15- Diplomacy in Europe (Versailles)

Question 1

Give an overview of what the Treaty of Versailles was and who was involved

Answer 1

• Following the armistice of 1918, the Allied leaders met to sort out peace terms at Versailles, France.
• This was a time of great optimism with many hoping that any peace deal would follow the ideas put forward by the American President Woodrow Wilson.
• However, Wilson’s aims for a peace deal were very different to those of the British Prime Minister, Lloyd George, and the French Prime Minister, Clemenceau.

Question 2

What were the effects of WW1? (Western Europe)

Answer 2

• Europe was in chaos
• 10 million people had died in the war, there was starvation and a deadly flu epidemic
• There was also widespread physical and devastation which had dire economic consequences
• Where the fighting had taken place on the western front, France and Belgium had lost land and industry e.g France had 2 million hectares of farmland rendered unusable
• Italy was also badly effected, and in the east Poland and Serbia were devastated
• Roads and railway lines needed to be reconstructed, arable land had to be cleared of unexploded shells and hospitals and houses had to be rebuilt.

Question 3

What were the effects of WW1? (Eastern Europe)

Answer 3

• The war had led to the collapse of the Russian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.
• The Bolsheviks had established the first communist state in Russia, and there was fear that its ideology and revolution could spread across Europe in the post war period.
• Its former imperial territories in Europe had declared independence; the Hungarians, south Slavs and Czechoslovaks had also declared independence from Austria-Hungary and there was a power vacuum in the Balkans.

Question 4

Who were the main negotiators in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 4

• The ‘Big Three’:
• British prime minister David Lloyd George
• French prime minister Georges Clemenceau
• US President Woodrow Wilson.

Question 5

What role did the Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando play in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 5

He played a more minor role in discussions, and walked out of the conference after failing to get the territorial gains that Italy had aimed for.

Question 6

What role did the Japanese delegation play in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 6

The Japanese delegation were only interested in what was decided about the Pacific.

Question 7

What were the main problems facing the peacemakers?

Answer 7

• Pressure to agree terms due to the anarchy and instability in Europe
• The different aims of the peacemakers
• The nature of the Armistice settlement and the mood of the German population
• The popular sentiment in the Allied countries.

Question 8

What was the main concern of the victors in the ToV and why was this difficult?

Answer 8

• The main concern of the victors was to draw up a settlement for Germany.
• However, their different aims made this process very difficult.
• The peacemakers also had to agree terms relatively quickly as the blockade was maintained on Germany, and its people continued to suffer.

Question 9

Describe Woodrow Wilson’s attitude in the ToV

Answer 9

He was an idealist who had as the basis of his ideas for a peace, his 14 Points

Question 10

Give some of the points in Wilson’s 14 points

Answer 10

• Abolition of secret diplomacy
• Free navigation at sea for all nations in war and peace
• Free trade between countries
• Disarmament by all countries
• Colonies to have a say in their own future
• German troops to leave Russia
• Restoration of independence for Belgium

Question 11

How did Clemenceau feel about Wilson’s 14 points?

Answer 11

He ridiculed them by declaring that even God had only needed ten points.

Question 12

What did Clemenceau want in the ToV?

Answer 12

• A harsh settlement for Germany.
• A permanently weakened Germany.
• Reparations for French losses.
• To maintain good relations with US and Britain future French security
• France to regain Alsace and Lorraine

Question 13

What was Lloyd George’s attitude in the ToV?

Answer 13

He wanted a more moderate settlement

Question 14

What did Lloyd George want in the ToV?

Answer 14

• Germany should lose its navy and colonies, and no longer threaten the British Empire.
• Germany should also be able to economically recover and be able to trade again with Britain.
• Politically, Germany must be a bulwark against the spread of Communism from the new Bolshevik Russia.

Question 15

Lloyd George was also under pressure from ___

Answer 15

Public opinion at home to make Germany pay

Question 16

What territorial changes did Italy (Orlando) want?

