Conflict and Tension: 1919-39: Peace-making Flashcards
What was the name of the British leader at the Paris Peace Conference?
David Lloyd George
What was the name of the French leader at the Paris Peace Conference?
Georges Clemenceau
What was the name of the American leader at the Paris Peace Conference?
Woodrow Wilson
What was the name given to the French, American and British leader at the Paris Peace Conference?
The Big Three
What were Lloyd-George’s aims during the Paris Peace Conference?
- safeguard Britain’s naval supremacy
- Please electors who wanted to ‘make Germany pay’
- Leave Germany strong enough to trade (bought back jobs)
What were Clemenceau’s aims during the Paris Peace Conference?
- cripple Germany so they don’t start another war
- weaken the German army
- wanted Alsace- Lorraine for France
What were Wilson’s aims during the Paris Peace Conference?
- to end the war and create the LON
- ensure Germany wasn’t destroyed
- not to blame Germany for the war –> deemed as too harsh
- wanted to end all wars and wanted disagreements to be discussed rather than going to war
How were the Big Three’s aims reflective of their performance in WW1?
- France: suffered the most during the war as the fighting happened on their land
- Britain: suffered in the war but not as much as F
- America: barely suffered in WW1
What were the disagreements during the Paris Peace conference?
- Clemenceau + Wilson: USA hasn’t suffered as badly as France, Clemenceau resented Wilson’s generous attitude towards Germany
- Clemenceau + LG: C felt as if Britain was ok to treat Germany on land, where they weren’t a threat but not on sea, where they were
- LG +W: LG disagreed on 2 points of the 14 points - access to the seas + people ruling themselves was somewhat threatening to the British Empire
What was the name of Wilson’s plan for the future?
The Fourteen Point Plan
Define ‘self determination’
Giving national groups their own countries
What were the four key clauses of the Treaty of Versailles?
- territorial
- military
- financial and economic
- war guilt
What was Germany’s role in the Paris Peace Conference?
- they weren’t allowed to attend
- they assumed that the armistice would be based on Wilson’s 14 points
- it was not
How much did Germany have to pay in reparations?
£6,600 million
What did Germany lose overall?
- 10% of all its land
- 12.5% of its population
- 16% of all its coalfields + 50% of iron and steel industry
How many soldiers was Germany allowed?
100,000
Name three pieces of land Germany lost
- Alsace-Lorraine
- Rhineland
- Saarland
- The Polish Corridor
- all overseas colonies
What was the war guilt clause?
Germany had to take the blame for starting the war
Who was given the German colonies to control?
League of Nations
In reality, who was actually controlling the German colonies?
Britain and France
What were the German leaders who signed the Treaty of Versailles known as?
The November Criminals
What term was used to describe the Treaty of Versailles?
Diktat
What was the German people’s reaction to the Treaty?
- angry + humiliated
- Mass protest outside the Reichstag in 1919
- military restrictions would weaken them in comparison to B + F and would prevent them from becoming an imperial superpower
- Treaty implied that they completely lost the war, which they didn’t as they had their fair share of wins and were able to successfully defend their country from invasion
Why wasn’t America pleased with the treaty?
- fourteen points had not been reflected + thought that the treaty was too harsh
- felt it would not create peace
- American congress refused to sign the treaty and signed a separate treaty with Germany
Why wasn’t Britain pleased with the treaty?
LG:
- thought that the treaty was too harsh on Germany
- terms that were too harsh would lead to resentment and eventually another war
British public
- were pleased w the public as they got the revenge they wanted
Why wasn’t France pleased with the treaty?
- felt it wasn’t harsh enough
- Clemenceau was voted out because of this
What were the strengths of the Treaty of Versailles?
- brought peace to Europe
- Restored country boundaries + gave them a more individual identity
- France regained Alsace-Lorraine
- war had caused a huge amount of damage and reparations were required to rebuild
What were the weaknesses of the Treaty of Versailles?
- C +LG feared that treaties would lead to another war
- The treaty left Germans helpless; so they hated it
- None of the Big 3 got their way, lots of disagreements
- Germans had no say in it so they saw it as forced - Diktat
- New countries and states weren’t stable enough to run themselves - no military, political or economic power
- Caused displacement of a lot of the German public
What other treaties were created at the end of the war?
- St Germain
- Trianon
- Neuilly
- Sevres
What did the treaty of St Germain deal with and what were its terms?
- Austria
- separates Austria + Hungary
- took away land
- made Austria limit its army
- created new countries
What did the treaty of Trianon deal with and what were its terms?
- Hungary
- took land away
- made them reduce their army
- created new countries
What did the treaty of Neuilly deal with and what were its terms?
- Bulgaria
- took away land
- denied access to the sea
- made Bulgaria reduce its army
What did the treaty of Sevres deal with and what were its terms?
- Turkey
- lost land
- lost control of the Black Sea
