9 What were the long-term consequences of the peace treaties of 1919-23?

Question 1

Why was Japan disappointed by the peace treaties of 1919-23?

Answer 1

Japan was disappointed because its idea for a racial equality clause had been rejected at the Paris Peace Conference and it had expected to receive a greater share of Germany’s former trading rights in China

Question 2

What was Italy disappointed by the peace treaties of 1919-23?

Answer 2

Italy had hoped to receive the Adriatic port of Fiume and a greater share of the former colonies of Germany and Turkey

Question 3

What was Germany disappointed by the peace treaties of 1919-23?

Answer 3

Germany objected to just about every aspect of the Treaty of Versailles - the territorial provisions, the disarmament clauses, war guilt and reparations

Question 4

What did the Treaty of Versailles fail to do to Germany?

Answer 4

The Treaty of Versailles failed to disable Germany and prevent her from growing into a powerful European state. Even though Germany had lost a significant amount of territory, including all her colonies, she was still left with considerable resources.

Question 5

What proved Germany to be so dangerous?

Answer 5

The combination of Germany’s extreme dissatisfaction with Versailles together with its ability to bring about a revision of the settlement

Question 6

What did all of Hitler’s foreign policy action and demand that he made between 1933 and September 1939 have in common?

Answer 6

They involved the violation of the Treaty of Versailles or the Treaty of Saint Germain

Question 7

What are some of Hitler’s foreign policies?

Answer 7

• German rearmament and the remilitarisation of the Rhineland
• the Anschluss or union with Austria
• the transfer of the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia
• the occupation of Prague
• the seizure of Memel
• claims made over Danzig and the Polish Corridor

Question 8

By the 1930s, what was a common view in British government circles?

Answer 8

That the treatment of Germany had been too harsh and that the emergence of Hitler and the Nazis was an understandable response to the excessive punishment meted out to Germany in 1919

Question 9

What did the British population conclude with through following from the line of thought that Germany’s treatment was too harsh?

Answer 9

That it was the duty of British politicians to assist Germany in achieving the peaceful revision of the treaty. After all, the British were partly responsible for the nature of the settlement

Question 10

What was the French reaction towards the Treaty?

Answer 10

That it was not harsh enough

Question 11

What did the French want the Treaty do to Germany?

Answer 11

To permanently disable Germany in order to guarantee their security

Question 12

What did the French do to the overturn of peace settlements by Hitler in the mid 1930s?

Answer 12

The French did not feel confident or strong enough to stand up to Hitler on their own so they acted in partnership with the British

Question 13

Name a few examples of inconsistencies and anomalies that the Versailles Settlement had created?

Answer 13

• the separation of East Prussia from the main bulk of German territory by the Polish Corridor
• the placing of Danzing, overwhelmingly populated by Germans, under the League of Nation’s control
• the place of 3.5 million Germans under Czech rule in the Sudetenland

Question 14

What had these anomalies and inconsistencies that the Versailles Settlement had created represented to people around the world and to people in Germany?

Answer 14

That all of these inconsistencies and anomalies could be justified in one way or another, yet to many german people they represented a series of grievances that had to be dealt with.