Treaty Of Versaille Flashcards

1
Q

Big 3

A

Lloyd George - Britain
Clemenceau- France
Wilson - America

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2
Q

What were the aims of Clemenceau ?

A
  • To economically cripple Germany to the point where they won’t be able to recover. Clemenceau wanted revenge for the loss that France had suffered.
  • Clemenceau wanted to make sure Germany was too weak to ever pose a threat to France ever again. In his lifetime Clemenceau had seen France invaded by Germany twice once in 1870 and another time during the First World War in 1914. This came both through economically crippling Germany but also completely disarming her too.
    -Clemenceau also wanted enough reparations so that France could recover economically. France had suffered heavy losses in the war war and was keen to recover and move on.
  • He wanted Alsance-Lorraine back
  • He wanted to take colonies from Germany to take away from their wealth and add to Frances
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3
Q

What were the aims of Wilson?

A

Wilson was convinced that terms that were too strict and too harsh would lead to unrest and resent in Germany and may cause another conflict in the future, maybe even another war and therefore he was keen to follow his 14 points:
- No more secret treaties
- Free navigation of sea in times of peace and in war
- Removal of economic trade barriers
- Disarmament for all countries
- Impartial settlements of colonial disputes taking into account the interests of both the governing country AND the colonial populations (national self determination)
- German troops to leave Russia
- Independence for Belgium
- Return of Alsace-Lorraine to France
- Readjustment of Italian frontier in line with nationality
- Self-determination for peoples of Austria-Hungary
- Establishment of the LoN

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4
Q

What were the aims of Lloyd George ?

A
  • Preserve the supremacy of the British navy
  • Prevent a settlement which was too harsh and Germany would never accept
  • Prevent pushing Germany towards communism
    To not completely shrivel German economy as Britain needed it to trade with
  • Public opinion wanted someone to blame and so wanted Germany harshly punished. As there were upcoming elections, Lloyd George had to punish Germany in order to stay in power.
  • High reparations as Britain was hugely in debt
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5
Q

How satisfied was Clemenceau ?

A

Not very as….
-They wanted Germany to be economically ruined and completely disarmed
-They wanted higher reparations
-Wanted to have the Rhineland and the Saar to themselves.

However he was satisfied with…
- The colonies the received
- The banned Anschluss between Australia and Germany as it limited German power

And they could cope with…
- A buffer zone in the Rhineland
- And 15 years of use in the Saar coal mines

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6
Q

How satisfied was Wilson?

A

Unsatisfied with…
- The lack of disarmament
- The War Guilt Clause (article 231) as he believes it will lead to resentment in Germany
- The ban on the Anschluss between Austria and Germany as he believed it was against national self determination
- The colonies as they went against national self determination
- The high reparations as he believed it would lead to resentment and another war and is also worried about their economy

Satisfied with …
- The formation of the LoN

Can make peace with…
- The ban on Anschluss as he is afraid on an alliance between Germany and Austria
-The bit of disarmament they got like in the Rhineland
- The Saar

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7
Q

How satisfied was Lloyd George?

A

Is unsatisfied with…
- The high reparations as he worries for Germany economy and his own and also the build up of resentment
- The agreement with the Saar for the same reason
- War Guilt as he believes it will lead to resentment

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8
Q

What were the economic impacts of the treaties on Germany?

A
  • hyperinflation as the government rushed to print more money as they didn’t have enough
  • increased homelessness , mass unemployment and starvation
  • loss of key industrial areas
  • Enormous reparations
  • Cost of a loaf of bread was 250 marks in January 1923 and was 200,000 million marks in November 1923
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9
Q

What was Germany unhappy about?

A
  • Diktat -> Germany was not given a say at Versaille and instead had terms imposed on them
  • War Guilt -> Other great powers were also to blame for breakout of WWI
  • Reparations -> too high and and made worse by the amount Germany spent on the War. It was impossible to pay as industrial regions such as the Saar were stripped from Germany, so that they weren’t generating any money for themselves
  • Loss of Land -> 10% of German land was given away and 6-7 million people were lost. National self determination was completely ignored
  • Military restrictions -> Meant that they did not have enough to defend themselves or keep order in the country. Although the 14 points asked for disarmament, France kept a substantial army.
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10
Q

Was the treaty of Versailles justified ?

A

YES
- Generous compared to what Clemenceau wanted
- Germany deserved it / were responsible
- Only way to ensure peace
- Ger. accepted blame
- Treaty of Brest Litvosk was harsher

NO
- No way of paying reparations
- Against nation-self determinations - 10% Land, 6-7 million
- Not only country that caused war
- About revenge not fairness
- Diktat -> Germany has no say and had to accept Versaille
- Not enough to defend itself
- France maintained substantial army

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11
Q

Other terms of Versaille

A

-6.6 billion pounds
- War Guilt Clause was to be accepted by Germany ( article 231)
- Treaty of Brest Litvosk was to be ignored

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12
Q

What were the terms of Versaille about territory?

A
  • Saar to LoN for 15 years in which time France had control of coal mines. After time plebiscite would be held.
  • Alsace - Lorraine returned
  • Danzig -> free city under LoN control
  • West Prussia -> Poland
  • Memel -> Lithuania
  • Formation of Polish Corridor -> separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany
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13
Q

What were the military terms of Versaille

A
  • 6 battleships
  • 100,000 men
  • Rhineland demilitarised
  • Banned Union between Austria and Germany
  • Conscription was banned
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14
Q

What was the treaty of Brest-Litvosk?

