Peace Treaties Flashcards
1
Q
what were the terms of the treaty of Sevres?
A
signed in august 1920
- turkey lost a substantial amount of territory (to Bulgaria, Greece and Italy), its original empire was broken up and its tax system, finances and budget were to be controlled by the Allies.
- Army forces limited to 50,000 men, navy strictly limited and no air force.
- partly because France and Britain wanted to strengthen/extend their own empires and especially their commercial interests.
- Turkish nationalists began to reverse the terms of the treaty by force and forced the French to negotiate withdrawing from Turkish territory.
2
Q
What were the aims of Clemenceau at Versailles?
A
- France had lost 10% of its land and over two thirds of its army were killed or injured in WW1 so Clemenceau wanted to cripple Germany in vengeance.
- Wanted to ruin Germany economically and militarily so that it could not threaten French frontiers again.
- Wanted to regain the province of Alsace-Lorraine.
- Wanted to impose harsh arm restrictions of Germany.
- Wanted an independent Rhineland.
- Wanted very high reparations.
3
Q
What were the aims of Lloyd George at Versailles?
A
- Shared Wilson’s viewpoint that a harsh treaty may lead to a communist revolution.
- Wanted to safeguard Britain’s naval supremacy by making Germany lose its navies.
- Wanted Germany to may some reparations but not too much so it could still be a useful trading partner.
- Lloyd George faced pressures in Britain for a harsh treaty as he had won the election of 1918 by promising to ‘make Germany pay.’
- Britain had also suffered over 1 million casualties so people wanted revenge.
4
Q
What were the aims of Wilson at Versailles?
A
- Wilson didn’t want to punish Germany too harshly as he feared that it would recover and want revenge. Also, he feared that extremest groups, such an the communists, would exploit German resentment to seize power.
- He wanted to strengthen democracy in defeated countries so that their people would not let their leaders cause another war.
- He wanted to give self-determination to countries that had once been part of European empires, so that order was restored on more democratic principles.
- He wanted international cooperation and peace, which would be achieved through a League of Nations.
5
Q
Why did the victors not get everything they wanted? (clash between Clemenceau and Wilson)
A
- The USA had not suffered nearly as bad as France in WW1, so Wilson had a far more generous attitude towards Germany, which Clemenceau deeply resented.
- As a result, they disagreed about what to do about Germany’s Rhineland and coalfields in the Saar, and Wilson eventually gave in.
- As Wilson did not want to punish Germany to severely but Clemenceau wanted to cripple Germany out of vengeance, the reparations, set at $6.6 billion was too low for France and too high for Wilson.
6
Q
Why did the victors not get everything they wanted? (clash between Lloyd George and Clemenceau)
A
- They clashed over Lloyd George’s desire not to punish Germany so harshly.
- For example, Clemenceau said that ‘if the British are so anxious to appease Germany they should look overseas and make colonial, naval or commercial concessions.’
- This shows how Clemenceau felt that Lloyd George was happy to treat Germany generously in Europe, where France was at the greatest threat, but was less happy to allow Germany to keep its navies and colonies, which would threaten Britain the most.
- As a result, both victors had to compromise and did not agree with all the terms of the treaty.
7
Q
What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
A
- War guilt:
Germany had to take sole blame for starting the war. - Reparations:
The figure was set at $6.6 billion (Germany wouldn’t have finished paying the bill until 1984) - German territories and colonies:
a) Germany’s European borders - Alsace-Lorraine was given to France, the Rhineland became demilitarised, the Saar was to be run by the League of Nations for 15 years and Anschluss was forbidden.
b) Germany’s overseas empire was taken away completely . - Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 men, only 6 battleships were allowed and conscriptions were banned.
- The League of Nations was created and Germany wasn’t allowed to join until it had shown that it was a ‘peace loving country.’
