Tuesday, March 31st

I'm out today at a seminar. Here is what you need to do.

Read handout #8. This reading is about the Treaty of Versailles that was the peace treaty to WWI. In this treaty the Germans were treated very harshly by the Allies because they lost the war. They were made to: pay $33 billion in war payments; admit guilt for starting WWI; strip their military. It left the Germans in economic disarray and with a hatred toward the allies. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson did not want a harsh peace towards Germany but he gave in because he wanted a League of Nations to be formed. A League of Nations will be formed by the Treaty of Versailles but the U.S. will not be a part of it because the Treaty will not be ratified (passed) by the U.S. Senate and therefore it will have no standing in the U.S.

After reading #8, you should answer the questions on handout #9 that go with the reading.

When you are done with these questions you should use handout #7 to compare the peace plans after the Civil War (Reconstruction) and WWI (Treaty of Versailles). There are many similarities in each peace. Both times the President wanted a lenient peace but a harsh peace plan was put in place. This left the defeated angry and resistant to the peace plan and will fuel resentment for a long time. In the case of WWI Germany will be left with economic problems and hatred toward the allies. Because of this the Treaty of Versailles is sometimes referred to as a "winner's peace" which means the winners set harsh peace terms and the losers had to follow because they had no choice.