The man who wrote the letter you are about to read will not show up in your textbooks. His name was Guy Goff and this was one of many letters he wrote to his wife during World War 1, this one specifically was written while he was stationed in France during the Paris Peace Conference to end World War 1. He wasn’t a politician and he wasn’t a diplomat, he was an assistant to those involved in the peace talks and got a front row seat to all of the political drama. Goff gives historians a fascinating outside perspective of the machinations that occurred at the negotiations that would the Great War.
World War One was a war of conflicting ideas. Europe in 1914 was on the precipice of change. Industrialization led rapid economic expansion, which led to urbanization. This urbanization meant that new ideas could spread more quickly and people began to call to their government for change. Women’s suffrage movements, labor unions sprang up, and ideas of socialism began to spread . These liberal ideas sent out a shockwave and an extremely politically right counter movement to it became know as nationalism. Nationalism was proud identification with ones country and to see anyone who wasn’t completely in support of you as traitors. Nationalism also introduced the idea that any group of people, not just militaristically and economically powerful, could be a nation . This ideology spread to the people of Serbia, a Balkans nation annexed by Austria-Hungry in 1908. …show more content…
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungry, went to Sarajevo, Bosnia to inspect military troops in on June 28, 1914. That same day in 1389 Serbia was defeated by the Turks, so the day was very important to the Serbian people. Nationalists saw this demonstration of Austrian power coinciding with another defeat at the hands of a large empire insulting. After a botched bombing an assassin was able to shoot the Archduke and his wife that evening. By July 28th Austria-Hungry declared war on Serbia. Germany allied itself with Austria-Hungry and Russia, Belgium, France, and Great Britain sided Serbia. Within a week of July 28th Europe was at war . The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 sought to fix the problems that had started the war. Thirty different countries attended the conference, but four drove the negotiations. The United Kingdom, France, The United States, and Italy had most of the say of what the Treat of Versailles would stipulate and what all of the countries involved in the war would agree too. Russia, and Allied power, was not invited to the conference due to the recent rise of the communist Bolshevik government and the other countries refusal to recognize it. The Central Powers including Germany, Austria-Hungry, Turkey, and Bulgaria were also not invited to attend the conference even though much of the treaty greatly affected them . The city of Danzig was a major point of contention for the Germans. …show more content…
It was a harbor city in the Saarland region of Poland that was taken from Germany following the war and put under the rule of the League of Nations. The city was rich in coal and so afterwards the League had access to that wealth and Germany didn’t, which was a major economic hit considering the League of Nations was already demanding that Germany pay five billion dollars in reparations. It was worsened further on in 1921 when the Inter-Allied Commission found that the war cost came out to an additional 32 billion dollars, which was also put on Germany . Germany wasn’t the only country that was punished for its part in the war. Austria-Hungry, the country that was the root of the problem in the first place, was completely dissolved. In place of the Austrian Empire this land became Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, or as they would later be known, Yugoslavia. Italy also took South Tyrol, Trieste, Trentio, and Istria and Romania got Bukovina. It was also stipulated that Austria and Germany could never unite and be one country, which was idea that was popular in both countries and would help allow a young Austrian nationalist by the name of Adolf Hitler to gain power in Germany in the 1930’s. The country of Hungry was also established separately from Austria with
World War One was a war of conflicting ideas. Europe in 1914 was on the precipice of change. Industrialization led rapid economic expansion, which led to urbanization. This urbanization meant that new ideas could spread more quickly and people began to call to their government for change. Women’s suffrage movements, labor unions sprang up, and ideas of socialism began to spread . These liberal ideas sent out a shockwave and an extremely politically right counter movement to it became know as nationalism. Nationalism was proud identification with ones country and to see anyone who wasn’t completely in support of you as traitors. Nationalism also introduced the idea that any group of people, not just militaristically and economically powerful, could be a nation . This ideology spread to the people of Serbia, a Balkans nation annexed by Austria-Hungry in 1908. …show more content…
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungry, went to Sarajevo, Bosnia to inspect military troops in on June 28, 1914. That same day in 1389 Serbia was defeated by the Turks, so the day was very important to the Serbian people. Nationalists saw this demonstration of Austrian power coinciding with another defeat at the hands of a large empire insulting. After a botched bombing an assassin was able to shoot the Archduke and his wife that evening. By July 28th Austria-Hungry declared war on Serbia. Germany allied itself with Austria-Hungry and Russia, Belgium, France, and Great Britain sided Serbia. Within a week of July 28th Europe was at war . The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 sought to fix the problems that had started the war. Thirty different countries attended the conference, but four drove the negotiations. The United Kingdom, France, The United States, and Italy had most of the say of what the Treat of Versailles would stipulate and what all of the countries involved in the war would agree too. Russia, and Allied power, was not invited to the conference due to the recent rise of the communist Bolshevik government and the other countries refusal to recognize it. The Central Powers including Germany, Austria-Hungry, Turkey, and Bulgaria were also not invited to attend the conference even though much of the treaty greatly affected them . The city of Danzig was a major point of contention for the Germans. …show more content…
It was a harbor city in the Saarland region of Poland that was taken from Germany following the war and put under the rule of the League of Nations. The city was rich in coal and so afterwards the League had access to that wealth and Germany didn’t, which was a major economic hit considering the League of Nations was already demanding that Germany pay five billion dollars in reparations. It was worsened further on in 1921 when the Inter-Allied Commission found that the war cost came out to an additional 32 billion dollars, which was also put on Germany . Germany wasn’t the only country that was punished for its part in the war. Austria-Hungry, the country that was the root of the problem in the first place, was completely dissolved. In place of the Austrian Empire this land became Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, or as they would later be known, Yugoslavia. Italy also took South Tyrol, Trieste, Trentio, and Istria and Romania got Bukovina. It was also stipulated that Austria and Germany could never unite and be one country, which was idea that was popular in both countries and would help allow a young Austrian nationalist by the name of Adolf Hitler to gain power in Germany in the 1930’s. The country of Hungry was also established separately from Austria with