Were the treaties of 1919-1923 fair?

Question 1

Who were the big 3?

Answer 1

• Georges Clemenceau = France
• Woodrow Wilson = USA
• Lloyd George = GB

Question 2

What was the Paris peace conference?

Answer 2

• Took place in Versailles.
• 32 nations were supposed to be represented, one from the defeated countries was invited
• Five treaties were drawn up at the conference the main one was the Treaty of Versailles, it was Germany. The other treaties dealt with Germany’s allies
• the big three were supported by a huge Army of diplomats and expert advisors but the big three often ignored their advice

Question 3

How long did the Paris peace conference last for?

Answer 3

12 months.

Question 4

What were Wilsons aims?

Answer 4

• Don’t be too harsh on Germany. He believed that Germany should be punished. But he believed that if Germany would be punished too harshly they’d recover and then want revenge (Agression).
• Strengthen democracy. If leaders in defeated Nations had to listen to the views of their people and when their votes those people would not let their leaders cause Another War
• Give self-determination to countries that had once been a part of the European Empires he wanted the different people of Eastern Europe to rule themselves rather than be a part of austria-hungary’s empire.
• International cooperation he believed that Nations should cooperate to achieve world peace he said that this would be done through the League of Nations

Question 5

What were Lloyd-George’s aims?

Answer 5

• He did not want Germany to seek revenge in the future and possibly start another War.
• He wanted Germany to lose its Navy and it’s colonies because they threatened the British Empire.

Question 6

What were Clemenceaus aims?

Answer 6

He wanted a treaty that would punish Germany and weaken it as much as possible because France had suffered enormous damage to its land, industry, people and self-confidence. Over 2/3 of the French army had been killed or wounded.

Question 7

What did Clemenceau clash with Wilson about?

Answer 7

He resented Wilson’s more generous attitude to Germany they disagreed about what to do about Germany’s Rhineland and coal fields in the Saar.

Question 8

Why did Clemenceau clash with lloyd-george?

Answer 8

He felt as if Wilson had put the needs of Britain over the needs of France as they weren’t treating Germany as bad when it comes to its status in Europe but they were very resentful of the fact that if Germany were to keep their Navy and it would directly affect them.

Question 9

Why did Wilson and Lloyd-George clash?

Answer 9

• Lloyd George was unhappy that Wilson wanted to allow all nations access to the Seas and he disapproved of Wilson’s view on people ruling themselves as it was threatening to the British government, the British Empire ruled millions of people all across the world from London.

Question 10

What were the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles divided into?

Answer 10

• Blame
• Reparations
• Army
• Territory

Question 11

What was the ‘blame’ term in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 11

Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war.

Question 12

What was the reparations term in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 12

Germany had to pay reparations to the Allies for the damage caused by the war this amount was set at $6,600 million pounds.

Question 13

What was the ‘territory’ term in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 13

• Alsace Lorraine was given to France.
• Upper Silesia and West Prussia were given to Poland.
• The Rhineland became a demilitarized zone.
• Germanys overseas empires were taken away.

Question 14

What was the ‘army’ term in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 14

• Germanys army was limited to 100,000 men
• Conscription was banned.
• Weren’t allowed an airforce
• The the Navy could only have six battleships.

Question 15

Why was the Rhineland so important?

Answer 15

It was the border area between Germany and France.

Question 16

What were some consequences of the Treaty for Germany?

Answer 16

• Political violence
• Conflict in the Ruhr.
• Hyperinflation

Question 17

When was the Treaty of Versailles signed?

Answer 17

28 June 1919 but Friedrich Ebert.
(The November criminals)

Question 18

What were some German criticisms of the war guilt and reparations in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 18

• Germany felt as though as they were the only ones responsible for starting the war - they felt that the blame should be shared.
• Germany was expected to pay for all the damage caused by the war, the German economy was severely weakened

Question 19

What were some German criticisms of the German territories in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 19

Both the Saar and upper Silesia were important industrial areas to Germany making it a major blow to its pride and to its economy.

Question 20

What were some German criticisms of the disamament in the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 20

• An army of 100,000 was for country of Germany size and the Army was a symbol of German Pride.
  -Despite Wilson’s 14 Points calling for disarmament, none of the Allies were being asked or forced to disarm in the same way as Germany was.

Question 21

What are some criticisms of the 14 points in the League of Nations from Germans?

Answer 21

• The treatment of Germany was not keeping in line with Wilson’s 14 points self-determination given to other countries around Germany but German speaking people were being Hive dolphin to new countries such as Czechoslovakia to be ruled by non Germans.
• union with Austria was forbidden for Germany.
• they felt further insulted by not being invited to join the League of Nations.

Question 22

What are some criticisms of that it was ‘non-representative’ to germany?

Answer 22

• They were angry that their government was not being represented at the Paris peace conference and that they were being forced to accept a harsh treaty without any choice or even comment Germans didn’t feel as though they had lost the war so they should not have been treated as a defeated country.

