Intro
Indent The second topic in our History 12 unit is the Paris 1919 conference and all that came from it. This event marks the official end of WWI (where Socials 11 left off) and where History 12 technically begins. The learning we accomplished on this topic is very important to the chronological style of learning we have attacked history 12 with. The Paris 1919 conference established connections and relationships between most European nations that then directly contributed to the following years and following wars.
Indent The topic began with the watching of a feature-length Film, where we learned the basics and gained an understanding of what really happened. The Film based on Margaret MacMillan’s acclaimed book of the same name taught us about the peace talks of the world great powers.
Indent While watching the movie the class filled out a guided notes activity that required attentive listening and kept us all actively watching.
Indent Following this, Mr Hughes gave us a lecture on Britain and the USA from before WWI to their part in the Paris 1919 negotiations. This lecture required note taking, but in a different style than the notes, we created while listening to the Political Ideologies lecture the previous week. Forcing us students to choose one of the remaining four Hockley note-taking styles expands our understanding of the topic while also changing our methodology of remembering information. I follow the “Memory Key ” note style and eventually revised my work to follow the method exactly.
Indent The Paris 1919 topic didn’t last very long in class but despite that, we learnt a lot, especially how important it really was.
Challenge
Indent What Problems will be created at the Paris Peace Conference that will reverberate throughout the 20th century?
identify you look at Europe, and the entire world after the Paris Peace Conference there is one extra big and extra black eye that taints our perception of history, and that is WWII. When we evaluate and examine WWII it becomes obvious and blatant that the problem was Germany and its Leader, Adolf Hitler. War crimes and death were all the Nazis created and the life they took from this earth is horrendous. The countries that fought Hitler and his Nazi regime were the ones who eventually liberated Europe and ended the massacre, but they were also the ones who created this War.
Indent Economies are what control countries and give them their power, and Germany’s economy was shattered during the Paris Peace Conference. The Allies agreed on requiring 33 Billion dollars in damages from Germany and this was a major problem. After the treaty was signed and Germany’s will was ignored the country began to crumble. The 33 Billion dollars in 1919 amounts to roughly 2.3 trillion dollars American today, an amount that would cripple any well-off country. In Germany, Inflation began to rise and it never seemed to fall. From the German Mark being a globally recognized currency, it fell to nothing. At one point the German Mark was worth a trillionth of an American dollar, It was worth less than paper and was used as food for fires and toilet paper in some homes. From here, the country fell into anarchy without a currency, and hatred brewed.
Indent Germany in anarchy, weakened by the burdens required of them was a perfect environment for the Nazi regime to fester. The party fed off the hatred and anger of the German people and promised to restore Germany to its former glory. The collapsed economy led to a collapsed military and then a collapsed government, the perfect habitat for a rotten leader to rise. The desperate and angry Germans remembered what the Allies requested of them during the Paris Peace Conference and wanted revenge, they were tired of their current living conditions and were ready for Change. Hitler Promised this and was elected because of the perfect chances he was handed by the Allies. Without knowing, during the Paris Peace Conference the Allies has overstepped their requests and damaged Germany too much, allowing a radical party to rise and set the table for another World War.
Sources:
Paris 1919 Feature Film based on Margaret MacMillan’s book (https://www.nfb.ca/film/paris_1919/)
How the Treaty of Versailles Caused WWII article (http://chapman2014.weebly.com/leading-to-world-war-ii.html)
History on the Net – World War Two – Causes (https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-two-causes/)
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