Key topic 1- Were the peace treaties of 1919-23 fair? Flashcards

1
Q

Aims of the Big three at Versailles

A

France- Clemenceau wanted permanent disarmament of Germany and for Germany to have to pay a very high level of reparations.

GB- Davild lloyd George wanted Germany to rebuild and wanted to improve Britains position by having a share of Germanys colonies and to have Britains Navy remain strong

USA- Woodrow Wilson did not want Germany to be treated harshly and didn’t want empires.He wanted world peace and countries to co-operate.He came up with the Leauge of Nations

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2
Q

Why did the leaders not get everything they wanted?
(USA)

A

Was happy the LON was created, that Germany had to disarm, the plebiscites (allowing self determination) and that Germany was allowed to keep the Rhineland, allowing them the ability to regrow

was unhappy because he believed the Treaty of versailles was too harsh, his idea of free navigation of the sea wasn’t taken on board, Britain and France grew their Empires and that German speaking people were now under the rule of other people i.e Sudetenland given to Czechoslovakia

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3
Q

Why did the leaders not get everything they wanted?
(GB)

A

Happy:
- lightened Clemenceau’s approach to Germany
- Able to grow British empire
-Rhineland remained part of Germany allowing the return of economy

Unhappy:
-German-speaking people were now under the rule of other countries

Was probably the happiest bcos of this

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4
Q

Why did the leaders not get everything they wanted?
(France)

A

Happy:
-Secured eastern frontier with Germany
-Germany’s economic and military power drastically reduced
-Alsace- Lorraine returned to France
- Able to extend the French empire

Unhappy:
-Abandoned idea of independent Rhineland
- Abandoned French claim to Saar Basin (though did get its coal)
- Abandoned idea of splitting Germany into smaller states

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5
Q

What was the impact of the treaty on Germans up to 1923?

A

Political violence
Hyper inflation
Ruhr crisis:
‘November criminals’ and. ‘Stan in the back’

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6
Q

1923 Ruhr Crisis

A
  • French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr and took what was owed to them in raw materials and goods after german didn’t pay reparations in 1922
  • German government instructs workers to begin ‘passive resistance’ refusing to work. French kill 100 and expel 100,000 from the area
    -Germany had no goods to trade and started printing more money = hyperinflation
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7
Q

1923 Hyper inflation

A
  • German government printed extra money but this meant prices shot up. Wages could not keep up and money became worthless.

Hyperinflation wiped peoples savings and created social chaos.

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8
Q

Article 231

A

War guilt clause- Germany was forced to accept total responsibility for the war

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9
Q

Reparations

A

Germany had to pay £6.6 billion in reparations for damage caused by the war.
Made the German people bitter.

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10
Q

Disarmament

A

German army was limited to 100,000 men and they had to be volunteers as conscription was banned.No Tanks, air force and no submarines and the navy was limited to 36 warships including 6 battleships and 15,000 soldiers.

Versailles humiliated the Germans as their army was a symbol of national pride

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11
Q

Treaty of St Germain

A

Austria,1919
- separated from Hungary
- Had to recognise the new independent states Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia and Poland
- Territory from former empire given to new independent states (Galicia to Poland)
-Anschluss was forbidden
-Army restricted to 30,000
- had to pay reperations

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12
Q

Treaty of Trianon

A

Hungary,1920

  • Had to accept the breaking of Austro-Hungary empire
    -Had to recognise the independence of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
  • Old territory given to Czechoslovakia,Romania and Yugoslavia
  • Lost 70% of its territory & 1/3 of its population
  • 3 million Hungarians ended up in other states
  • Had to pay reperations (never did)
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13
Q

Treaty of Neuilly

A

Bulgaria,1919
- Had to recognise the independence of Yugoslavia
- Lost territory to Greece,Yugoslavia and Romania
- Army restricted to 20,000
- Had to pay £100 million in reperations

