Lesson 4: After the War

Lesson Focus

After WWI, the Allies tried to build a lasting peace. President Wilson's ambitious plan clashed with Allied desires for revenge and political opposition at home, setting the stage for future challenges and conflicts.

People to Know

Woodrow Wilson, David Lloyd George, Georges Clemenceau

Learning Objectives

• Describe the difficult compromises and outcomes of the Versailles Peace Conference, including the creation of the League of Nations.
• Explain why the U.S. Senate ultimately rejected the Treaty of Versailles, despite President Wilson's passionate campaign for its ratification.
• Identify the major domestic challenges America faced after the war, including economic turmoil, labor strikes, and the 'Red Scare'.

President Wilson’s peace plan faced opposition at the Versailles Peace Conference in January 1919. The “Big Four” leaders, driven by desires for revenge and security, secretly negotiated the terms. Though Wilson successfully included the covenant for the League of Nations in the treaty, he had to make major concessions. The resulting Treaty of Versailles was a victor's peace that harshly punished Germany, largely ignoring Wilson’s idealistic Fourteen Points.

The Treaty of Versailles faced strong opposition in the U.S. Senate. Many feared the League of Nations would become an “entangling alliance.” Instead of compromising with Republicans, Wilson launched a national speaking tour to win public support. The tour ended when he suffered a massive stroke. With Wilson incapacitated, the Senate refused to ratify the treaty in votes held in November 1919 and March 1920, forcing the U.S. to make a separate peace.

The end of WWI led to major domestic challenges. Rapid demobilization and a return to a peacetime economy caused soaring inflation and a high cost of living. This instability triggered widespread labor unrest, with a record number of strikes in 1919, including the disruptive Boston Police Strike. Farmers also suffered as crop prices plummeted without government support. Note that these problems unfolded with little direction from the preoccupied and later incapacitated President Wilson.

Postwar labor unrest and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia fueled fears of political radicalism in the United States. Many Americans began to link strikes with a communist plot to overthrow the government. This panic ignited a nationwide “Red Scare.” Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer led raids against suspected radicals, rounding up thousands of immigrants and having nearly 600 deported, often without a trial. Pay special attention to how fear was used to suppress civil liberties.

Racial tensions dramatically increased after the war. White soldiers returning home found themselves competing for jobs and housing with African Americans who had moved north for industrial work. This competition and prejudice erupted into violent race riots in many cities during the summer of 1919, with the worst occurring in Chicago. This wave of racism also saw the resurgence of organizations like the Ku Klux Klan, which grew into a powerful national force.

Despite political turmoil, the postwar era saw the culmination of major reform movements. The wartime spirit of sacrifice helped propel the push for Prohibition, leading to the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment. At the same time, women’s crucial contributions to the war effort in factories and overseas made it impossible to deny them the right to vote. As a result, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, granting women nationwide suffrage after a long struggle.