Question 23

What are some consequences of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 23

• Political violence
• Conflict in the Ruhr
• Hyperinflation

Question 24

What political violence Rose from the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 24

• Right wing opponents of Eberts government could not bear the treaty so they attracted a revolution. The Kapp Putsch rose and was defeated by a general strike by Berlin workers which paralyzed the central services such as power and transport. This shows the bitterness of Germans towards the treaty.
• In the summer of 1922 Germany’s foreign minister Walter routineau was murdered by extremists and
  on November 19th 23 adolf Hitler led an attempted rebellion in Munich but he was let off lightly when the Germans shared his hatred of Versailles .

Question 25

What conflict was there in the Ruhr?

Answer 25

• Germany agreed to pay reparations to the allies and the first 50 million was paid in 1921 but nothing was paid in 1922 the French ran out of patience so in 1923 French and Belgian soldiers entered the region and simply took what is owed to them in the form of raw materials and goods this was legal under the Treaty of her sign
• The German government ordered the workers to go on strike so that they were not producing anything for the French to take the French killed over 100 workers and expelling over 100,000 process protesters from the region.
• This strike meant that France had no Goods to trade

Question 26

What happened regarding hyperinflation in Germany?

Answer 26

After the invasion of the Ruhr, the government solved the problem of not having enough money by simply printing extra money - this didn’t work as it caused money to become virtually worthless so prices showed up. Wages began to be paid daily instead of weekly.

Question 27

How did hyperinflation benefit people?

Answer 27

• The government and big industrialists were able to pay off their huge debts in worthless marks. But others, especially pensioners, we’re practically left penniless.
• a prosperous middle class family would find that they’re savings, which might have bought a house in 1921, by 1923 would not even be enough to buy a loaf of bread.

Question 28

What are some contemporary views on the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 28

• They thought that the peacemakers were blind and selfish - as a result, they produced a disastrous treaty that would cause another terrible war.
• People in Britain believed that it wasn’t harsh enough.
• Germany was operating a double standard, the Treaty of Versailles was much less harsh than Brest-Litovsk which was inflicted on Russia.
  -Germany’s economic problems were partly self-inflicted. Other states had raised taxes to pay for the war. However, the Kaiser’s government has not done that - it had planned to pay Germany’s War debts by extracting reparations from the defeated States

Question 29

What are some hindsight views on the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 29

• Seen as one of the most outrageous and predatory treaties in history. Since Germany was already weakened they used it to their advantage.
• No attempt was made by the Victorious powers of Versailles to respect the rights and valid claims of Germany
• hitler’s demands for the destruction of Versailles won him support at home and also allowed him to disguise his true Ambitions to build a great Empire from the German people and from foreign Statesmen
• the Treaty of Versailles was not excessively harsh Germany was not destroyed nor was it reduced to a second rank of power or permanently prevented from returning to great power status
• The big Three could not foresee the future and they certainly could not control it that was up to their successors, it was a result of 20 years of decisions taken or not taken, no of Arrangements made in 1919.

Question 30

What was the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 30

It was a treaty that formally ended WW1.

Question 31

Austria: The treaty of St Germain, 1919

Answer 31

• This treaty separated Austria from Hungary and confirmed that Austria was no longer a leading Power.
• the territories Bohemia - moravia were given from Austria to the Czechoslovakia
• the territory of Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia were given from Austria to the new state of Yugoslavia (which also included the former Kingdom of Serbia).
• Lost Galicia to Poland
• it’s Army was restricted to 30,000 and it was forbidden to ever Unite with Germany
  Rather than punishing Austria this treaty was really about sorting out a chaotic plethora of territories into new States.
• many millions in Eastern Europe were given self-determination and freedom to rule themselves.

Question 32

The treaty of Neuilly, 1919

Answer 32

• Bulgaria lost lands to Greece, romania and Yugoslavia as well as losing its access to the Mediterranean.
• It had to limit its Armed Forces to 20,000 100 million pounds in reparations.
• Bulgaria was treated less harshly than allies due to its small role in the war however, many bulgarians were governed by foreign powers by 1920.

Question 33

The treaty of Trianon, 1920

Answer 33

• The treaty was not signed until 1920 and its main terms involved the transfer of territories.
• hungary lost a substantial amount of its territory and its population (3 million hungarians ended up in other states).
• hungary was due to pay reparations, but it’s economy was so weak it never did.
• It’s Industries suffered from the loss of population and raw materials.

Question 34

The treaty of Sevres, 1920

Answer 34

• It was signed in August 1920 and gave land to Armenia, Britain, Greece and France and its original Empire was broken up.
• Turkey’s tax system, finances and budget were to be controlled by the allies.
• Turkey’s Army was limited to 50,000 troops, it’s Navy was restricted and it was not allowed in Air Force at all
• The Turkish Empire had a very big role in turkey’s Pride and the fact that they lost so much of it was humiliating for them.