When Germany was on the verge of surrender, the Allies began to formulate a post-war plan. In January 1918, President Wilson addressed the U.S. Congress and explained his Fourteen Points. His proposals for a post-war peace settlement.

In October, Germany agreed to negotiations based on the Fourteen Points. However, the Allies also demanded reparations from Germany. In the spring of 1919, the Paris Peace Conference convened to draft a final treaty called the Treaty of Versailles.

With victory came the dismantling and taking of the losers' empires. Germany lost its African colonies, and the Ottoman Empire was broken up completely. The League deemed the former German colonies and Ottoman territories unready for independence.

In 1915, a German U-boat sank the R.M.S. Lusitania, a passenger ship sailing between Britain and New York City, claiming the United States was smuggling weapons on the ship.

Another contributing factor to U.S. involvement was the Zimmermann Telegraph, where Germany suggested to Mexico that it should declare war against the United States.

A lot of propaganda in the United States focused on increasing enlistment in the armed forces. But the government also instituted the draft. Three million young men were conscripted to join the military. Propaganda was used to maintain support for the draft.

Many World War I (WWI) propaganda posters vilified the enemy. This American poster shows Germany as an angry ape, clutching the innocent victim, "Liberty." Americans of German descent also faced discrimination and hostility.

World War I was a total war, affecting not just battlefields and soldiers but also civilians, cities, and the countryside. Many parts of Europe, particularly along the Western Front, were destroyed.

By the end of the war, an estimated 8.5 million people died from wounds or disease. This is a far greater number than any previous war. As the war progressed, it grew increasingly mechanized and impersonal, with cannons and poison gas killing huge numbers of people without any face-to-face combat. This trend in warfare continues to the present day, as militaries today guide missiles and drop bombs from behind computer screens.

This massive loss of life transformed post-war society. Those who died or fought in the war became known as the "Lost Generation," a phrase coined by author Gertrude Stein and popularized by author Ernest Hemingway. Particularly in Europe, this generation was "lost" because so many of its men were dead or wounded, either physically or emotionally. Many survivors fled their home countries and became permanent expatriates, creating works of literature and art about the experiences of being part of a generation that was missing so many men.

Undoubtedly, the slowest recovery was Germany’s, due to the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles. The damage done to Germany both by the war and by the treaty created so much unhappiness among the German population that Adolf Hitler soon came to power.

How Did World War I Help to Usher in the Modern World?