The End of World War I
As the news of the individual surrender spread, fellow Germans saw that they were losing the war and started mutinies. Many people told the Kaiser to seek an armistice with the allies. However, he did not show any intensions of giving up. With the end so close, many American newspapers started to create rumors that the armistice had signed been signed by the Germans. They assumed that our leaders were suing for peace. They were still only considering signing an armistice. The American armistice was based on Woodrow Wilson's fourteen-point plan. He did have a hard time convincing the other allies that the fourteen-point plan was going to work. Wilson who was wanted peace without actually winning the war. By the time the armistice was signed, the people of Germany were happy that the war had ended.
The treaty was signed at Rethondes, France at 5:00 pm on November 11 1918. Two days earlier Kaiser Williams of Germany had abdicated and fled to the Netherlands. Prince Max of Beden had immediately accepted defeat. The word quickly passed along the front and at 11:00 the battles should stop. Many notes had passed between Prince Williams and President Wilson in the days that led to the armistice. All of the matters were discussed through notes although a representative was sent to explain the idea behind the fourteen point and other American theories that led to the formation of the armistice.
After the armistice was signed and the war ended many of the Americans flooded the towns located near the front, they celebrated. Many sang their national anthem. The streets were crowded with people. The town center was so filled that you could hardly see anything. Church bells ringed through out Europe to praise the end of the war. Many people even sung huge flags of either America or France. Many of the soldiers just stared and wondered what was going on. They had seen all the death and did not realize why the men celebrated.
Many people endorsed the fourteen-point plan. Some even thought that he would win the noble peace prize for his work during the tragic war. Many Americans believed that their president their war hero had ended the war with the fourteen points for peace. Many of the allies wanted to put and end to the war by claming victory and puncture the economy of Germany forever.
When the peace processes were to start after the finishing of World War One, there were four people who were major components in the treaty of Paris: Clemenceau, George, Orlando, and Wilson. Clemenceau wanted revenge on the German's by punishing them through the treaties because he believed that they were at fault for the war; George was in agreement with Clemenceau although he did not feel that Germany should suffer severe punishment; Orlando who wanted the irredenta to be re-established; and President Wilson of the United States of America wanted to create a mild peace with Germany in a fair way. In view of this, Wilson created fourteen points that he wanted accomplished in full as a result of the peace treaties. His fourteen points were his plan for a world peace and included plans for the end of secret treaties, freedom of the seas, free trade, arms reduction, the just settlement of colonial claims, the establishment of a League of Nations, and the evacuation of occupied territories and national self-determination. Many of his points were carried out in the Treaty of Versailles, although not all of them were successful or followed completely.
Paine introduced his main claim by comparing the differences of a society and government within “Common Sense” (CS). “Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is a patron, the last a punisher” (Paine 4-5). Using juxtaposition, Paine is able to portray the British government as a form of oppression while society or the American colonies as a virtuous foundation. Government, according to Paine is a means of regulating societies’ sins. By portraying “society” as a form of prosperity, the reader gains an insight to his claim. Furthermore, Paine’s interpretation of society is a means of survival a way for people to work together and prosper. However, in order for Paine to persuaded the audience he relates to their reasoning. “Let us suppose a small number of persons settled in some sequestered part of the e...
Paine dwells on the differences between government and society. He stresses greatly on the fact that a government should be able to protect its society. Giving life and liberty to its people. He also points out that, Britain is the main cause of enemy to the Americas. Expressing disagreement with the British in American, he criticized the British government. He believes that the monarchy has too much power and their system is unreasonable. Paine complicates matters further when he writes, that the Americans are not British anymore. It is not British in a sense that it is so diverse, with different types of Europeans. In Paine’s views Britain is not a mother country, since it imposes harsh treatments and is in a war too often. The idea of best interest was important to Paine. In his views, Britain sees the Americas as profitable institutions to control and gains riches from, as opposed to the development and freedom of the nations. Independence from Britain was one of many ideas of this pamphlet. “Common Sense”, essentially pointed out the reasons why the colonies should leave the British and form a new government. His views on government inspired “Limited government” and “natural laws”, which gives citizens more control on how they shape their local environment and
The measures made to ensure the king does not have absolute power are not enough to prevent him from ultimately getting his way no matter what that may be. On page 27 Paine tells how the king made the declaration that there will be no law unless put in place by himself. This effort to make the colonists powerless as to how they are governed is tyranny. Paine’s also argues that this event shows how Britain believes America has become too powerful and is trying to slow its growth and development (27). Those who are in parliament so far away from the tragic events that take place in America who live in such a vastly different world are too ignorant to make judgements for America (23). Paine’s statement that in America “law is king,” demonstrates the author’s argument that law developed for the people should be what runs the country not a single man (30). This coincides with the way America was running well before the war ended and Britain decided to exert more power over the colonies. This is made even more evident when Thomas Paine states Britain cannot be relied on to defend them because Britain is the entity that had been trying to take away America’s power and the people rights. Furthermore,
Thomas Paine’s Common Sense and The Crisis, No. 1 deal directly with the colonist’s rejection of British rule. According Paine, the British Crown had over stayed its welcome in the political and cultural development of the colonies. The introduction of Common Sense clearly states that the British monarchy has “a long and violent abuse of power,” and that the people of the colonies have the right to be involved and have meaningful representation to the king and Parliament (325) This is a core value of the colonists. Settlers of the English colonies saw the New World as a way to start a new government and new culture, especially when they were given no power in the Parliament. Paine further casts a light on the problems between Britain and America in the third section of Common Sense. He states that Britain is not connected to America anymore, even if the people are descendants of the country. The passage also expresses the selfishness of Britain protection of the colonies to gain truth and control of the people. (326-328) The writings of this section reflect how colonists felt and further helped them to realize that their former mother country, Britain, was an enemy rather than a
In the work of Thomas Paine, "Common Sense" Paine mentions throughout of the working for a positive government with the idea of equality. Thomas Paine writes different excerpt that give theories and idea with the goal of implementing those ideas into a government that may be just and fair. Paine reflects on the English constitution specifically the crown. Paine also provide an insight to having a higher power to run a government. Paine also criticizes the idea of monarchy and hereditary succession. Complications would ultimately arise through his ideas and theories due to the differences in religions.
