Was the Treaty of Versailles fair? Flashcards
How was the treaty greeted in Britain and France?
With celebrations
Did any ordinary people in Britain have reservations about the treaty?
Yes - some thought it was not harsh enough
Why did some people think the Germans were being hypocrites and operating a double standard?
The Germans had treated the Russians very harshly in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918. It was a much harsher treaty than the ToV.
Why were Germany’s economic problems partly self-inflicted (and not only due to reparations)?
Other states had raised taxes to pay for the war. The Kaiser had not done this, planning to pay off debt by extracting reparations from the defeated states.
How did Howard Nicolson, an official who was part of the talks, describe the Treaty of Versailles?
He said ‘the treaties we have imposed upon our enemies were neither just nor wise’.
Which famous economist wrote a book criticising the Treaty of Versailles?
John Maynard Keynes - ‘The Economic Consequences of the Peace’ - published in 1919
What did Howard Nicolson, an official who was part of the talks, predict historians would think?
‘The historian…will come to the conclusion that we were very stupid men.’
What did the British paper, ‘The People’, write in 1919 about the treaty?
‘that she [Germany] is being let off too lightly’
How does historian Zara Steiner view the treaty?
She argued that ‘The Treaty of Versailles was not excessively harsh. Germany was not destroyed.’
What does historian Margaret MacMillan say about the treaty?
They tried ‘to build a better order’. And that war in 1939 ‘was a result of twenty years of decisions taken or not taken’, not of the Treaty of Versailles
