Peace Treaties 1919 - 1923 Flashcards
(40 cards)
When was the armistice signed and what was it? And what was the nickname for those who signed it
It ended WW1 fighting
Signed in November 1918 - 11/11/1918
Nickname -> “November Criminals”
When and where was the Treaty of Versailles created?
January 1919 - negotiations started
June 1919 - treaty signed
Paris Peace Conference
Who was excluded from the Paris Peace Conference?
Germany and other defeated powers (e.g. Russia)
Who were the Big Three?
Britain - Lloyd George
USA - Wilson
France - Clemenceau
What were Clemenceau’s key aims and motive?
Motive - Germany caused a lot of destruction in France, and they share a border so he wanted to cripple Germany so it could never again pose a threat to France
Aims:
- permanent disarmament (for Germany)
- saar basin given to France
- high reparations, mainly paid to France
- Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
- France obtains many Germany colonies
- independence for the Rhineland (so Germany and France would no longer share a border)
What were Lloyd George’s key aims and motive?
Motive - wanted Germany to be punished, but also wanted it to recover economically because it was a large market for British goods (before general election he claimed to agree with the public about harsh punishment, then won the election and switched to wanting moderation)
Aims:
- germany lose its navy (so britain could still dominate the seas)
- germany lose all of its overseas colonies (and those would go to britain, to expand empire)
- wanted to encourage trade and didn’t want german industry to suffer, so no reparations and no loss of the rhineland
- wanted germany to be strong so it could act as a buffer to communism (as it had just overtaken russia)
What were Wilson’s aims and motive?
Motive - wanted to make the world safe for democracy, wanted peace, strengthen democracy to protect against communism
Aims:
- fourteen point plan
- global co-operation
- promote long term stability
- didn’t want compensation (no american territory was invaded)
Give 4 of Wilson’s 14 Points that were in the treaty, and 4 that weren’t.
In the treaty:
- league of nations set up
- disarmament (but only of defeated nations, wilson wanted total global disarmament)
- self-determination for the saar basin (plebiscite after 15 years of being governed by league)
- alsace-lorraine returned to france
Not in the treaty:
- free access to the seas for all countries
- self-determination for colonies
- free trade between countries
- total global disarmament
What were the main aspects of the Treaty of Versailles?
BARTL
Blame - Germany had to take full responsibility for the war and all the damage caused by it (everywhere)
Arms - Germany’s army was severely reduced and limited for the future
Reparations - Germany had to pay a lot of reparations, mainly to France and Belgium
Territory - Germany lost a lot of territory to other countries
League of Nations - LoN set up
NOTE - WAR GUILT CLAUSE WAS THE BLAME PART OF THE TREATY
What did the Treaty of Versailles say about arms? (Give 4 details)
(All of the below only applied to Germany)
Army reduced to 100,000 men, down from 2 million at the start of the war
Conscription was banned
Banned from using tanks, submarines or military aircraft
Navy limited to 6 battleships
What did the Treaty of Versailles say about reparations? (Give 4 details)
ToV stipulated that Germany had to pay reparations for the damage caused by the war
In 1921, the Reparations Commission decided on a figure of £6.6 billion
Reparations mainly went to France and Belgium -> to war pensions and building projects
What did the Treaty of Versailles say about territory? (Give 5 details)
Germany lost a total of 13% of its land - 12.5% of its population - half of its iron/steel industry
All of its colonies were taken away and given to Britain/France as “mandates” - meaning they had to govern the countries on behalf of the LoN
Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
Saar Basin was to be administered by the LoN for 15 years, then plebiscite to decide if Britain, France, or LoN should govern it -> during the 15 years all coal profits would go to France
Danzig became a Free City administered by LoN, Poland could use its port for trade
Anschluss was forbidden (union between Austria and Germany)
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania taken away from Germany and set up as independent states
What was a mandate?
An area which a country (usually Britain or France) had to govern on behalf of the League of Nations
What did the Treaty of Versailles say about the League of Nations? (Give 3 details)
Was set up as an international police force
Meant to encourage world peace and cooperation
Germany wasn’t invited to join the League UNTIL it could prove that it was a peace-loving country
What were Clemenceau’s feelings about the treaty?
