The+Fourteen+Points,+The+Treaty+of+Versailles,+The+Paris+Peace+Conference

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PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE
 * Occurred on January 12 1919
 * Economists, lawyers, linguistics, cartographers, and diplomats all attended.
 * Almost forty "nations"were represented (some were not independent but they seeked independence.)
 * Big Five countries attended. (These were Italy, Japan, Britain France and the US)
 * These had the largest voice in the negotiations.
 * Russia was absent from the meetings.
 * One of the main problems was that the allies could not agree on what to do with the central powers, they all had individual different post war visions (see the treaty of Versailles for the the final territorial changes.)

REPARATIONS REQUIRED FOR THE CENTRAL POWERS Must give:
 * livestock
 * coal
 * ships
 * timber
 * (plus other similar resources)
 * and cash payments (~33 billion but they never payed it all)

Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points Summaries of each of the 14 points.
 * Written by Woodrow Wilson, American president during wartime, in 1918. The points were proposed on January 8th to U.S. Congress.
 * Wilson believed that these 14 points were the necessary steps to be taken to end the war, as well as prevent any other possible world wars.
 * They were based on a belief that people and as such their controlling powers had the right to choose what they wanted to do in life. That they were obligated to work with each other in the "League of Nations" to bring about peace between all nations.
 * The League of Nations was much like the UN today. It was supposed to contain representatives from every nation in the world. At these meetings they would all have the right and chance to discuss and hopefully end disputes between its members and with that the countries they are representing.
 * 1) Create "covenants" of peace, and end secrecy between all nations.
 * 2) During both war and peacetime all inter-seas navigation is allowed for every nation.
 * 3) Whatever trade is allowed between nations should be never be halted.
 * 4) International armament amounts should be reduced.
 * 5) A fair and righteous division up of colonies by colonial powers.
 * 6) Dropping all foreign interference with Russian business. Allowing it to control itself and maintain its policy of independence.
 * 7) Belgium's government of sovereignty is to be restored fully.
 * 8) Some form of peace between Germany and France is to be formed. Germany must show some kind of penance including the relinquishment of Alsace-Lorraine, and total German withdrawal from French land.
 * 9) A major reduction of racism in Italy.
 * 10) Allowing and respecting Austria-Hungary's policies of autonomy.
 * 11) The complete restoration of Romania, Serbia, and Montenegro. Serbia is granted free access to the sea. The Balkan states are granted independence and integrity.
 * 12) The non-Turkish people of the Ottoman empire are granted their policies of autonomy. The Dardanelles are open and unrestricted, but the Turks have secure sovereignty in their own areas.
 * 13) Poland is their own independent nation with free sea access and international guarantee.
 * 14) An agreement between all nations to allow peaceful existence of all states and nations.


 * Although these 14 points may seem like a perfect solution to all war problems, it was not well received by two of the major powers, Britain and France. Wilson had not spoken with them about what would appear on what he was presenting, and so they both had many objections to his proposed policies. Most of the choices were accepted with two exceptions. One, there were no mentions of war reparations. France believed Germany deserved more of a punishment for causing the entire war. Two, Britain didn't like the mentions of sea-freedom. As a sea-based nation, a lot of their economy was based in sea-travel. Freedom to perform such an act might have been dangerous to Britain's economy.

The Treaty of Versailles
 * The Treaty of Versailles was made and signed at the Paris Peace Conference on June 28,1919. This was done on purpose as it was the anniversary of the assassination of the Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand. (for information on the Paris Peace Conference see it above.)
 * The treaty was approved in May 1919 and then showed to the Germans.
 * It was made due to disagreements between the main five powers during the war: Italy, Japan, Britain, France, and the U.S.
 * The most controversial part of the Treaty was Article 231.
 * It was made to please those countries (France mostly) that were angry at Germany.They felt that Germany was the cause of the war, and owed reparations.
 * It was so controversial because not only would this cause even more problems between Germany and the other powers, but still not every leader liked the idea.
 * Germany was a major post in British trade. They were important to the British economy, and passing that would cause them to refuse British goods, or declare another war on them.
 * Germany's owed reparations included:
 * Germany lost all rights and titles over overseas possessions (colonies).
 * Reparations from Germany included payment for all allied military expenses.
 * The Allies were allowed to do away with enemy property within its defined jurisdiction. (this applied to all enemy nations, not just Germany).
 * Overall the Germans owed a sum of over 20,000,000,000 marks to the allied nations.
 * Must give:
 * livestock
 * coal
 * ships
 * timber
 * (plus other similar resources)

Germany was not the only place to lose land. As taken from the Paris Peace Conference article:
 * Italy got South Tyrol region of Austria Hungary
 * Japan got german colonies in the North Pacific ocean and and German holdings in China's Shangtun province
 * Germany lost all oversea colonies
 * Germany lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to France
 * Czechoslovakia got areas of Eupen, Malmedy, Moresnet, border by Troppau from Germany
 * St. Vith went to Belgium
 * Popular vote said: North Schleswig should go to Denmark
 * France got coal mines in Saar region for 15 years
 * Danzig became a free city under the League of Nation's protection
 * Poland got most of West Russia and a lot of Province of Posen
 * Rhineland was to be demilitarized but allies occupied it for 15 years





__**Sources:**__ Hacken,Richard,andJanePlotte."PeacetreatyofVersailles."byu.edu.RichardHacken,11 11 1998.Web.9Feb2011.http://net.lib.byu.edu/~rdh7/wwi/versa7.html.> Freedman, Russell. //The War to End all Wars//. 124. Print. "Wilson's 14 Points." //History:WWI//. 1. Print. Goda, Norman J. W. "League of Nations." World Book Student. World Book, 2011. Web. 9 Feb. 2011. Wawro, Geoffrey. "Versailles, Treaty of." World Book Student. World Book, 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. Strachan, Hew. "World War I." World Book Student. World Book, 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. Sharpe, Mike, Steve Small, and Paul Bernabeo. "Europe After the Armistace." The History of World War I. 2. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 2002. Print.