Answer 16

• He wanted to get the territories promised to Italy in the Treaty of London in 1915 when they joined the Entente Powers in the war.
• They also believed they deserved something for all the suffering and slaughter they had endured, with losses higher than Britain’s in relation to the size of their population.
• Their demands included land from Austria, some of Germany’s former colonies and the payment of reparations.

Question 17

What political changes did Italy (Orlando) want?

Answer 17

Italy, like France, was in favour of a weakened Germany and preventing a new ‘super’ German state being formed if it joined with Austria on Italy’s border.

Question 18

When did Japan enter WW1?

Answer 18

On 23 August 1914

Question 19

Describe the Japanese delagation that was sent to the Paris Peace Conference

Answer 19

• Japan sent a large delegation to the Paris peace conference.
• The delegation was headed by prime minister Kinmochi.

Question 20

What were the two key aims of Japan at the PPC?

Answer 20

• To secure a racial equality clause in the covenant of the LoN
• To secure its territorial claims

Question 21

Explain Japan’s aim to secure a racial equality clause in the covenant of the LoN

Answer 21

• This would assert that all races should be treated equally.
• The Japanese had faced discrimination in its relations with the West and was particularly affronted by the treatment its immigrants faced in the US.

Question 22

Explain Japan’s aim to secure its territorial claims

Answer 22

• Japan wanted to secure its territorial claims over former German colonies in Asia.
• It claimed Shantung in China and the Pacific islands north of the Equator.

Question 23

How did the Treaty of Versailles work out for Germany? (reword?)

Answer 23

• The peacemakers had to find terms quickly. It took six weeks of negotiations.
• The German government was not allowed to send a representative.
• Terms were presented to the Germans to be signed. It therefore became known as the diktat

Question 24

Give some examples of the territorial terms placed on Germany in the ToV

Answer 24

• Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France
• Germany as a country was split in two. Parts of Upper Silesia, Poznan, and West Prussia given to the new Poland, creating a ‘Polish Corridor’ between Germany and East Prussia. It gave Poland access to the sea.
• Germany’s African colonies were taken away. Germany’s colonies were handed over to the League of Nations.

Question 25

Give some examples of economic terms placed on Germany in the ToV

Answer 25

• The ‘war guilt’ clause provided justification for Allied demands for reparations.
• The Inter-Allied Reparations Commission, in 1921, came up with the reparations sum of £6,600 million.

Question 26

Give some examples of military terms placed on Germany in the ToV

Answer 26

• Germany was to disarmed. It was forbidden to have submarines, an air force, armoured cars, or tanks.
• It could keep 6 battleships and an army of 100,000 men to provide internal security.
• The west bank of the Rhine was demilitarized and Allied army of occupation

Question 27

Give some examples of political terms placed on Germany in the ToV

Answer 27

The Saarland was put under the administration of the League of Nations for 15 years, after which a plebiscite was to allow the inhabitants to decide whether they wanted to be annexed to Germany or France.

Question 28

What are the different points of view that historians have regarding the ToV?

Answer 28

• Many disagree that the Treaty of Versailles was too harsh.
• Given the fact that the peacemakers faced so many problems, historians such as Sally Marks, Anthony Lentin, Alan Sharp and Ruth Henig argue it would have been difficult for them to have achieved a more satisfactory settlement; indeed Niall Ferguson argues that it was ‘relatively lenient’.

Question 29

What are some points that support the argument that the Treaty of Versailles was not too harsh

Answer 29

• Compared to Germany’s war aims and the treaties that Germany had imposed on Russia and Romania earlier in 1918, the Treaty of Versailles was quite moderate.
• The Treaty in fact left Germany in a relatively strong position in the centre of Europe
• The huge reparations bill was not responsible for the economic crisis that Germany faced in the early 1920s

Question 30

ToV vs. Treaty of Brest Litvosk- argument that the ToV was not too harsh

Answer 30

• The huge demands of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk with Russia also indicate that Germany would have sought huge areas of land from the Allies had it won.
• It also can be argued that France deserved to be compensated for the destruction of so much of its land and industry; Germany had not been invaded and so its farmland and industries therefore remained intact.

