ABSTRACT
The first organized opposition to the continuation of the war developed among minority groups in the left-wing movements that had denounced militarism prior to 1914. The crisis at the front in the spring of 1917 coincided with growing unrest among the civilian population. Germany's colonies were distributed among the Allies, France regaining the African territories it had ceded during the second Moroccan crisis. The post-war redistribution of the territories of the defeated Ottoman Empire which had entered the war on Germany's side brought further additions to the French empire. The United States, with its small army, at first added little to the Allied forces. But its large population and great economic resources promised to be decisive in the long run. History has tended to present the peace conference as a duel between a vengeful but largely unsuccessful Clemenceau and an overly idealistic Woodrow Wilson. In fact, modern historical research has modified this traditional picture.