8
Q
YES - war guilt
A
- Two years before World War One broke out, Kaiser Wilhelm formulated the Schlieffen Plan, which proposed how Germany would secure victory against France and Russia.
- This is a clear example of premeditated aggression which shows how Germany used the conflict between Austria Hungary and Serbia as an excuse to start a war that provided an opportunity for their own expansion and benefit.
- Furthermore, Germany invaded France on 3rd August, before it had even gathered its forces, which exemplifies how Germany acted on a belligerent drive for power, whereas the triple entente acted in defence.
9
Q
Yes - double standard
A
- In the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, Germany took away 50% of their industry, 34% of their population and demanded 300 million gold roubles in reparations. In this sense, Germany’s call for a fairer treaty did not square with their own harsh treatment of Russia and thus they did not have grounds for complaint.
- Moreover, the reparations in the Treaty of Versailles were only 2% of Germany’s annual income, so were not as harsh as they could have been. In this way, Germany’s economic depression was because of their own careless economic strategy during the war, which relied on winning and demanding reparations to pay for their war debt.
- In this sense, Germany did not have genuine grounds for complaint as the treaty was less harsh than it was made out to be.
10
Q
No - war guilt
A
- Serbian nationalists assassinated Franz Ferdinand, which sparked a domino effect of outbreaks of violence.
- Moreover, Austria Hungary was the first country to officially declare war, so they were also responsible for the outbreak of World War One.
- Furthermore, Britain operated a ‘two-power standard’ by which she would try and maintain a naval fleet twice the size of the combined size of her opponents. In this way, empire rivalry and the naval arms race before WW1 indicate that the Allies were not completely blameless in causing the war.
- These examples all demonstrate countries other than Germany were partly responsible for the outbreak of WW1, so the war guilt clause, which placed sole blame on Germany, was unjust.
11
Q
No - reparations and disarmament
A
- Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 men and conscriptions were banned, which was a blow to German pride and left them defenceless against powerful countries.
- Moreover, almost completely stripping Germany of her Navy was merely a way for Britain to gloat about a victorious end to many years of naval rivalry, so was clearly unjustified.
- Moreover, reparations were eventually set at $6,600 million, which Germany would not have finished paying until 1984. When Germany paid for $50 million in 1921 but nothing in 1922, French and Belgian soldiers entered the Ruhr region by force and took what was owed in raw materials, which was legal under the treaty.
12
Q
Conclusion
A
- In conclusion, as the treaty was a ‘diktat,’ it should not have been so severe and morally binding.
- Moreover, Germany had genuine grounds to complain as the treaty did not stick to Wilson’s 14 points, which would have ensured a far fairer treaty.
- However, it is also important recognise that the peacemakers had the impossible task of both seeking compensation for the war and shaping a just Europe.
- In this way, although evidence supports the argument that the peace treaty was unfair, the peacemakers coped relatively well given the challenging circumstances.
13
Q
What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany? (political violence)
A
- Right-wing opponents of Ebert’s government attempted a revolution in 1920, called the Kapp Putsch.
- It was defeated by a general strike of Berlin workers, but political violence and attempted political assassinations remained frequent.
- Hitler exploited German resentment of the Treaty to gain support for himself and his Nazi party.
14
Q
What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany? (conflict in the Ruhr and hyperinflation)
A
- Because Germany could not pay off reparations ($5o million paid in 1921 but nothing paid in 1922), French and Belgian soldiers entered the Ruhr region in 1923 and simply took raw materials and goods (legal under the ToV)
- The German government ordered workers to go on strike which meant Germany had no goods to trade and led to hyperinflation.
- Some Germans (the government and big industrialists) gained from the disaster, but other suffered immensely and found their savings becoming virtually worthless.
15
Q
What were the terms of the Treaty of St. Germain?
A
- Dealt with Austria
- Army limited to 30,000 men
- Anschluss forbidden
- Austro-Hungarian empire broken up, creating new states such as Czechoslovakia