Satisfied:
- Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
- greatly reduced the threat of Germany, as its military was so reduced, Rhineland demilitarised
- got a large sum of reparations promised to help France rebuild (+ coal profits from Saar for 15 years)
Unsatisfied:
- Rhineland not independent like he wanted
- worried Germany may recover its strength, as it was still allowed an army and some battleships
- wasn’t harsh enough for the French population -> he was voted out in the 1920 election
NOTE - he wanted a treaty of guarantee with the allies (american congress stopped it), and resigned soon after ToV was signed
What were Lloyd George’s feelings about the treaty?
Satisfied:
- achieved a moderate peace, allowing the european economy to revive
- added 1.8 million square miles onto british empire (in colonies)
- when he returned, the house of commons voted to approve the treaty with an overwhelming majority
- severely limited german navy (allowed british naval supremacy)
Unsatisfied:
- reparations were higher than he would’ve liked
- he later said he believed another war would start because of it
What were Wilson’s feelings about the treaty?
Satisfied:
- got the league of nations established
- disarmament of defeated nations
- alsace-lorraine returned to france
- self-determination for the saar
Unsatisfied:
- lack of free access to the seas
- no self-determination for most colonies
- not total disarmament
- no global free trade
Evidence for Clemenceau bullying Wilson/Lloyd George into a agreeing to a harsh treaty
Many of Clemenceau’s requests that the other two didn’t agree with were put into the treaty (e.g. quite high reparations from Germany)
Britain and America wanted a more lenient treaty (as they wanted Germany to recover economically) but the treaty was still quite harsh
This may be part of why the leaders didn’t get everything they aimed for
Evidence for the leader’s aims were too different so they couldn’t all have been pleased with the ToV
France and Britain wanted colonies, America wanted self-determination
France - harsh peace
Britain - moderate peace
America - lenient (and lasting) peace
Evidence for public opinion in leader’s home countries affecting their decisions about the ToV
Populations of Britain, France and America had very different views (especially as America didn’t lose a lot of people in WW1), and these views were ever changing
The treaty was integral to upcoming elections for the leaders (especially Lloyd George)
This may be part of why the leaders didn’t get everything they aimed for
What is a diktat?
Dictated peace
Germany argued the ToV was one because Germany had no say in the treaty and were forced to sign it (or the allied naval blockade would have continued, and the war would have restarted)
What was the German reaction to the ToV?
Overall reaction = horror and outrage - the public didn’t know how bad their military situation was near the end of the war (they still believed they could have won it), and were insulted they weren’t represented at all during the talks
“War guilt” clause - particularly hated as they felt blame should be shared, and they had to pay for all the damage caused by the war (German economy was already in a bad place, they feared reparation payments would completely destroy it)
Disarmament - army being so small was a blow to German pride, as the army was a symbol of their pride
Territory - another blow to pride, and economy as the saar + upper silesia were important industrial areas
14 Points + LoN - people saw the ToV as not keeping with Wilson’s Points (especially as some places got self-determination, and German-speaking people were being divided without being consulted), and were insulted by not being invited to join the LoN
What 3 acts of political violence happened in the years after the ToV?
Kapp Putsch 1920 - right wing opponents of the gov. attempted a revolution -> it was defeated by a general strike by Berlin workers (stopped essential services, e.g. power and transport)
1922 - Germany’s foreign minister (Rathenau) was murdered by extremists
Munich Putsch 1923 - Hitler led an attempted rebellion in Munich -> he was defeated, but got off lightly when he was put on trial (as many people agreed with his hatred of the treaty) -> he spent the next 10 years exploiting German resentment of ToV to get support for the Nazis
What was the conflict in the Ruhr?
First instalment of reparations was paid in 1921, but nothing was paid in 1922
Ebert tried to negotiate with the Allies, but France ran out of patience
1923 - French and Belgian soldiers entered the Ruhr and took what Germany owed in raw materials/goods (this was allowed by the ToV)
German gov. ordered the workers to go on strike so they weren’t producing anything for the French to take
French reacted harshly - they killed over 100 workers, expelled 100,000 protesters from the region
