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History > Chapter 1: Paris Peace Conference > Flashcards

Chapter 1: Paris Peace Conference Flashcards

1
Q

When did the Paris Peace Conference start?

A

January 1919

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2
Q

What was the aim of the Paris Peace Conference?

A

To reach a settlement that would legally and officially end WWI

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3
Q

Why was it needed? (PPC)

A

The armistice was only an agreement to stop fighting.

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4
Q

Who were the main leaders at the PPC?

A

Britain, France, US

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5
Q

Why were those countries known as the Big 3?

A

They were the most powerful countries out of the Allies.

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6
Q

Who were the Big 3 countries represented by in the PPC?

A

US: Woodrow Wilson
Britain: David Lloyd George
France: Georges Clemenceau

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7
Q

What did the people of Britain, France and the US feel about Germany?

A

They felt that Germany was responsible for the war and should be punished.

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8
Q

Why was this sentiment particularly strong in Britain and France?

A
  1. The total casualties on both sides were estimated to exceed 9 million, thus they wanted to get revenge.
  2. Civillians also faced shortages of food and medicine.
  3. Villages and towns in large areas of Belgium and France were destroyed.
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9
Q

Why was the case for treating Germany harshly strengthened?

A

It became known that Germany had forced Russia to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovik in March 1918.

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10
Q

What was the impact of ceding territories to Germany?

A

Russia lost a third of its population and resources.

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11
Q

What was Wilson usually described as?

A

An idealist and stubborn.

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12
Q

Why was he described as stubborn?

A

He greatly believed in himself and his own views and once he made up his mind, it was almost impossible for anyone to change his mind.

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13
Q

What was one of the most important points for Wilson in his 14 Points?

A

The setting up of an international body called the League of Nations.

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14
Q

What did Wilson have in mind for the LON?

A

He sought to create an association of nation, in which disputes between coutnries could be resolved without wars.

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15
Q

What did Wilson feel about Germany?

A
  1. He believed that Germany should be punished but was not in favour of destroying it completely.
  2. He wanted to strengthen democracy in Germany so that its people would not let its leaders start another war.
  3. He wanted to replace the old leaders, who brought Germany into war, with ones that would be committed to democracy and peaceful relations with other states.
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16
Q

How did Wilson feel about self-determination?

A

He believed in self-determination, which was the idea that nations should rule themselves rather than be ruled by others. He wanted the different peoples of Eastern Europe such as the Poles, the Czechs and the Slovaks to rule themselves rather than be part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire.

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17
Q

What were the concerns regarding Wilson’s ideas?

A
  1. Lloyd George and Clemenceau thought that Wilson’s idea of self-determination was naive and impractical.
  2. Clemenceau was also worried that US would be ‘too soft’ on Germany.
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18
Q

What was Britain’s aim?

A

To achieve the best possible outcomes for Britain.

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19
Q

What were Lloyd George’s key priorities?

A
  1. Protect Britain
  2. Rebuild Britain’s economic prosperity
  3. Maintain the British empire.
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20
Q

What is the relationship between Lloyd George’s priorities and the other leaders aims?

A
  1. Protect Britain - This was why he was not keen on Wilson’s plan for freedom of the seas.
  2. Rebuild Britain’s economic prosperity - This was tricky as before the war, Germany was Britain’s second-largest trading market after the US.
  3. Maintain the British Empire - This was why he was concerned about Wilson’s idea of self-determination.
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21
Q

What was Britain’s long-term concern?

A

Russia

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22
Q

Why was it their long-term concern?

A

At the time of PPC, the Russian Empire had fallen and were in the middle of a civil war. Lloyd George was concerned that if the Bolsheviks won the civil war, Russia would emerge as a strong power and spread communist beliefs through revolutions.

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23
Q

What was Georges Clemenceau usually described as?

A

A tough politician with a reputation of being uncompromising.

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24
Q

What kind of damage did France suffer in WWI?

A
  1. Large stretches of Northern France had been invaded
  2. 1.7 million deaths
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25
Q

Out of the Big 3, who had the largest proportion of deaths compared to population?

A

France

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26
Q

Fill in the blank: ‘While the French politicians wanted to avenge the past for the French public, ___________’

A

they were worried about the future threat posed by Germany and wanted to make sure that Germany would not be able to wage war against France again.

27
Q

What were France’s concerns regarding Germany?

A
  1. Germany had a younger and larger population (65 mil) than France (40 mil), meaning that Germany would be able to use tis people to fight a future war.
  2. As there had been no fighting in German territories, its industrial regions had not been damaged, allowing Germany’s economy to recover more quickly than France.
28
Q

What else did Clemenceau want but knew that the 2 other leaders would disagree to?

A

The splitting up of Germany into smaller states.

29
Q

What did France demand for ultimately?

A

They demanded a treaty that would weaken Germany as much as possible.

30
Q

Why did they demand for that?

A

In order to protect France against another German invasion in the future and to show his awareness of the public opinion in France.

31
Q

What was the compromises made by Clemenceau at the PPC?

A

He had to give up the aim of breaking up Germany.

32
Q

What was given in turn of the compromise that Clemenceau had made?

A

He got reparations and some control over Germany’s Rhineland and coalfields in Saar.

33
Q

What did Wilson get at the PPC?

A

He got self-determination in Eastern Europe.

34
Q

What were the other 2 leaders views on Wilson’s idea of self-determination?

A

They felt that Wilson did not understand the difficulties of creating states and allowing the many different nationalities in Central and Eastern Europe to rule themselves.

