TW F. NTIETII CENrUIlYA.\IERIC.\NS
VictoryWonbyChilJt'Holild ",polinwll"(t'lcbrol'tII,tmJ4111tFim
WorfJffa•.
Ger many.Wilson'sdimWdSn ot simp lytodefeat
Ger m an y.HeSdWthewar as agrcd[crusadeto
ensureth e future pedceoftheworld.For himthewar
wo uldbecomea war " tom ake th eworldsafefo r
d em ocra cy,th e war to end all wars."
WhentheUnited StatesdeclaredwaronGerm any
theAmerican ar mywas a small forceofo nly200, 000
soldiers. Million smore men hadto be recruited ,
trained,eq u ippedand shipped acro ssthe Atlanticto
Euro pe.All this tookti me.A fullyea r passedbefore
m an y Amer ican sold i erswereavailableto helpthe
Euro pean Allies.
In the sp ringof 1918 th eGermanar mie sbegan a last
d esper ate offensiveagarnsr the Fren ch an d the
Britis h.Thcir aim\v·JStow in the war beforeth enew
American armyWdSread yto fight.ByJ u lyth ey
were with ina fewm ilesofParis.
The Allieswereingreatdanger. T heyp lacedall th eir
ar miesu nde ronecommander,the Fren ch gene ral
Foch.Lu ckil y forFo ch.Americansoldiersbegan to
arriveatth e battlefronttostre ng the n his fo rces.So on
over a millio nofthemh adjoinedinthebattles
againsttheGermans.90In Augu st)<J18,theAlliedar mi es coumer-a nac ke d.
The Germanarmieswered rivenbacktowardsth ei r
ownfro nti ers .In O ctoberth e Ger m ango\'e rn me nt
askedfo r peace.OnN o vemb erIt. 19 18.German
andAlliedleaderssignedan ar mistice,anagreement
to sto pfighting.Thebloo d iestand most destructive
wartheworldhadeverk nown'WdSover.
llyJanu ary1919 ,Presiden t Wilsonwas in Europe.
H e wasth ere ro helptoworko uta lX'acetreat y.H e
was greetedbycheeri ngcrowdsin theAllied capit als
andspo ke nofas" Wilsonth e Just ."
BurwhenWilsonmetotherAlliedleader stowork.
out the detailsofth e tr eaty ,th e w elcom ebecameless
friendly.The French leader,GeorgesC k-m cn ccau,
th o ug htth atWilsonlack edexpe rienceIII
internationalaffairs. Worsestill,theAmeric an
Pr esiden t didn otseemto realize this."Howcan I
talktoa felloww hothin kshimse lf th efirst m anin
twothou sandyedrs to knowanyth ingaboutpt·aceo n
earth?" asked C lcmcnccau.
Both Wilson andClcmcnccauwanted to makesure
thata w arlike theFirst World War n everhappen ed
agatu.Wilsonwantedtodo thisbyw riti nga treat y
th atdidnotleavetheGerm an s with lo tsof
grievances.He believedthatif th eGermansthough t
the y had not beentreatedfairly.theym ig h toneday
sta rt a warofreven ge .C lemenceacthought
differen tl y.H e believed thereWdSo nlyo new ayto
make a peacerharwouldlast .TheGermanshadtob e
madesoweakthatth eyw ouldn everhaveth e
str engthto figh t again.
Aftermuch arg uing, andwithoutconsult ing the
Germ ans. the Alliedleadersagreed 011 a peacetreaty.
T hey called it the Versailles Treat y, after the palace
nearPariswhere it wassignedin M ay 1919.
The VersaillesT reatywash arderinits treatmentof
th e Germans rhan Wilsonhadwanted .Amongother
thi n gsit made themtakeall th e blamefor the w ar.It
alsom ade themagreetoPdYfo r all the damagethat
th e war hadcaus ed .These"repar ation "payments
wer efixedatmanymillion sofd ollars.
Wilso nw asdisappointedwithmuchoftheVersailles
Treaty.Buthereturned to theUnitedStaresw ith
h ighhopesfo r partofit.This wasa schemeth ath e
believedcould still mak e hisd reamofaworld
witho utwarcometrue.ItWdSa plantosetup a
Leagueo fNations.