CT1 Was the Treaty of Versailles fair? Flashcards
What was the Paris Peace Conference?
- It took place in 1919-20
- It was held in the Palace of Versailles, a short distance of Paris
- It lasted 12 months
- 32 nations were supposed to be represented but no-one from the defeated countries was invited
- 5 treaties were drawn up: Versailles, St Germain, Neuilly, Trianon and Sèvres
- All important decisions were taken by the ‘big three’ (leaders of Britain, France and USA), who regularly ignored advice from their huge army of diplomats and expert advisers
What were the common aims of the big three in the Treaty of Versailles?
- All powers wanted to avoid a future war
- They also agreed that an unstable Europe would easily be affected by a communist revolution
- All agreed that the Central Powers should be punished
What were the motives and aims of David Lloyd George in the Treaty of Versailles?
- Lloyd George was a realist
- He didn’t want Germany to seek revenge or have a communist revolution like Russia’s
- Therefore, he aimed to punish Germany but not too harshly
- He wanted to make sure that the job market recovered in Britain
- He wanted to protect the British Empire
- As such, he wanted Germany to lose its navies and colonies
- He wanted Britain and Germany to become trading partners
- Following a general election, he wanted to appease the anti-German feelings at home
- Therefore, he became much more harsh on Germany
What were the motives and aims of the Gorges Clemenceau in the Treaty of Versailles?
- He had lived through attacks on France by Prussia / Germany (in 1870 and 1914)
- France had suffered enormous casualties (1.4m killed), and damage to land and industry
- He wanted Germany to not be able to build up its armed forces again
- He wanted Germany to never threaten France again
- He wanted to incapacitate Germany territorially and economically
- He wanted to ensure France’s borders were secure against future attack
- He wanted Germany to take blame for the starting the war and to pay reparations
- He wanted Alsace-Lorraine back
What were the motives and aims of Woodrow Wilson
- Wilson was an idealist
- He wanted to prevent future wars
- He wanted to increase trade between USA and Europe
- He wanted to reduce the spread of communism
- He wanted to strengthen democracy in defeated countries
- He wanted to create a ‘fair and lasting peace’ in Europe
- He wanted to implement his fourteen points for peace
- He wanted disarmament for all European nations
- He wanted a League of Nations and no secret treaties
What were the Fourteen Points for Peace?
- Wilson’s terms for ending the war and future wars
- Some imporant ones stated below
1. No secret treaties
3. Free trade between countries
4. All countries to work towards disarmament
5. Colonies to have a say in their own future
14. League of Nations to be set up
What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
War Guilt
* Article 231 stated that Germany had to take full responsibility for starting the war
Financial
* Without consulting Germany, allies agreed that Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies
* Exact figure decided in 1921 to be £6.6bn
* France also received coal from the Saarland for 15 years
Territory
* All German colonies were to be given to and be controlled by the League of Nations
* Alsace-Lorraine was returned to france
* Poland was given access to the sea through creation of a Polish corridor
* Land was given to Denmark, Belgium, Lithuania and Czechoslovakia
* Danzig to become a free city
* Anschluss between Germany and Austria was forbidden
Military
* The army was limited to 100,000 soldiers
* No conscription. No tanks. No submarines. No air force.
* Only 6 battleships and 15000 sailors.
* Rhineland to be demilitarised
* West bank of Rhine to be occupied by an allied army for 15 years.
League of Nations
* It was set up in 1920 to enforce Versailles and keep international peace
* USA did not join due to isolationist views among citizens
* Germany not invited to join the League until it had shown it was a peace-loving country (1926).
How did Political opposition threaten to destabilise the Weimar Government?
- Right-wing nationalists opposed the Treaty and the new Weimar Government by attempting several coups
- An anti-communist group, Freikorps, made up of ex-soldiers, under command of Wolfgang Kapp, launched Kapp Putsch in 1920 and managed to seize Berlin
- The army refused to fire on them, and it was only defeated when workers called a general strike
- In 1922, foreign minister Walter Rathenau was murdered by right-wing extremists
- In November 1923, Hitler’s Nazi Party attempted to seize control during the Munich Putsch
- They were motivated by hatred towards the Treaty of Versailles and the Weimar government’s decision to continue paying reparations
- They tried to establish a nationalist government by marching on the Bavarian government
- Munich Putsch failed. Hitler was arrested.
- Communists inspired by Spartacists’ failed uprising in January 1919 and taking advantage of anti-Weimar feeling attempted rebellion in the Ruhr in 1920
Write an account of the conflict in the Ruhr
- Under the treaty, Germany agreed to pay £6.6bn in reparations to Allies
- The first instalment of £50m was paid in 1921, but in 1922 nothing was paid
- Ebert tried to negotiate concessions from the allies, but French ran out of patience
- In 1923 with Belgian soldiers entered the Ruhr region and took what was owed in the form of raw materials and goods
- German gov. ordered workers to go on strike so nothing was produced for the French
- In response, the French killed over 100 workers and expelled 100,000 protesters from the region
- The strike also resulted in no goods for Germany to trade and therefore no money to buy things with. This led to hyperinflation.
What were the economic impacts of Treaty in Germany until the end of 1923?
Hyperinflation
* The government solved the problem of not having enough money by simply printing extra money
* This caused hyperinflation
* The money was virtually worthless, so prices shot up
* The prices of goods could rise between joining the back of a queue in a shop and reaching the front
* Wages began to be paid daily instead of weekly
* Some Germans gained from the disaster: the government and big industrialists could pay off their huge debts in worthless marks
* However others, like pensioners, were left practically penniless
* A prosperous middle-class family would find their savings that could by a house in 1921 not buying bread in 1923.
