Treaty of Versailles Flashcards
When was an armistice agreed between the Allies and Germany WW1?
11 November 1918
Only a peace treaty would officially end the war, when was the peace treaty signed?
June 1919.
What were the expectations from the peace treaty of the people of Europe?
The people of Europe wanted lasting peace.
To prevent the slaughter of the First World War.
However, many people felt that Germany should be made to pay for the damage done.
What is a term used to describe the entire peace settlement of 1919-23?
The Versailles Settlement (not the same as the Treaty of Versailles which is just one part of the Versailles settlement)
What treaty was Germany affected by and when?
Versailles - 28 June 1919
What treaty was Austria affected by and when?
Saint Germain - 10 September 1919
What treaty was Bulgaria affected by and when?
Neuilly - 27 November 1919
What treaty was Hungary affected by and when?
Trianon - 4 June 1920
What treaty was Turkey affected by and when?
Sèvres - 10 August 1920
What treaty was Turkey affected by and when? (2nd one)
Lausanne - 24 June 1923
By how many states was the Paris Peace Conference attended?
32
What countries were excluded from the Paris Peace Conference? Why?
- Defeated powers
- Soviet Russia, following the Bolshevik Revolution of October 1917
- The Allied Powers refused to recognise the new Bolshevik Government
What were common themes in the treaties of the Versailles Settlement?
- loss of land
- reparations
- disarmament
- (covenant of the LofN)
- (to recognise the independence of new nations)
Treaty of Saint Germain - main points
Austria
- diasarmament - army limited to 30,000 volunteers, no navy or air force
- union between Austria and Germany was forbidden
- reparations (including in farm animals) - Austria did not pay much in reparations as her economy was so weak
- recognised the independence of Hungary, Poland, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.
- land lost - Austro-Hungarian empire dismantled, land lost to Italy, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia
- Population fell from 22 million to 6 million
Treaty of Neuilly - main points
Bulgaria
- disarmament - army limited to a force of 20,000 volunteers, four torpedo boats, no air force
- reparations - set at $100 million
- land lost - land lost to Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece
Treaty of Trianon - main points
Hungary
- disarmament - army limited to a force of 35,000 volunteers and 3 parol boats
- no conscription
- reparations - apart from some shipments of coal, Hungary could not meet the demands for reparations so the payments were suspended
- land lost - Austro-Hungarian empire dismantled, land lost to Yugoslavia, Romania and Czechoslovakia lost nearly 75% of its land
- population fell from 21 million to around 7.5 million
Treaty of Sèvres - main points
Turkey
- disarmament - 50,000 soldiers, seven sailboats and 6 torpedo boats, no air force
- reparations - the economy was to be controlled by the allies
- land lost - the Ottoman Empire was broken up, areas such as Iraq and Palestine became British mandates, Syria became a French mandate, Armenia became an independent country, the Straits of the Dardanelles would be placed under international control, lost territory to Greece and Italy
Treaty of Lausanne - main points
Turkey
- Turkey confirmed the loss of its provinces in the Middle East
- Received back most of its European territory
- The Dardanelles Strait was to return to Turkish sovereignty
- Restrictions on armed forces were removed
- Turkey no longer to pay reparations
Why did they create a second treaty for Turkey?
The treaty provoked backlash in Turkey
Turkish nationalists, led by Kemel Attaturk, rebelled against the Sultan and rejected the treaty
They drove out the Greeks from Smyrna
1923, a new treaty was signed at Lausanne in Switzerland
This removed foreign control over the economy.
Turkey also regained land and some control over the Dardanelles.
Who represented Britain at the Treaty of Versailles?
Prime Minister Lloyd George
Who represented France at the Treaty of Versailles?
President Clemenceau
Who represented USA at the Treaty of Versailles?
President Wilson
Why did Clemenceau want revenge in particular?
He had watched France be invaded by the Germans twice. 1870 and then 1914
France had suffered many casualties
Over 1 million dead soldiers
What were Clemenceau’s aims?
- to punish Germany and ensure it was too weak to attack France again
- to return the Alsace-Lorraine region to France
- he accepted the League of Nations but believed it would need to be strengthened to deal with Germany
- an independent Rhineland which would weaken Germany
- huge reparations
- compensation
- to disband the German army so that Germany would never be strong enough to attack France again
What were Lloyd George’s aims?
- to please the electors who wanted to ‘make Germany pay’
- to leave Germany strong enough to trade with
- to safeguard Britain’s naval supremacy
- balance will of the voters with the economic need to continue to trade with Germany
Why did Lloyd George need to please the public?
1918 - won a general election
Was aware that the people who had voted for him wanted revenge on Germany, slogans eg ‘Hang the Kaiser’
What were Wilson’s aims?
- to end war by creating a League of Nations based on his 14 points
- to ensure Germany was not destroyed
- not to blame Germany for the war - he hated the Guilt Clause