Question 31

Germany’s war aims as set out in 1914- argument that the ToV was not too harsh

Answer 31

• Germany’s war aims as set out in 1914 were far-reaching.
• In a memorandum in September 1914, Bethmann-Hollweg promised security for the German Reich by gaining indirect control over much of Europe through a customs union and the annexation of parts of Belgium, France and Luxembourg.
• French, Belgian and Portuguese colonies would be incorporated into an economic region in Central Africa called Mittelafrika.

Question 32

Explain the point that the Treaty in fact left Germany in a relatively strong position in the centre of Europe- argument that the ToV was not too harsh

Answer 32

• Germany remained a dominant power in a weakened Europe.
• Not only was it physically undamaged, but it had gained strategic advantages.
• Russia was weakened and the new states created in central Europe created a power vacuum which Germany would be able to take advantage of.

Question 33

Explain the point that he huge reparations bill was not responsible for the economic crisis that Germany faced in the early 1920s- argument that the ToV was not too harsh

Answer 33

This was due to the actions of the Weimar government in issuing banknotes

Question 34

Arguments that the ToV reasonable and not in itself responsible for the chaos in post war Germany

Answer 34

• German propaganda continuously portrayed the Treaty as unjust and vindictive
• The USA and Britain lacked the will to enforce the terms of the treaty

Question 35

Explain the argument that German propaganda continuously portrayed the Treaty as unjust and vindictive

Answer 35

Such propaganda was successful in persuading other countries that Germany had been treated unfairly and Britain and France were forced into several revisions of the treaty while Germany evaded paying reparations or carrying out the disarmament clauses.

Question 36

Explain the argument that the USA and Britain lacked the will to enforce the terms of the treaty

Answer 36

• The coalition that had put the treaty together quickly collapsed.
• The USA refused to ratify the treaty and Britain now wished to distance itself from many of the Treaty’s territorial provisions.
• Liberal opinion in the USA and Britain was influenced not only by German propaganda but also by Keynes’ arguments for allowing Germany to recover economically.
• France was the only country that wanted to enforce the Treaty as it still feared for its security.
• Thus it invaded the Ruhr in 1923 - but received no support from Britain or the USA who accused France of ‘bullying’ Germany.

Question 37

Add more points that the ToV was reasonable?

Question 38

Historians who claim that the ToV was unjustified

Answer 38

• W.H. Dawson
• Zara Steiner
• Raymond Cartier

Question 39

Historians who claim that the ToV was justified

Answer 39

• Wolfgang Mommensen
• Ruth Henig
• W. Carr

Question 40

Viewpoint of W.H. Dawon- ToV was unjustified

Answer 40

-He claimed that Germany’s borders ‘are literally bleeding. From them oozes out the life-blood, physical, spiritual, and material of large populations’.

Question 41

Viewpoint of Zara Steiner- ToV was unjustified

Answer 41

She argues that the Treaty ‘failed to solve the problem of both punishing and concilating a country that remained a great power’.

Question 42

Viewpoint of Zara Steiner- ToV was unjustified

Answer 42

The French historian Raymond Cartier states that millions of ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland and in Posen-West Prussia were placed under foreign rule where harassment and violation of rights by authorities are documented.

Question 43

Viewpoint of Wolfgang Mommensen- ToV was justified

Answer 43

The German historian Wolfgang Mommensen says: ‘one can say the Treaty was harsh, but understandable… The allied governments were under the pressure of their own public which demanded the Germans to pay for it all.’

Question 44

Viewpoint of Ruth Henig- ToV was justified

Answer 44

She argues that ‘Compared to the treaties which Germany had imposed on defeated Russia and Romania in 1918, the Treaty of Versailles was quite moderate… However, the German people were expecting victory.. It was the .. defeat as much as the treaty terms themselves, which they found so hard to accept.’

Question 45

Viewpoint of W. Carr- ToV was justified

Answer 45

The British historian suggests: ‘The German economy remained strong, and had the potential to recover quickly from the War’