Appeasement And Road To War #2: The Treaty Of Versailles Flashcards
What were the aims of France at Versailles?
- Clemenceau wanted revenge and punishment for the Germans
- He wanted to make them pay
- He also wanted to weaken the Germany army to prevent yet another attack on France
What were the aims of the USA at Versailles?
- Make the world safe
- He wanted to end war by making a fair peace
- disarmament and a League of Nations (countries could discuss problems without war)
- self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe
What were the aims of Britain at Versailles?
- Lloyd George said he would ’make Germany pay’ - only because he knew that’s what the Brits wanted to hear
- He actually wanted justice, not revenge.
- He said the peace must not be harsh
- He wanted to expand the British Empire and maintain British control of the seas
Who represented France at Versailles?
George Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France
Who represented the USA at Versailles?
Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA
Who represented Britain at Versailles?
David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain
Disarmament
The process of limiting or removing of military forces and/or weapons
Self-determination
The idea that nations should real themselves rather than be ruled by others
How many states attended Versailles?
32, about 75% of the world’s population
How long did the meetings in Versailles, Paris go on for?
Just over a year, from the 18th January 1919 until the 20th January 1920
Who were the 5 major powers (responsible for defeating the central powers in WW1) that dominated the negotiations at Versailles?
USA, Britain, France, Italy, Japan
When did the big three reach an agreement? When was it signed?
28th June 1919
How did Germany feel about the ToV?
- They were not allowed to go to the peace talks
- They called it a Dikat
- They were devastated by the way they had been treated
Diktat
Dictated Peace, Germans called the ToV this
What were the overall aims of the treaty?
- Punish them
- Prevent them from attacking France again by weakening them
- Give the winning countries compensation to rebuild
Why and how did Germany sign the treaty?
- They were told that the Allies would resume the war if they refused to sign
- Germany then sent a telegraph confirming that a number of German Politicians would arrive shortly to sign the treaty
Territorial terms of the ToV?
- Germany to lose 10% of its land, including Alsace Lorraine, to France
- Germany was to split because the Polish Corridor was created, allowing Poland access to the sea
- Rhineland to be demilitarised
- All colonies (overseas lands she controlled) lost
- Anschluss forbidden
Military terms of the ToV?
- Army 100,000 men
- No tanks
- No submarines
- 6 warships
- Anschluss forbidden
- Rhineland demilitarised
Anschluss
Union of Germany and Austria
Financial terms of ToV?
- Reparations of £6.6 billion (132 million marks)
- Coal and Iron works in the Saar region under LoN control for 15 years
Guilt terms of ToV?
- Germany forced to sign Article 231 (war guilt clause) which said Germany were alone guilty for WW1
French reaction to ToV?
- They fully supported it as they felt threatened by an aggressive Germany on the border
- This led to disagreement between Britain and France
- Many French looked at the terrible cost of the war and believed France had suffered far more than Germany
German reaction the the ToV?
- They complained every aspect was far too harsh
- Labelled treaty as a diktat
Hitler’s reaction to the ToV?
- He used it to his advantage to get more support and claimed he would scrap it when he came to power
British reaction to ToV?
- Initially, they felt it was fair
- This quickly changed as they began to view it as being too harsh
- This was one reason why no action was taken against Hitler in the 1930’s
- British people said to have ”Versailles Guilt”
What happened to Germany after the treaty was signed?
- Attacks from right (March 1920)
- Occupation of the Ruhr (Jan 1923)
- Hyperinflation (1923)
- Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch (1923)