Europe, in the late 1800’s, was starting for a land grab in the African continent. Around 1878, most of Africa was unexplored, but by 1914, most of Africa, with the lucky exception of Liberia and Ethiopia, was carved up between European powers. There were countless motivations that spurred the European powers to carve Africa, like economical, political, and socio–cultural, and there were countless attitudes towards this expansion into Africa, some of approval and some of condemnation.
Thomas Paine conveyed his dislike for monarchies in many ways throughout “Common Sense”. One of his numerous dislikes was that most monarchs are a hereditary system. Paine’s thoughts over the hereditary system were that they were not valid and would bring evil with it. People that were born into elite existence are very often to be ignorant and unfit. Some people thought that hereditary succession reduced civil wars however there were also the issues, 12 battles
One of the main reasons Europeans colonized Africa was for their useful resources. There are countless assets in the African landscape that were wanted by other nations. The European countries had access to some of the worlds most needed resources such as cotton, oils, coal, gold, and diamonds because they controlled Africa. This is shown on a chart of African colonies and their exports. ("Selected African Colonies and Their Exports" 269). This shows how the European countries carefully selected the land they did, to get certain resources they needed or wanted to use to benefit from. Another chart from a book by Trevor Lloyd, (Lloyd, The British Empire), displays the large jump of exports to Africa from 1854 to 1900. What that means is once Great Britain established complete control of South Saharan Africa, they began to export the resources they found that they could use. These charts are proof of how the European's wanted resources, and that is one of the main reasons for the imperialization of Africa. Not only did the European nations want the continent's resources, but they had an equal hunger for power.
The Treaty of Versailles was a violation of Wilson’s ideals. The Treaty is one of the most important agreements (or disagreements) that shaped 20th century Europe socially and physically. Woodrow Wilson on January 22, 1917 in an address to the United States Senate called for a peace without victors, but the Treaty signed by the participating nations was everything but that. The blame for the war was placed on Germany and justified the reparations that were outlined by the treaty for the war. The terms of the treaty were very harsh to the Germans and they took on great resentment. It was a fragile peace agreement that would be used as fuel to keep hostilities going 20 years later.
The first step in identifying whether or not the peace settlement after World War I (WWI), would be the effectiveness of communication to the Germans. In order to properly communicate, one must simply tell the people involved what the conditions are and the consequences for not following them. In addition, the demands must be moderate and the opponent needs to be made clear that it will not favor them in the long run if they do not comply to the terms. While Germany was effectively given the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, one could argue that it was done in an unfair manner. Germany was not even present at the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles and the Germans expected something along the lines of Wilson’s 14 point plan. At the end of the discussions,
Thomas Paine constructs Common Sense as an editorial on the subject of the relationship between the Colonies and Great Britain. Through the paper, he hopes to educate his fellow Americans about this subject. In his introduction, he says he feels that there is 'a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong'; which 'gives it a superficial appearance of being right'; (693). He is alluding to the relationship, also calling it a 'violent abuse of power'; (693). This choice of words is similar to those of Jefferson, who asserts that the king had established an 'absolute tyranny'; over the states. Both men set an immediate understanding about their feelings towards the rule of Great Britain over the States. However, where Common Sense seems to be an opinionated essay, Thomas Jefferson writes somewhat of a call to battle. Paine generally seems to be alerting his readers to the fact that there is more going on than they are aware of. Jefferson, on the other hand, begins his declaration by stating, 'When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another'; (715). Unlike Paine, this seems to presuppose that readers are aware of the plight of the nation, and Jefferson is announcing that the time has come to take a stand.
The results of European colonialism shows that the aim of colonialism is to exploit the human and economic resources of an area to benefit the colonizing nation. As a result, the nation that is colonized is affected negatively. In reality, how Europe really affected Africa as a whole is much
Thomas Paine was part of the Enlightment era that made people realize it is more out there than just one religion and the rule of law is enforced by God not the King. Paine tried to get people to see that the government was evil self-destructing and it did not do them any good to remain loyal to England. Thomas Paine tried to get others to see that God made everyone equal and the King does not recognize us as being equal because he is better and that is why he is king “MANKIND being originally equals in the order of creation, the equality could only be destroyed by some subsequent circumstances”(8). Paine mentions to the people that in early ages of the world, according to scripture there were no kings; which there was no wars (9). Government was into the world by Heathens, which Paine stated that this was the greatest, the invention the Devil ever made. The people where idolizing one man and that was the king and Paine tried to get people to see God does not want you to idolize no one but him, because he has the say so in the world and heavens. Paine said, “Monarchy is ranked in scripture as one of the sins
Throughout history, imperialism has led countries to extend their rule over weaker countries and then colonized those countries to expand their own power. Imperialism allows the ruling countries to use the weaker countries for their resources. Colonizing other countries would then lead to growth and a better reputation for the dominating country. There are many examples of imperialism throughout European history. When many European countries “scrambled” for Africa, it seemed as though Africa had no say in anything. During the 19th century, Europe found a way to use Africa for their own growth and power. Using Africa for their resources, the Europeans colonized Africa without a second thought. European imperialism in Africa had a negative impact because of social disarray, cultural loss, and death it caused.