The Aftermath of World War I

• 9,000,000 dead

• somme american cemetery located in France

• 116,516 americans died

• German surrender

• surrendered after losing their final offensive + exhausting their forces

• Kaiser forced to abdicate on november 8 → democratic republic established

• how would the allies deal with a defeated Germany?

• Wilhelm was supposed to be tried as a war criminal, but was eventually just exiled to the netherlands

• newspaper correspondent with british army: "the fires of hell have been put out"

• WWI casualties

• allies: 4,608,000; $117 billion

• central: 3,006,000; $60 billion

• aftermath + effects of wwi

• social costs

• 10-13 million dead → battle deaths

• 20 million dead → battle-related

• millions of civilians → casualties + refugees

• united states → 120,000 deaths

• "world left aflame": hatred, intolerance + extreme nationalism

• economic costs

• $350 billion (Germany → $33 billion, reparations)

• heavy taxes

• lower standard of living

• trade → high protective tariffs

• military industrial system

• russia → new political + economic system (communism)

• political costs

• us: leading world power → isolationist

• rejection of the league of nations

• 3 dynasties dethroned - Germany, austria-hungary, russia

• new map of europe - new eastern european nations

• league of nations - us rejected membership

• weakness → no military power

• rise of dictators: russia - italy - Germany - spain

• communism - fascism - nazism

• economic + political discontent

• aftermath: american memorials

• tomb of the unknown soldier (arlington national cemetery)

• wwi → the poppy

• poppies grew wild in belgium's battlefields during wwi

• served as a symbol and reminder of the bloodshed

• 1921 → american legion auxiliary adopted poppy as organization's memorial flower

• treaty of versailles: june 28, 1919

• negotiating the peace - role of the us

• big four at paris peace talks: woodrow wilson (president of us), georges clemenceau (premier of france), david lloyd george (prime minister of britain), vittorio orlando (foreign minister of italy)

• reparations - war guilt - military restrictions - German colonies - territorial losses - league of nations

• why did the Germans dislike the treaty of versailles?

• impact of wwi

• changes in map of europe

• president wilson + the league of nations

• ratification of the treaty of versailles (2/3 vote in senate)

• us senate debates treaty of versailles

• groups/people: isolationists, hun-haters, hyphenated-am, irish-americans, german-americans

• senate: republican senators

• henry cabot lodge

• irreconcilables

• reservationists

• democrats

• president wilson → ratification

• 1918: congressional elections

• vote democratic party → act of patriotism

• backfired: republicans won majority in both house + senate

• 1919: wilson's national tour

• solemn referendum

• last casualty of wwi

• presidential campaign issue: treaty + league

• suffered stroke - never recovered

• november 1919 → treaty failed

• republican won presidential election

• nobel peace prize 1919 was awarded to woodrow wilson

• preserved in that year and awarded in 1920 to wilson in recognition of his fourteen points peace program and his work in achieving inclusion in the covenant of the league of nations in the 1919 treaty of versailles

• roaring twenties: jazz age

• republican ascendency: "do-nothing" presidents

• warren g harding → return to normalcy (scandal)

• calvin coolidge → keep cool with coolidge (honesty)

• herbert hoover → the business of america is business

• common characteristics

• isolationism - rejected league of nations

• smaller federal government - less regulation - reduced federal spending

• pro-business - laissez faire policy - government should serve business - high protective tariffs - few antitrust cases

• conservative cultural values - claimed to be american values - rugged individualism

• foreign policy: us isolationism (rejection of the league of nations)

• washington naval arms conference: reduce size of navy

• five power naval treaty of 1922: ship ratios

• four power treaty: status quo in the pacific

• nine power treaty: keep open door policy in china

• kellogg-briand peace pact: peaceful means to settle disputes, no longer use war

• dawes plan: provide loans to Germany to pay reparations, created $ circle → US - Germany - England + France

• 1919: year of turmoil

• rejection of the treaty + league of nations

• postwar depression → change from wartime production to peacetime consumer production

• strikes and labor disputes → 4 million workers

• radical strife → race riots + anti-immigration laws

• red scare → fear of communism + its spread in the us

• 18th amendment → prohibition

• 19th amendment → women's suffrage

• economic policies

• prosperity: high wages - growing businesses - new products - new machines - advertising + marketing - brand names

• laissez-faire capitalism: no government regulations - business good for america

• "welfare capitalism": business provide incentives, pensions, etc. to workers

• oligopolies: power of the wealthy class - growing the gap between the rich + poor

• easy money: make + spend rather than save - buy buy buy

• buying on credit: installment plans - little money down + pay later

• playing the stock market: get rich quick - speculators - buying on margin