Effects+of+the+War,+Cost

__**Podcast**__ media type="file" key="Effects of WWI Podcast.mp3" width="240" height="20" __**Treaty Of Versailles**__

To bring about the conclusion of the war many agreements had to be made. The most prominent and well-known treaty was the Treaty Of Versailles. The Treaty Of Versailles ended the war, made peace between Germany & The 32 Allied Powers. This treaty created the League of Nations, and redrew the borders of most of Europe. The prominent figures during the Treaty were; President Woodrow Wilson of the United States, Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau of France, Prime Minister Lloyd George of Great Britain, and Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando of Italy. The different leaders had different opinions on how to deal with Germany. The French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau wanted to cripple the German economy and make sure they never grew powerful enough to start another war again. President Woodrow Wilson, and Prime Minister Lloyd George wanted to have a softer punishment so not to create bitterness in the German Nation which could lead to another war. Other nations such as Japan and Italy were only interested in gaining more land through the treaty. In the end Germany had to sign the treaty and agree to pay massive reparations to the Allied nations. They lost all of their overseas colonies and land from their homeland. They had to dissemble most of their army and navy, and had to admit that the war was completely Germany's fault.

__**Changes In Political Borders**__

After the Treaty of Versailles the borders of Eastern Europe were redrawn. The Austria-Hungarian Empire led by Emperor Charles was split into many countries. Russia and Germany relinquished the most territory. Countries that were created during by the the Treaty include; Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, Austria and Hungary. Though the division of the land was based on ethnic independence, but ethnicities overlapped these border lines. After the new borders were set in place, some countries became too weak to support themselves. Some of the reasons for this were a loss of population, resources and government turmoil. Many Arab states were placed under British and French rule.


 * __Economic Changes and After Effects__**

During the war the fighting consumed extreme amounts of the economic output of many countries. In some countries such as Britain and Germany the war cost consumed 60% of their respective economies. Because of the great cost of war countries borrowed money from other countries to cover the cost of the war. These countries after the war became in debt which affected them for years to come. Some countries decided to print extra money, which cause huge amounts of inflation, which led to the increase in price of goods. Inflation caused many economies to collapse, such as Germany.

Before the war ended Kaiser Wilhelm was ousted from power and forced into exile into The Netherlands. The Weimar Republic was formed in Germany on November 9, 1918. It was never very powerful because many important people were still loyal to the Kaiser. As an effect of the weak economy and high inflation, armed rebellions took place all over Germany. The political philosophy of these armed groups were either Communist or Nazi. The Ottoman Empire which was the "Old Man" of Europe, finally collapsed at the end of WWI. The homeland of the Ottomans was turned into the country of Turkey, and their Arab Territories were given to the British and the French. The Russian Empire went through a series of revolutions in 1917, the first The February Revolution usurped the Romanov's from power. The second revolution was The October Revolution, which gave power to the Bolsheviks and created The Soviet Union which lasted until 1991.
 * __Uprisings & Revolution__**


 * __Countries Views On The Aftermath__**

Most countries who were involved in the Peace talk felt like they didn't get to achieve their goals set for the Conference. Woodrow Wilson, had 14 Points coming into the meeting about what he wanted to achieve. The only point which was included in the Treaty was the League Of Nations. Though the League Of Nations didn't ever have any significant power because the United States Congress never ratified the treaty. Other nations like Italy felt like they wishes were ignored during the treaty. Russia was excluded from the treaty all together, because of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which the Russians signed with the Germans in early 1918, in which they ceded land in Eastern Europe for peace with the Central Powers. The exclusion of Russia led to harsh feelings between the Western Powers and Russia. The French who were wanted to cripple the German economy felt like the treaty was too soft on Germany. Germany who weren't allowed to participate in the treaty conferences felt like the treaty was too harsh on their country. In essence the treaty tried to please all powers but in reality nobody was pleased with it.

//**SOURCES**//

//The World Book Encyclopedia.// Chicago: World Book, 2001. Print.

[|__http://ea.grolier.com/assetPage?id=0424100-011&full=1&docKey=Li4vLi4vc2VhcmNoL2NvbnRlbnQvZWE0L3RleHQvMTE4LzA0MjQxMDAtMDExLmh0bWxAZ28y&queryText=%3Clang%2Fen%3Eworld+war+1&queryParser=Grolier_en__]

[|__http://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0432854-00&docKey=Li4vLi4vc2VhcmNoL2NvbnRlbnQvZWE0L3RleHQvMDgwLzA0MzI4NTQtMDAuaHRtbEBnbzI*&queryText=%3Clang%2Fen%3Egermany+before+hitler&queryParser=Grolier_en__]

[|__http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar583780&st=treaty+of+versaille__]

http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar610440&sc=-1#h37

[|__http://www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar222500&st=germany__]

By Dwyer Stuart & Dylan Jewett