Treaty of Versailles

Question 1

What were Wilson’s ideas on the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 1

Don’t be too harsh on Germany - he believed that Germany did need to be punished, but he also believed that if it was treated too harshly it would want revenge. He also feared that extremist groups e.g. the communists would take power.

Strengthen democracy in defeated countries - he thought that democracy was instrumental for peace. He believed that if leader’s would listen to the people there wouldn’t be wars.

Give self-determination to small countries - he wanted people of Eastern Europe to rule themselves.

International cooperation - he believed that nations should cooperate to achieve world peace. He believed this could be done by an organization called the “League of Nations”.

Question 2

What were Lloyd George’s ideas on the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 2

He also, like Wilson believed that if Germany would be treated too harshly they would want revenge.

He also believed that a harsh treaty may cause the rise of extremist parties and lead to a communist revolution.

He also wanted to continue trading with Germany - they had been their second largest trading partners before the war. British jobs depended on it.

However he wanted Germany to lose their navy and overseas colonies.

Countries ruling themselves meant that Britain would have to let go of their colonies - they did not want this.

But British citizens wanted a way more harsher treaty. They had suffered over 1 000 000 causalities.

Question 3

What were Georges Clemenceau’s ideas on the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 3

Clemenceau wanted an extremely harsh treaty. He wanted to completely cripple Germany.

He also wanted to split Germany into smaller states so that they couldn’t attack France ever again.

Question 4

Why didn’t the victors get everything they wanted?

Answer 4

• Victors wanted different things: there had to be some compromise.
• There were other people who wanted a say in the matter, e.g. the Queen of Romania and 20 Ukrainian delegates who wanted independence
• Complexity: in real life, it was much more complex to orchestrate all of this. For example, what to do with Germans living in Hungary if Hungarians should be given self-determination, or how much the reparations should be.

Question 5

What was the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany?

Answer 5

• War guilt clause was particularly hated. Germans felt that they weren’t to blame for the war. They believed it should have been shared
• The army was reduced which was a blow to German pride. It made them feel vulnerable
• felt insulted by not being invited to join the League of Nations
• angry that their new govt. wasn’t represented
• economy was severely affected due to large territorial losses of important industrial lands.

Question 6

Was the treaty fair or unfair?

Answer 6

FAIR:
- Germany had done far worse in the treaty of Brest-Litvosk:
- lost 25% of its population
-nearly a third of its agricultural land
-Germany was mainly loosing land that wasn’t really theirs in the first place, e.g. Alsace-Lorraine

UNFAIR:
- Innocent and common German people had to bear the brunt of it - war guilt clause

• Army left them vulnerable to France

Question 7

What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 7

War guilt - they had to accept the blame for starting the war

Reparations - 6,600 million pounds

Territory
- Anschluss forbidden
- Overseas colonies taken
- Saarland and Danzig run by LoN

Armed Forces
- 100,000 men
- Conscription banned
- No armored vehicles
- 6 battleships
- Rhineland demilitarized

Banned to join the League of Nations