Three Baltic countries, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia came into existence after World War I. As a result, the German province of East Prussia was divided from the rest of the country. The Polish corridor was provided to grant Poland access to the Baltic sea. Poland was created from portions of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia. The boundaries of Romania were expanded based on ethnic considerations to include as many Romanians as possible within its borders. Yugoslavia (Originally called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes) – this country included Serbia, Montenegro along with the Croatian areas of Austria-Hungary The geographic changes in Europe are displayed in Figure 1 below:Īustria-Hungary was divided into several countries: These concepts were accepted by the Allies and included in the Treaty of Versailles with Germany the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary and the Treaty of Saint-Germain with Austria. Several of Wilson’s points dealt with territorial issues including the provision of independent countries for each of the main ethnic groups in Europe. Wilson gives us fourteen.” Wilson felt that a harsh treaty would risk future war, stating in his ‘Peace without Victory’ speech: “Victory would mean peace forced upon a loser, a victor’s terms imposed upon the vanquished… It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which term of peace would rest, not permanently, but only as upon quicksand.” Time would prove him correct as many historians believe that the harsh Treaty of Versailles was one cause of World War II. Prime Minister of France, Clemenceau was reported to have commented that “ God was satisfied with Ten Commandments. Having incurred several million casualties and severe financial hardship, they were not that interested in a generous settlement for Germany. The British and French were concerned about the Fourteen Points. This speech detailed his concept of a fair and equitable peace to all parties. Nine months later, in January 1918, President Wilson articulated ‘Fourteen Points’ as the basis for negotiating a peace settlement. The United States entered World War I in April 1917. After the armistice of November 11, 1918, the victorious Allies redrew the maps of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East to replace these fallen empires. Four empires collapsed during World War I – the German Empire, the Russian Empire, the Austria-Hungary Empire, and the Ottoman Empire.
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