Peace Treaties Flashcards
What were Prime Minister Clemenceau’s aims for the Treaty of Versailles?
Harsh Treaty
- weaken Germany as they had been invaded both in 1870 and 1914
- territorial losses for Germany on western border
- high reparations
- punishment for devastation of France in WWI and for humiliating treaty after the 1870 Franco-Prussian war
Who were the Big Three at the Paris Peace Conference?
Woodrow Wilson- President of the USA (1913-1921)
Georges Clemenceau- Prime Minister of France (1917-1920)
David Lloyd George- Prime Minster of Britain (1916-1922)
What were President Wilson’s aims for the ToV?
Fair Treaty
- wanted reflection of 14 points, including self-determination and LoN
- wanted it to be fair to Germany, in order to relieve bitterness which would lead to another war
- did not have as large an interest in punishment, due to late joining (1917) and lower losses as a result
What were Mr Lloyd George’s aims for the ToV?
Mixed
- public wanted harsh treaty, due to anti-German sentiment achieved by propaganda
- Lloyd George wanted to avoid bitterness in Germany
- weaken navy and empire to reduce imperial competition
- wanted to continue economic trade with the Germans
What were the reasons for disagreement amongst ‘the Big Three’?
- different experiences of the war: America joined late and did not have a direct invasion whilst France did. Britain had losses somewhere in between the two. Therefore different wants for reparations.
- different public opinion at home: more pressure at home for harsh treaty from Britain and France. Wilson allowed to pursue own interests.
- different national interests: France wanted to avoid future invasions by crippling them and Britain wanted a healthy relationship economically
What were the terms of the ToV?
- militarily limited Germany (100,000 soldiers/6 battleships/no Air Force/0 tanks/0 subs)
- territorial losses for Germany (Alsace-Lorraine to France/ Polish Corridor to Poland/ Saar given to LoN for 15 years)
- colonies lost to LoN, Britain and France
- Rhineland demilitarised
- reparations set at £6.6bn (1921)
- Germany had to accept full guilt for the War (article 231)
Reactions to the ToV
France- did not go far enough
Britain- too harsh
USA- way too fucking harsh
Why did Germany hate the ToV?
- Hated military restrictions- army was linked to national pride and the small military made them vulnerable as no one else disarmed.
- Hated territorial losses- empire was a sense of pride + lost taxes and resources.
- Reparations too high as the economy was in tatters anyway.
- Most felt war guilt clause was unfair as it was a world war
- ToV was forced on them- seen as a diktat
Why could the ToV be seen as fair or justified?
- Reparations were neseecary as France especially suffered such huge losses.
- Germany was first to invade in WWI therefore war guilt clause fair
- Germany made an equally harsh treaty against Russia in the 1917 Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, therefore they would have done the same if they had won
- Had to make an example of the consequences of war
Why could the ToV be seen as unfair or unjustified?
- It was a world war- Germany also suffered losses at the hands of the French and the English
- The reparations would doom the new government to failure on top of the damages from the war
- 100,000 was too little men to defend against an invasion
- Germany’s colonies had nothing to do with WWI therefore should have been irrelevant
What were the other treaties made to resolve the First World War?
- Treaty of Trianon- dealt with Hungary
- Treaty of Sevres- dealt with Turkey
- Treaty of Neuilly- dealt with Bulgaria
- Treaty of Paris Saint-Germain- dealt with Austria
What were the problems created by the peace treaties?
- Left countries such as Germany bitter and looking for revenge
- Broke up the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire and created weaker, smaller countries which were easier to invade (N.B. Czechoslovakia 1939)