35
Q

How did Britain view US’ ideas on self-determination?

A

They found it somewhat threatening to the British government as the British Empire has ruled millions of people acorss London.

36
Q

What compromises did Lloyd George make at the PPC?

A

He was unhappy about allowing all nations to the seas.

37
Q

When was the Treaty of Versailles signed by Germany?

A

June 1919.

38
Q

What were the key terms in the TOV?

A
  1. War Guilt Clause
  2. Reparations
  3. Territory Changes
  4. Armed Forces
  5. League of Nations
38
Q

What did Germany have to do in the TOV?

A

They had to accept all the terms of the treaty.

39
Q

What was under the ‘War Guilt Clause’?

A

Germany had to accept total blame for starting the war.

40
Q

What was under ‘Reparations’?

A

Germany had to pay 6.6 billion pounds as reparations to the Allies for war damage.

41
Q

What was under ‘Territory Changes’?

A
  1. Germany had to give up territories to neighbouring countries, resulting in a 10% loss of its land, 12.5% loss of population.
  2. They were forbidden to make alliances with Austria to form an union
  3. Germany had to give up their overseas empire.
  4. Former German colonies became mandates controlled by the League of Nations, meaning that they effectively came under French or British control.
42
Q

What was under ‘Armed Forces’?

A
  1. The German army was limited to 100 000 men
  2. Conscription was banned ; soldiers had to become volunteers.
  3. No armoured vehicles, aircraft or submarines were allowed
  4. The navy could only have 6 battleships
  5. The border area around France and Germany, the Rhineland, was demilitarised, so no German forces or fortifications were allowed there.
43
Q

What was under ‘League of Nations’?

A
  1. The LON was set up as an international body to help countries resolve disputes without having to go to war and if necessary enforce decisions.
  2. Germany was not allowed to join LON.
44
Q

Were the Germans consulted about the terms in the PPC?

A

No

45
Q

What happened to the German Chancellor when the terms were announced?

A

He chose to resign rather than to sign the TOV.

46
Q

What did his successor do on 23 June 1919?

A

He asked for small revisions to the TOV.

47
Q

What were the Allies response to his successor’s actions?

A

They said that Germany should sign or face an invasion within 24 hours.

48
Q

What did the German Chancellor (Successor) do after the Allies response?

A

He agreed and a German delegation travelled to Paris to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

49
Q

When was the TOV signed?

A

28 June 1919.

50
Q

What were the reasons for German’s resentment of the ‘War Guilt Clause’ in TOV?

A

The Germans felt that they alone did not start the war.

51
Q

What were the reasons for German’s resentment of ‘Reparations’ in TOV?

A
  1. Germany already had huge debts from the war efforts.
  2. Many Germans feared that reparations would ruin the economy.
52
Q

What were the reasons for Germans resentment of ‘Territorial Changes’ in TOV?

A
  1. Losing that much land was a major blow to German pride and the economy.
  2. Thousands of Germans would have to live under the rule of other governments in Poland and Czechslovakia.
  3. These included the Germans in the city of Danzig, which would be cut of from the rest of Germany to give the new state of Poland access to the sea.
53
Q

What were the reasons for Germans resentment of ‘Disarmament’ in TOV?

A
  1. An army of 100 000 was very small for a country of Germany’s size.
  2. The army was a symbol of German pride.
  3. None of the Allies were disarmed to this extent.
54
Q

What were the reasons for Germans resentment of ‘ League of Nations’ in TOV?

A

Being left out of the international body felt like a further insult to Germany.

55
Q

When did Germany elect its first president?

A

February 1919.

56
Q

What happened to the new German government?

A

They were fragile and were facing rebellions in January and March 1919.

57
Q

What was the short term impact of the TOV on Germany?

A
  1. With the Germans having a strong impression that its army had not lost the war, they felt stabbed in the back by the Jews, communists and weak politicians when the TOV was signed.
  2. A wave of bitterness against the new government swept over its people and it was very unpopular.
58
Q

What was the political crisis that Germany faced?

A
  1. In 1922, Germany fell behind in reparation payments which led to the French annd Belgian army invading the Ruhr in 1923.
  2. They took what was owed to them in the form of raw materials and goods. This was made legal in the TOV.
  3. This invasion was not only humiliating, but also violent, killing 130 civilians.
59
Q

What was the economic crisis that Germany faced?

A
  1. Germany’s economy was also disrupted by hyperinflation as the government printed money to pay the reparations.
  2. Prices shot up and money became worthless, causing many Germans, especially those in middle class, to have their savings wiped out overnight.
  3. They suffered economic hardship and poverty.
  4. They blamed the government for their hardship, causing political instability.
60
Q

What was the long term impact of the TOV on Germany?

A
  1. The treaty became a festering sore to the Germans.
  2. They hated and blamed it for Germany’s problems.
  3. This feeling was later exploited by Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party in the early 1930s.
61
Q

What were the impacts of the 4 other treaties discussed at the PPC?

A
  1. They created a new patchwork of new states in Eastern Europe.
  2. These new states previously belonged to Austria-Hungary.
62
Q

What was the judgment on the PPC and TOV?

A
  1. For much of the 20th century, the TOV had a poor historical reputation.
  2. The negotiation of various treaties at the PPC was not easy as different leaders wanted different things, and they also had to take into consideration the interests and concerns of their people.
  3. Although the TOV was eventually signed, it was not a popular treaty with the Germans.

History (3 decks)

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