Treaty of Versailles Flashcards

1
Q

What were the military terms of the ToV?

A
Germany was only allowed an army of 100,000
Only 6 Naval ships
No tanks
No submarines
No aircraft
Conscription was banned
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2
Q

What happened to the Rhineland in ToV?

A

Germany was not allowed weapons or soldiers in the west of the Rhine or 50km East of it
The allies would occupy the same distance for 15 years

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3
Q

What land was given to Belgium and France?

A

Alsace-Lorraine was given to France (after they had taken it 47 years before from France)
Eupen-Malmedy was given to Belgium

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4
Q

What land was put under the control of the league of Nations?

A

All Germany’s overseas territories
Danzig became a ‘free’ port and was also placed under the control of the LoN
The Saar (rich coal fields) put under control of the LoN

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5
Q

What land was given to Russia and Poland?

A

The rich farmland in Posen was given to Poland

Land taken in Brest-Litovsk given back to Russia, some of this made into new states, eg Estonia

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6
Q

What percentage of iron production, territory and population did Germany lose?

A

48% of iron production
13% of 1914 territory
12% of population

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7
Q

What was done to keep Germany’s economic growth to a minimum?

A

Banned from uniting with Austria, known as Anschluss

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8
Q

What number was the water guilt clause?

A

231

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9
Q

What was the war guilt clause?

A

Germany had to admit responsibility for the war, and therefore had to pay reparations, set later in 1921 at £6,600 million, or 132 billion gold marks.

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10
Q

How many clauses dealt with the LoN’s organisation?

A

The first 26 clauses

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11
Q

Why did America not join the LoN?

A

Members of congress wanted to stay out of European affairs and believed the LoN would use America’s resources and army unnecessarily

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12
Q

What was the LoN?

A

It was set up with the aim of stopping war by setting up a global organisation to judge disputes between countries

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13
Q

How many members did the LoN have by 1920?

A

48 members, but Germany was not allowed to join

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14
Q

What were the terms of Brest-Litovsk?

A

Russia lost 1/3 of it’s population or 55million people.

Had to pay 6 billion German gold marks.

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15
Q

When was the treaty signed?

A

28th June 1920

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16
Q

How was Germany treated during the negotiations?

A

If Germany refused to sign it, the allies planned on invading, the blockade of Germany continued during negotiations and Germany was excluded from all negotiations.

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17
Q

How long were the Germans given to comment on it?

A

They were given just over 2 weeks to submit their official complains- only two minor amendments were made.

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18
Q

How did the Reichstag react to the treaty?

A

All parties disagreed with it
Schiedemann resigned when his cabinet could not agree on it
Reichstag agreed to the terms and foreign minister Müller signed the treaty.

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19
Q

By what majority did the Reichstag agree to the treaty?

A

237:138

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20
Q

How was Germany in a potentially strong position after the treaty?

A

France failed get a permanently weakened border
The break up of the Austro-hungarian empire meant Germany was surrounded by smaller weaker states
Germany’s economy never failed.

21
Q

What was Lloyde George and Britain’s view on the treaty?

A

George believed Germany should be punished to an extent, but not completely weakened so they could stop the spread of communism
This would have been political suicide to go public however, so to stay in office had to take popular view that Germany had to be punished.

22
Q

What was George Clemenceau and France’s view on the treaty?

A

Both believed Germany should be punished harshly.

23
Q

What happened to Italy during negotiations?

A

Often sidelined, as before WW1 Italy had had an alliance with Germany and Italy wasn’t a ‘great’ power

24
Q

What was Woodrow Wilson, and the USA’s views on the treaty?

A

Believed Germany should be punished in a way that allowed European conciliation.
American’s believed the US should stay out of European politics.

25
Q

Why did the German public reject the treaty?

A

Most Germans had been unaware they were loosing the war due to censored news
Many Germans had believed they would have gotten a fair peace, modelled after Wilson’s 14 points.

26
Q

How did the German navy react at Scapa?

A

They sunk their own fleet, rather than handing it to the allies.
19 mins before the deadline

27
Q

What was the headline of the conservative DAZ newspaper?

A

‘death rather than slavary’

28
Q

How did ordinary Germans react to the treaty?

A

Referred to the peace with the term ‘Diktat’ dictate

There was large protests in cities with 10,000s of people

29
Q

What did the leader’s think of the treaty?

A

Hindenburg believed they should go back to war rather than sign it even though they would lose- a heroic defeat
Hindenburg and Ludendorff started the stab-in-the-back myth which led to many civilians blaming the founders of the Weimar Republic, (Novemeber criminals)

30
Q

What were some of the effects of the treaty?

A

Hyperinflation, Dawes and Young plan, Great Depression, faith of Weimar declined, rise of extremists and eventually Nazis.

31
Q

What did Keynes, the British economist say about the treaty?

A

It was ‘political unwisdom’ to have such unfair terms

32
Q

Why does Lee believe harsh military terms were needed?

A

Germany’s army has previously been huge, and had taken the armies of many countries to stop.

33
Q

What does Lee say about the war guilt clause?

A

It was insufficient due to do it being such a large number, rather than at the start

34
Q

What does R. M. Watt believe?

A

Whilst reparations were thoughtless, the Weimar government tried to play the victim to get out of German punishment

35
Q

What does W. Carr believe?

A

Germany could have fared much worse if Clemenceau had had his way.

36
Q

What does Barnett believe?

A

The treaty was ‘hardly a slap on the wrist’ compared to Brest-Litovsk

37
Q

What does Kissinger believe?

A

Germany’s claim that the treaty was too harsh was self pitying nonsense

38
Q

What does Evans say about the effects of Versailles?

A

It was only one factor in the Republic’s weaknesses

39
Q

What does Hidley believe about the ToV?

A

It is wrong to blame the collapse of Weimar on it

40
Q

What does Storer believe about the reaction to the ToV?

A

The terms were seen by all German’s as a national disgrace and unfair.

41
Q

How does Zara Steiner feel about the treaty?

A

‘The Treaty of Versailles was not excessively harsh. Germany was not destroyed.’

42
Q

What did Germany do to France after the 1870 Franco-Prussian war?

A

Annex Alsace-Lorraine and made France pay reparations

43
Q

What areas of Germany voted to remain or leave Germany?

A

Northern Schleswig voted to join Denmark, whilst Southern Schleswig voted to remain in Germany.

44
Q

What did reparations cause?

A

Hyperinflation; however this was also the governments fault as they printed money excessively.

45
Q

How much of the economy was paid as reparations?

A

No more than 8% of gross national product (amount of money produced)

46
Q

Were reparations fair?

A

No, Germany had set standard at Brest-litovsk, had to pay 6 billion gold marks, whilst Germany had to pay 132 billion gold marks

47
Q

When did the inter-allied military commission leave Germany?

A

1926

48
Q

Was the treaty fair?

A

Overall, Territorial and military terms were fair, reparations and process was not

49
Q

Why could the process of the treaty seem fair?

A

There was a wide range of views and US was good at mediating