A
  • When Russia surrendered to Germany after communist revolution (1917) the treaty of Brest - Litvosk was signed and Russia lost:
  • 34% of population
  • 32% of agricultural land
  • 54% of industry
  • 26% of Railways
  • 89% of Coal mines
  • 300 million rubbles of reparations
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15
Q

What were some of the losses that France suffered after WW1?

A

The worst of the fighting took place in France so….
- 2 million fled their homes, 2/3 of which were now destroyed
-23,000 factories were destroyed
- 5,600 km of railway line and 48000 km of road was destroyed
- 1,400,000 French soldiers were killed and another 2,500,000 were wounded
In addition France spent $24 billion on the war

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16
Q

What were some of the losses that the USA suffered after WW1?

A
  • USA suffered relatively little in the war as they only joint it in April in 1917:
  • 116,000 troops died
  • $27 billion was spent on the war
  • After the War there was a lot of unemployment and the war was partly to blame
17
Q

What were some of the losses that Britain suffered after WW1?

A

-No part of the country was occupied by the enemy however…
- 750,000 British soldiers died and 500,000 were wounded
- Spent £9 billion on the War and over £1 billion was borrowed money

18
Q

What were some of the other peace treaties aimed at other European countries ?

A
  • Treaty of Saint Germain -> Austria
  • Treaty of Trianon -> Hungary (4th June 1920)
  • Treaty of Neuilly -> Bulgaria (27th November 1919)
  • Treaty of Sèvres -> Turkey (10th August 1920)
  • Treaty of Lausanne -> Turkey (24th July 1923)
19
Q

What were some of the terms of the treaty of Saint Germaine?

A
  • DISARMAMENT - army limited to 30,000 volunteers, no Navy or Air Force
  • REPARATIONS - Austria did not pay much as her economy was so weak
  • TERRITORY - Austro-Hungarian Empire dismantled:
    -> Tyrol lost to Italy
    -> Dalmatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were lost to Yugoslavia
    -> Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania and Italy all gained land*
    -> Austria’s population fell from 22 million to around 6 million
    -> Union between Austria and Germany was banned
    -> Austria had to recognise Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Poland as independent countries
    -> Now a small landlocked nation surrounded by hostile states
    -> Three million Sudeten Germans were placed under Czech rule
20
Q

What were some of the terms of the Treaty of Trianon?

A
  • DISARMAMENT - army limited to 35,000 volunteers and three patrol boats
  • REPARATIONS - Could only pay in some shipments of coal as it could it meet the demands for reparations and so they were suspended
  • TERRITORY - Austro-Hungarian Empire dismantled:
    -> Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania all gained land
    -> Had to recognise independence of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia
    -> 70% of its territory and one third of its population had been lost
    -> Now a landlocked nation
21
Q

What were some of the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres?

A
  • DISARMAMENT - army limited to 50,000 soldiers, seven sailboats and six torpedo boats.
  • REPARATIONS - The economy was to be controlled by the allies
  • TERRITORY - The Ottoman Empire was broken up:
    -> areas such as Iraq and Palestine became British mandates
    -> Syria became a French mandate
    -> Turkey lost territory to Greece and Italy
    -> the Straits of the Dardanelles would be placed under international control
    -> Armenia and the Kingdom of Hejaz (Saudi Arabia) became independent countries.
22
Q

What were the political impacts of the treaty on Germany?

A
  • rise of extremist groups -> violence as they disagree
  • Kap Putsch ( former German soldiers) try to seize power violently
  • Assassinations of Weimar government ministers by right-wing
  • Weimar government came into power and was weak and hated as it agreed to Versaille
  • Extreme governments came into power
  • Powerful Communist groups attempting to overthrow government
  • Hitler attempted to seize power in 1923 in the Munich Putsch
23
Q

What were the strengths and weaknesses of the Weimar republican?

A

STRENGTHS

  • Genuine democracy
  • The power of the Reichstag
  • Bill of Rights -> guaranteed every German Citizen freedom of speech and religion and equality under the law

WEAKNESSES

  • Proportional representation -> lots of parties making it hard for a decision to be made
  • Article 48 -> Gave the president power to act without parliament approval in case of an emergency
  • Was hated as it agreed to Versaille
24
Q

What were some of the terms of the Treaty of Neuilly?

A
  • DISARMAMENT - army limited to 20,000 volunteers, 4 torpedo boats and no Air Force
  • REPARATIONS - set at £100 million
  • TERRITORY -> land lost to Yugoslavia , Romania and Greece
    -> Had to recognise Yugoslavia as an independent country
25
Q

What were some of the terms of the Treaty of Lausanne?

A
  • Turkey confirmed the loss of provinces in the Middle East
  • Turkey received back most of its European territory
  • The Dardanelles Strait was to return to Turkish sovereignty
  • Restrictions on armed forces were removed
  • Turkey was no longer to pay reparations
26
Q

What were shared terms of the other treaties?

A
  • War Guilt Clause
  • An obligation to pay reparations
  • Reduction of Armaments
  • Acceptance of the Covenant of the LoN