Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles
Transcription
Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles
Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch The Treaty of Versailles MATERIALIEN M 1.1 Folie: Armistice New York Times 11/11/1918 Jgst. 8 Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 1.2 Folie: Casualties of World War I Casualties of World War I Allies of World War I Total (Entente Powers) Central Powers Total (Central Powers) Neutral nations Grand total Population (millions) Military deaths Civilian Total deaths deaths 790.2 5,711,696 Population (millions) Military deaths 143.1 4,010,241 3,143,000 7,153,241 8,419,533 944.0 9,721,937 6,821,248 16,543,185 21,228,813 3,674,757 Military wounded 9,386,453 12,809,280 Civilian Total deaths deaths Military wounded Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch The Treaty of Versailles M 1.3 Folie: Casualties of World War I Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties Jgst. 8 Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles L 1.1 Questions and possible answers Task: Read the headline. What does it tell you about November 11th, 1918? • • armistice, therefore no more fighting armistice signed by the Germans, therefore official acceptance of German defeat and defeat of the Central powers • • revolution in Berlin chancellor wants to restore order • • • Wilhelm II has fled Germany now in Holland Germany is now a republic L 1.2 Tasks: 1. Look at the table and find all the information about the cost of World War I. • • • information about casualties of the Allied Forces, the Central Powers and other nations information about the number of dead (about 10 mio) and wounded soldiers (ca. 20 mio ) number of military and civilian casualties (about 7 mio) Millions of wounded soldiers on both sides Also millions of dead civilians 2. Look at the diagram. Read out the data given in the diagram. Find out which side had more military losses. Find out which side had more civilian losses. • The Entente powers had more military losses, the Central powers had more dead civilians at the end of the war 3. Look at the two diagrams. Read out what it says. Name the countries which had suffered most. • • Russia, France, British Empire Germany, Austria-Hungary 4. Find reasons why these countries lost the most soldiers. • • • • major powers before and during the war nations with big armies war in the trenches with millions of casualties (Verdun, Somme) new weapons with fatal effects ( machine guns, tanks, bombs etc.) Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 2.1 The Rules 1. You are a member of a delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. Therefore you have to behave like a highranking diplomat: A diplomat does not raise his/her voice to answer a question or discuss a point. 2. No conferring with (=talking to) other delegations. Your delegation will discuss the treaty “behind closed doors”. 3. Your delegation has to consider the well-being and the interests of your country after the end of World War I. Follow that in your discussion. 4. Appoint a speaker for your delegation and a keeper of the minutes (=Protokollant). 5. Look at all the materials carefully. Discuss them in your delegation. 6. Discuss the aims of your delegation and your Prime Minister's / President's ideas. 7. The keeper of the minutes will write them down on worksheet M 2.7 . 8. Read the questions on worksheet M 2.8. Discuss them in your delegation and agree on the answers. 9. Fill in worksheet M 2.8. This is your paper for the negotiations. Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 2.2 The Background - The Allied powers meet in Paris to decide on the major issues of a peace treaty. The countries that take part in the conferences are the 27 Allied Powers. Some countries are excluded from the conferences: Russia (because of the Treaty of Brest-Litowsk and many leaders do not trust the Bolsheviks) the Central Powers (because they lost the war) The delegations have to decide who is to pay for the war damages and what is to become of Germany, Austria and Europe as a whole. They have to consider what the real cost was, who suffered most and what their countries want to achieve at the conferences. The peacemakers have to work quickly as Europe needs peace and security. Compromises have to be made to agree on a treaty. You are one of the “Big Four” meeting in Versailles (January 8th, 1919) to discuss the peace treaty with Germany. Lloyd George (Great Britain) Orlando (Italy) Clemenceau (France) Wilson (USA) Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 2.3 The United States and Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856–February 3, 1924) Wison entered politics in 1910 and was President by 1912. • He was an idealist and reformer. • In 1916 he was re-elected under a pledge to remain out of the war but in 1917 he declared war on Germany. • Wilson wanted the United States to enter the world arena to fight for democracy, progressiveness and liberalism. • Woodrow Wilson had decided by then that the war had become a real threat to humanity. Unless the U.S. threw its weight into the war, as he stated in his declaration of war speech, on April 2nd, 1917, Western civilization itself could be destroyed. • His statement announcing a "war to end all wars" meant that he wanted to build a basis for peace that would prevent future catastrophic wars and needless death and destruction. • This provided the basis of Wilson's Fourteen Points (see M 2.9). Wilson hoped that the Fourteen Points would lead to an end to war and achieve peace for all the nations. • In the late stages of the war, Wilson took personal control of negotiations with Germany, including the armistice. • He went to Paris in 1919 to create the League of Nations and shape the Treaty of Versailles. He wanted to make new modern democratic nations out of old empires. • He spent six months in Paris for the 1919 Paris Peace Conference (making him the first U.S. president to travel to Europe while in office). He worked tirelessly to promote his plan. What Wilson wants to achieve at the peace conference - - Wilson wants a Europe that was saved from war but can also trade with the United States. The U.S. see trade as a key part of any peace deal (There are at least 4 points that deal with trade can you spot them in the Fourteen Points?). Wilson wants the League of Nations to look after the former colonies or they should become independent. However, Wilson is prepared to compromise so that he can get the League of Nations. Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 2.4 France and Georges Clemenceau (28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) Clemenceau entered politics in 1871 and was Prime Minister from 1906 to 1909. • In 1917 he was elected again as Prime Minister (1917 - 1920). • He was commonly nicknamed le Tigre (the Tiger) and le Père-la-Victoire (Father Victory) for his determination as a wartime leader. • He supported the policy of "la guerre jusqu'au bout" (war until the end). • In 1918, Clemenceau thought that France should adopt Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (see M 2.9) although he believed that some were utopian (because one of the points called for the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France). Clemenceau did not believe in the idea of a League of Nations. • After signing the armistice, it was decided that the peace conference would be held in Paris. The Allies thought that Clemenceau would be the most appropriate president of the conference. He spoke both English and French, the official languages of the conference. • He was 77 when the talks began in 1919. He had seen France be invaded by the Germans in 1870 and again in 1914. Almost 2 mio Frenchmen had died in the war. Parts of France had been destroyed by the battles and lay in ruins. Clemenceau was a hard uncompromising man. He wanted to make sure that Germany would never threaten France again. • Clemenceau was shot and wounded by an anarchist ‘assassin’ on 19 February 1919. It was discovered that if the bullet had entered a millimeter to the left or right, it would have been fatal. What Clemenceau wants to achieve at the peace conference - He wants French troops in the Rhine area to prevent France against any future German attacks. He wants Alsace-Lorraine back from Germany. He wants Germany to pay for the damage done and to weaken Germany. He wants German territory for France, especially industrial areas, but also some of the colonies. France does not want the old powers (= the Kaiser and his followers) to come into power again. Clemenceau believes that France is entitled to German coal mines after Germany deliberately damaged the coal mines in Northern France. Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 2.5 Britain and David Lloyd George (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) • The only Welsh Prime Minister of the United Kingdom: He was also the only one to have spoken English as a second language (Welsh was his first). • He entered politics in 1890. • Prime Minister (1916-1922) • Lloyd George was a realist. • At the end of the war Lloyd George's reputation stood at its zenith. • Britain expects Germany to pay the entire cost of the war, including pensions. • Lloyd George represented Britain at the Versailles Peace Conference. He did not agree with Clemenceau and Wilson. • Lloyd George was in a difficult situation. On the one hand as a realist he knew he had to compromise. However, he had just won an election, and the British public expected reparations and punishment (especially of Wilhelm II). • A lot of British soldiers had died in the war so the British expected a lot of him. What Lloyd George wants to achieve at the peace conference - He disagrees with point two of Wilson’s Fourteen Points .(Can you find out why?) He wants Germany’s colonies. The British want to see Germany weakened in some way. But it should not be weakened too much because this would lead to new problems. He wants reparations. The British want Kaiser Wilhelm II and those responsible for the war punished in a trial. He doesn’t want France to get too strong. Materialien für den bilingualen Sachfachunterricht GESCHICHTE auf Englisch Jgst. 8 The Treaty of Versailles M 2.6 Italy and Vittorio Orlando (19 May 1860 – 1 December 1952) • Prime Minister from 1917 to 1919 • After the Italian military disaster at Caporetto on October 25, 1917 Orlando became Prime Minister. He had supported Italy's entry in the war. • The Allies had made secret promises to Italy (significant Italian territorial gains in Dalmatia) • Orlando was called "Premier of Victory” because he was on the winning side in 1918. • He was the head of the Italian delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. • Orlando (a liberal) could not speak English so he had a problem communicating. • His political position at home was not very strong. So the conservative foreign minister, the half-Welsh Sidney Sonnino, played a more important role. Orlando could not control him. • He was opposing U.S. President Woodrow Wilson's policy of national self-determination (see M 2.9). • Orlando dramatically left the conference early in April 1919. He returned briefly the following month. He had to resign just days before the signing of the Treaty of Versailles because he had not managed to secure Italian interests at the Paris Peace Conference. • French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau called him "The Weeper". What Orlando wants to achieve at the peace conference - He wants to get territory in Dalmatia which the Allies had promised when Italy joined the war) If he cannot get Dalmatia, he wants to have Fiume (Rijeka), an important port If he cannot get what he wants, he will leave the conference