Chapter 1 Part 1: TOV Flashcards
3points
- WHAT WERE THE AIMS OF THE PEACEMAKERS AT THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE?
(i) Desire to punish Germany
EX
Desire to punish Germany
Tremendous loss of lives and property during World War which would take years to reconstruct.
Aim was to punish Germany esp so for France as much of WW1 was fought on French soils.
Premier Georges Clemenceau, representing France, wanted a tough peace on Germany – desire for revenge was so great that in the TOV that was signed – Clause 231 was included in the Treaty which put all the blame of the war on Germany and her allies.
A
To punish her, Germany was therefore forced to pay heavy reparations of about 6.6 billion pounds to the allies.
4points
- WHAT WERE THE AIMS OF THE PEACEMAKERS AT THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE?
(ii) To keep Germany small / weak
EX
To keep Germany small, Germany lost all her land that she previously obtained from Russia under the Brest-Litovsk Treaty.
She also lost all her colonies in Africa, Asia and South Pacific. She also lost Saar Coalfields, her main source of economic income.
To keep Germany small, she was not allowed to unite with countries that were also German-speaking. Thus, she was not allowed to ever unite with Austria again.
A
The territorial terms was to ensure that Germany remain small and would never threaten the peace in Europe again. Thus, the territorial terms of the TOV were to break up the German empire.
- WHAT WERE THE AIMS OF THE PEACEMAKERS AT THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE?
(iii) Maintain international peace
Ex
Aim was to ensure that after World War I, peace could be maintained in Europe.
Disarmament of Germany & other countries
Disarmament of the countries means the dismantling of the armies and breaking up of weapons, putting oneself in a position where war is not possible.
Disarmament included military and naval disarmament.
Germany’s army was restricted to 100,000 men and conscription was not allowed so that Germany would not be able to build up a large reserve force.
All her wartime weapons were to be destroyed / dismantled.
Germany was not allowed to keep aircrafts, submarines and tanks.
The navy was restricted to 15,000 men and 6 battleships.
Formation of League of Nations
President Woodrow Wilson attended the Peace Conference with his Fourteen Points where he proposed the setting up of the League of Nations [LON] which would be an organization that would help to maintain international peace through a policy of collective security.
Collective security 🡪 when any nation that was threatened by another country, the countries which were members of the League would act collectively against the aggressor country.
It would maintain peace through collective security:
Moral Persuasion
→ Involved using diplomatic pressure, international norms, and public opinion to influence member states to adhere to principles of peace, justice, and cooperation.
Economic Sanction
→ Impose sanctions on trade and many more, pressuring aggressors to stop
Military Intervention
→ By so doing it, helps to uphold peace and security
Self-determination for the people of East Europe
The people should be ruled by themselves..
A
By setting up the LON, conflicts among countries would not be resolved immediately by force but through negotiations
- WHY WERE THE GERMANS UNHAPPY WITH THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES (TOV)?
(i) Non-Involvement in the treaty discussions
EX
The Germans were not involved in the discussion stage.
Treaty was drawn up 6 months after the armistice but they were given only 2 weeks to comment & their comments were ignored.
Germany only signed the Treaty upon threat of invasion from the Allied Powers.
A
Germans were angry with their politicians for signing the treaty and called them the ‘November Criminals”. They also called the TOV a ‘diktat’ as the treaty was dictated and they had no say in it.
As they were not involved in the discussion, they could not influence or change the terms which the German viewed as fair for them.
- WHY WERE THE GERMANS UNHAPPY WITH THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES (TOV)?
(ii) Military Terms
EX
their army was restricted to 100,000 men and conscription was not allowed so that Germany would not be able to build up a large reserve force.
- All her wartime weapons were to be destroyed / dismantled.
- Germany was not allowed to keep an air force, submarines and tanks.
- The navy was restricted to 15,000 men, 6 battleships and only a small number of ships, with limited tonnage.
For a country whose army was a symbol of national pride, the disarmament terms were a great blow.
Germans also felt that the vulnerable and at the mercy of the strong nations around them due to the small army.
A
The German’s military was kept deliberately small so that the British & French could keep Germany under their control.
- WHY WERE THE GERMANS UNHAPPY WITH THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES (TOV)?
(iii) Territorial Terms
EX
- The former German empire was broken up – Germany was not allowed to reunite with Austria. The Rhineland was demilitarized. She lost all her colonies in Africa, Asia & Egypt.
- The loss of the Saar Coalfields, an important industrial area, added to the economic difficulties of the Germans.
- Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark after a plebiscite. Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium and Alsace-Lorraine to France.
- Germany also lost all the land it had taken from Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
A
- The Germans resented the loss of their territories as this meant that some Germans would now be under the control of foreign governments.
- It was unfair to blame Germany entirely as all countries involved in the war should have taken their share of the blame.
- WHY WERE THE GERMANS UNHAPPY WITH THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES (TOV)?
(iv) Financial Terms (Reparations)
EX
- Clause 231, the ‘war guilt’ clause put the entire blame of starting the war on Germany. The reparations of 6,600 million pounds paid partly in money & goods to the Allies were an unreasonable amount.
A
To pay for the reparations, heavy taxes were imposed on the Germans. The huge reparations nearly bankrupted Germany & brought economic hardships to the German people for many years.
- WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES?
(i) Disarmament
EX
- Resulted in a more stable Europe as there was provision for disarmament of the countries that were involved in WW1
- Disarmament of the countries means the dismantling of the armies and breaking up of weapons, putting oneself in a position where war is not possible.
- Disarmament included military and naval disarmament. This meant that countries had to reduce the size of their army and to break up their military equipment.
- Conferences such as the Washington Naval Conference were held to discuss the disarmament terms.
A
Disarmament was an important outcome as with the reduction of arms in the member countries of the League, international peace would be maintained.
- WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES?
(ii) Formation of the League of Nations
EX
Formation of the League of Nations - After WW1, the allies wanted to ensure that there would be an organisation that would help to maintain international peace.
- To settle international dispute thru’ collective security, ie. when a smaller nation is attacked by a bigger nation, the LON would collectively helped the smaller nation.
- Peacekeeping efforts would include :
o Condemn the aggressor and disprove of its action. A Commission of Enquiry would be set up.
o Impose economic sanctions
o Use military force as a last resort. In this way, any conflicts among countries would not be resolved immediately with force, but through negotiation.
A
In this way, any conflicts among countries would not be resolved immediately with force, but through negotiation.
- WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES?
(iii) Humiliation of the Germans
EX
The Germans were angry with the terms of the Treaty which they felt were particularly harsh.
- Unhappy with Clause 231 which put the full blame of the First World War on Germany. Germany was also forced to pay huge reparations as punishment.
- The Germans also lost a lot of land as the German empire broke up and she was not allowed to ever reunite with Austria again.
- Germany was also angry with the naval and military terms which were particularly humiliating.
A
The response of the Germans to the Treaty was an important outcome as this later sowed the seeds for the Second World War as extremist parties like the Nazi Party was able to exploit this unhappiness.
- WHAT WAS THE OUTCOME OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES?
(iv) Humiliation of the Germans
EX
TOV upheld self-determination which means that the people or nation can determine the form of government without external influences. This led to the formation of new nation-states from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the boundaries were not clear between the different ethnic groups. Many areas contained different ethnic groups. Hence, some ethnic groups were not part of their own states. Eg, the Germans in Czechoslovakia and Danzig.
A
The Germans were angry as the principle of self-determination seemed to apply only to the winners of WW1.
