war now

Germans launch new offensive toward Paris

German Navy was destroying a lot of allied ships at sea

"Lafayette we are here."

Doughboys

French welcome Americans with open arms

By the time the United States entered, the Allies were very close to defeat.

General John J. Pershing, leader of the American Expeditionary Force, insisted that the Americans join the fight as a separate force. 

Pershing gave the men three months of intense training in army discipline and trench warfare.

In November 1917 a group of Russians called the Bolsheviks overthrew the Russian government and seized power.

The Bolsheviks were Communists—people who favor the equal distribution of wealth and the end of all forms of private property.

8 million Russians killed or wounded during 3 years of war

Czar and family executed by Communists

Led by Vladimir Lenin, the new Russian government faced a desperate situation.

Russian was facing food shortages and Economic Hardships.

civil war then broke out in Russia between the Communists and forces loyal to the czar Russia’s emperor. The United States and other Allied countries sent aid to the czarist forces. The Russians left the war.

Even with all of their training, the American troops were not prepared for the tough conditions of the Trenches.

In March 1918, the Germans attempted a final push. They originally took the allies by surprise and moved 40 miles.

The Germans were not ready for the freshly trained and readied Americans and were stopped 50 miles outside of Paris, France.

a young man from Tennessee named Alvin York. In October 1918 York killed 25 German gunners and captured 132 prisoners.

the African American soldiers of the 369th Infantry. Known as the “Harlem Hellfighters,” the 369th spent more time in combat than any other American unit.

More than a million American Soldiers joined the French, British, Canadians, and Belgians in France to attack Germany

American troops took the town of Saint-Mihiel on the French/German border

Allied troops finally broke the German lines and advanced to Germany

The Central Powers were in terrible shape after several attempts to push forward.

Once the Germans agreed to a truce, their allies were ready to declare the end of the war.

The armistice, or truce, went into effect on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

Veterans Day!

About 5 million Allied soldiers and 3.5 million soldiers from Central Powers died in combat.

More than 20 million soldiers on both sides were wounded.

In France, 90% of young healthy men were killed or wounded.

116,000 U.S. troops died, and about 200,000 wounded.

The war brought financial disaster to many parts of Europe.

Factories and farms were left in ruins - severe food shortages occurred.

$30 billion dollars worth of property was destroyed.

Allies spent $145 billion on the war effort, and the Central Powers had spent $63 billion.

France and Britain had borrowed large amounts of money to fight the war and were deeply in debt.

1918: Worldwide epidemic of influenza broke out.

Over 2 years it killed approximately 30 million people.

Started at an army training camp in Kansas.

Half of the Americans who died at this time died from influenza.

Quarantines, public gatherings and school were banned

800,000 Americans were dead by the time the epidemic ended in 1919.

Wilson's Fourteen Points ( vision for a post war world).

Specific proposal for post war peace: settled national border disputes , military cutbacks, lower tariffs and banned secret agreements between nations.

Creation of the League of Nations: international assembly of nations to work together to settle international disputes and encourage democracy.

European leaders disagreed with vision and wanted to punish Germany for its role in the war.

Europe wanted to prevent Germany from ever becoming a world power again.

Paris Peace Conference held at the palace of Versailles outside of Paris.

The Big Four: President Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French premier Georges Clemenceau, and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando took control of the conference.

no representatives from Russia or the Central Power's attended.

Many Allied leaders wanted Germany to take complete blame for the war and the damage it caused.

Reparations: payments for war damage , were set at $33 billion.

France and other Allies wanted to take control of large parts of German territory.

Wilson reluctantly agreed to treaty which was the peace settlement of World War I and established the League of Nations.

Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia became independent countries.

Poland was restored as a nation.

The Central Powers turned over their colonies to the League of Nations;

The U.S. Constitution says that treaties must be ratified by at least 2/3s of the members of Senate.

Republican senator Henry Cabot Lodge wanted the winners to set the terms of peace.

Republicans insisted on changes to the treaty before they would ratify it.

The fear was the League of Nations would have the power to force the U.S. to send troops ato war based on the decisions they made.

Wilson would not compromise and insisted that the treaty be ratified exactly as it was written.

November 19, 1919 The Treaty of Versailles was defeated in the Senate.

The U.S. signed a separate peace treaty and did not join the League of Nations.