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14
Q

Treaty of Sevres

A

Turkey , 1920

  • Had to recognise independence of the Kingdom of Herjaz and Armenia
  • Lost provinces in the Middle East to Britain (Palestine,Iraq and Transjordan) and France (Syria) under LON mandates
    -Lost territory to Greece and Italy
    -The Dardanelles Straight was to become an international water way
  • Was divided into ‘zones of influence’ by British, Italians or the French
    -No air force
  • limited army to 50,000

Treaty sparked a national movement led by Ataturk who challenged the peace treaties by force thus forcing re-negotiation

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15
Q

Treaty of Lausanne

A

Turkey , 1923

  • Confirmed loss of its provinces in the middle east
  • Most of its lost European land was returned
  • Dardanelles Strait was returned to Turkey
  • No restrictions on armed forces
    -No reperations
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16
Q

Could the peace treaties be justified at the time?

A

Yes,
- some may argue that they weren’t harsh enough as Germany was able to rebuild itself enough to start ww2.
- it was a compromise none of the big three were totally happy with the treaty. This is important because it shows that many other factors were taken into consideration not just the leaders wants. e.g Germany being able to keep the Rhineland to help rebuild its economy against the wishes of Clemenceau

  • The treaty was unjustified because the blame should have been shared. The special war commission only took 2 weeks (a v short time) to decide Germany was to blame
  • The treaty was unjustified because it left Germany too weak to defend itself from attack with an army of just 100,000 volunteers and a damaged economy from the war/reparations and hyperinflation
17
Q

Political violence 1918-1923

A
  • 1918 the kaiser was overthrown and Weimar republic was created
  • 1920 Kapp Putsch (attempted right-wing nationalist uprising)
  • 1922 assassination of Foreign Minister Walther Rathenau (one of many)
  • 1923 Munich Putsch (attempted Nazi uprising)
18
Q

What germany lost

A

10% of its land in europe, 12.5% of it population , 16% of its coalfields and almost half of its steel and coal industry

19
Q

Germanys territorial losses

A
  • North schwelsig to Denmark after plebiscite
  • Alsace lorrain to france
  • Danzing given to LON
  • Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became independent states
  • Saarland run by LON
  • Colonies became mandates of LON
  • West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia to Poland
20
Q

Germanys territorial losses

A
  • North schwelsig to Denmark after plebiscite
  • Alsace lorrain to france
  • Danzing given to LON
  • Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania became independent states
  • West Prussia and Upper Silesia to Poland
21
Q

Why the Versailles settlement wasn’t fair?

Too harsh

A
  • Couldn’t pay back reparations to
  • Predatory : benefitted victors
  • Helped Hitler come to power because he took advantage of the anger and resentment towards the TOV
22
Q

Why was the versailles settlement unfair?

Fair

A
  • The best compromise it could have been because none of the big 3 were completely happy
  • ## hypocritical of Germany considering Brevst- Litovsk
23
Q

Why was the versailles settlement not harsh enough?

A
  • France security was not guaranteed ( no Anglo- American treaty)
    -Austria - Hungary was split up by their treaties
  • Didn’t actually cripple Germany
24
Q

Brevst Litovsk

A

1918

Ended the war between Russia and Germany
-Brevst-Litovsk a treaty between Germany and Russia was more harsh than the TOV during world war one that saw Russia lose 2/3 of its population and coal industry whilst in the TOV Germany only lost 12.5% of its population and 48% of its steel and iron industry.

25
Q

How Germans felt about the treaty of versailles

A
  • Angry it was a diktat
  • Upset that unlike other’s ,ethnic Germans were not given the right to self determination
  • felt disarmament was unfair
26
Q

‘November criminals’ & ‘Stab in the back’

A

German anger abt the TOV would become the cornerstone of nazi propaganda in the 20’s and 30’s. Hitler blamed Jews and communist for defeat and vowed to break restrictions on the TOV

27
Q

When was treaty of versailles signed?

A

28 june 1919