i. How WWI changed the map
- Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman empires that had endured for centuries eventually disintegrated after four years of bloodshed, more than 16 million killed soldiers and citizens, and several new states arose.
- Alsace-Lorraine went to France, and Eupen-Malmédy went to Belgium. Silesia and Northern Schleswig were given to Poland and Denmark, respectively, as a result of plebiscites.
- Poland was reconstituted in the East(created from lands lost from Austria, Russia, and Germany); Ukraine, the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia were established.
- Trieste was acquired by Italy.
- The Austro-Hungarian Empire, this vast zone to the southern part of Europe, split into separate entities based on nationality: Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were created; Galicia went to Poland; Transylvania went to Romania.
- Sykes-Picot Agreement – After World War I, Britain and France secretly agreed to build “spheres of influence” that would eventually give rise to modern Western Asia. The major goals of the agreement were to divide the Ottoman Empire’s territories between England and France and to protect each country’s colonial interests.
- One of the 14 points Woodrow Wilson was self-government for the non-Turkish people of the Ottoman empire and the permanent opening of Dardanelles.
- Treaty of Versailles-
- Alsace-Lorraine was transferred to France, costing Germany territory in Europe.
- The nations of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania became independent. Poland, Lithuania, Belgium, Denmark, and other countries received portions of German territory.
- Despite Austria’s sizable German population, union with Germany was forbidden.
- With the signing of the Treaties of St. Germain (1919) and Trianon (1920) with Austria and Hungary, respectively, Austria and Hungary were reduced in size in contrast to the size of the Habsburg empire.
- The Treaty of Sevres (1920) with Turkey, was signed.
- Significant land was lost to Greece, including Eastern Thrace and Smyrna.
- The colonies of the Ottoman Empire were changed into mandates and given to Britain and France. France got Syria, while British mandates included Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan.