World War I: Building The Peace (1960)

these four men have been called the peacemakers of World War I Orlando of Italy Floyd George of Britain clemo of France Wilson of the United States I've read things like we won the war but lost the peace how did we lose the peace I'm not [Music] sure making war is hard but it seems that uh making peace is even harder when Wars end people stop worrying they assume that peacemaking is easy automatic we discovered it isn't what was the end of World War I like do you remember oh yes oh yes I remember it well I 18 then in 1918 I remember the headlines and the celebrations we went wild now we thought no more Wars ever overseas in London the same High Hopes And in Paris too but the Armistice didn't bring joy to everyone for the losers the the shocking realization that they had been beaten no joy no cheers instead a time of troubles in Germany riots Revolution we should have remembered this side of the piece but we didn't we were too busy at home cheering our Victory our war time President woodro Wilson was at the height of his popularity many Americans agreed with the reasonable liberal ideas he expressed so well he put into precise clear language what we vaguely felt the peace must be fair not harsh that if Nations worked honestly together lasting peace was possible his famous program of 14 points appealed to a war weary world the points covered four main ideas no secret diplomacy limitation of national armaments self-determination for all national groups establishment of a League of Nations to preserve Peace by arbitration these points were foremost among the proposals that Wilson took to Europe in December 198 the visit to France attracted World attention we were proud of our president and of our country emerging as a leader in international Affairs what did the Europeans think of President Wilson Oh mostly they welcomed him with open arms Paris gave him a tremendous reception but why they didn't know him that well did they no but perhaps to them he represented a fresh start a new hope and yet as we learned later Wilson's Triumph was to end in disappointment Wilson was only one of the delegates from 32 Nations who assembled in Paris in January 1919 to write the peace treaty the place was the Palace of of versailes just outside of Paris in this same Palace 48 years earlier the beaten French had seen the German Empire proclaimed after the franor pression War now the world would watch the Allies make a new peace with a vanquished Germany leading their delegations were the so-called big three of the peace conference President Wilson of the United States premier clemo of France and Premier Lloyd George of England the big three together with Premier Orlando of Italy represented the Allied powers to his surprise Wilson the idealist found that shrewd Premier clemo was opposed to Wilson's ideas of the peace twice Clemens so had seen his beloved France invaded by Germans he honestly believed that revenge on Germany was just David lloy George was usually a liberal but he couldn't support those of Wilson's 14 points that conflicted with British policy thus instead of Harmony Wilson found that the big three were not in agreement after months of discussion and speechmaking during which 58 committees worked out the lengthy treaty it was signed on June 28th 1919 in the historic Hall of Mirrors at Versailles many of the peace aims that Wilson had hoped for were thwarted cemeno also had to compromise his harsh measures toward Germany but the treaty containing 880,000 words had been completed contrary to International usage the Germans had not been consulted during the negotiation so the peace made it vers was in effect a dictated piece yet even though the Allies felt they had made compromises the piece was written and people celebrated the historic occasion but the somber faces of the German delegates reflected their disappointment the treaty handed to them wasn't the one they had expected from Wilson's widely publicized 14 points they were angered and dismayed by the harsh terms they were to take back to Germany by signing the treaty Germany automatically admitted responsibility for World War I Germany must make reparations of $30 billion Germany must surrender her Naval forces she must never build submarines nor build military aircraft and artillery Germany lost territory too particularly in Africa German colonies were placed under Allied mandate there were other changes the map of Europe was changed by treaties following World War I Empires were dissolved including the German Empire many new nations including Finland Estonia ltia Lithuania Poland Czechoslovakia Hungary and Yugoslavia were created with the treaty written Wilson began the return trip to America to many Americans and Europeans Wilson was still a hero but of his famous 14 points only the League of Nations seemed possible to achieve Wilson was returning home to fight for it at first he was hailed with enthusiasm he returned to Hero not knowing that within a few months his popularity would fade Americans rejected most of his ideas for building the peace the United States did not join the League of Nations as he had urged as I look back now I think everybody felt a lasting piece was a worthwhile goal but we just didn't know how to achieve it most of us wanted to return to our everyday lives again the versai treaty did cause trouble later didn't it perhaps it did help to keep some hatreds alive it's hard to tell my brother Frank told me about the post-war Germany he saw there were shortages of fuel there were shortages of food and out of the disruption of the economy came disastrous inflation the German Mark became almost worthless the future seemed hopeless unemployment poverty starvation were commonplace National boundaries Changed by the peace treaties upset populations creating new minority groups and displaced persons certain Statesmen among them Charles G Daws of America proposed relief loans for Germany but this did not solve all the problems the defeated peoples were ready to follow new leaders out of The Strife torn post-war years came a new generation of leaders who proposed totalitarian methods to solve National problems the awful lessons of World War I were being forgotten we had failed to write a lasting piece what did we do wrong it's hard to say even now exactly what was done wrong but somehow after World War I the seeds of another and even greater War had been planted you mean World War II yes when you study World War II I think you'll understand that conflict a little better in the light of what you've learned about World War I