WWI Outcomes and Global Effects

Source: German Federal Archive

German gold payments to the U.S. as war reparations.

Did you know that Germany did not make its final payments to the victors of WW I until 2010?

First, read the story, Why Did World War I Just End?, on the TIME® website. Now, imagine that you are one of the leaders of the Big Four meeting at Versailles to discuss the peace treaty. If you're "lucky," you may have gotten off without having any major battles fought in your country. You still lost thousands or hundreds of thousands of soldiers and spent millions of dollars on military equipment. If you were the French leader, much of the war was fought on your soil and alongside the dead and money you spent defending yourself, you have to rebuild much of the towns and the countryside which was destroyed during the brutal conflict.

Who is going to pay for all of this? Should you make the losers pay, or should you share the costs? What do you think? Should the winners of a war make the losers pay back all the money that was spent to defeat them? Or should each country be responsible for paying its own war debts and reconstruction costs?

Visit the course discussions area and post your responses to these questions. Then, return to the topic several times over the next few days to read your coursemates’ posts. Reply to at least two of them, being sure to offer new insights, ask questions, and encourage further conversation.