Where The Peace Treaties Of 1919-23 Fair? Flashcards
Paris Peace Conference
- 1919
- Britain, France and USA (Big Three)
- Palace of Versailles, near Paris
Woodrow Wilson
- USA
- Build better, more peaceful world through 14 points
- Not too Harsh
- Strengthen democracy in defeated countries
- Self-determination
- International co-operation (League of Nations)
David Lloyd George
- Britain
- Agreed on not to harsh
- Germany = peaceful trading partner
- Under pressure from media and public to ‘make Germany pay’
- Germany to lose navy and colonies (threatened British Empire)
Clemenceau
- France
- Punish and cripple Germany
- Could not attack France again
Clemenceau vs Wilson
France vs USA
- USA not suffered as badly as France
- C resented W’s generous attitude
- Wilson forced to back down on Alsace-Lorraine, Rhineland, and Saar
- Clemenceau accepted Self-determination
Clemenceau vs Lloyd George
France vs Britain
- C saw British position as hypocritical
- Britain happy to accept generous terms for Germany in Europe (where France under threat)
- Insisted Germany lose navy and colonies (where British Empire under threat)
Wilson vs Lloyd George
USA vs Britain
- Wilson’s ‘free access to the sea’ threatened British naval supremacy
- Lloyd George unhappy with Self-determination (undermined British Empire)
War Guilt
-War Guilt Clause meant Germany accepted responsibility for the war
Reparations
-Germany forced to pay £6.6 billion to allies to pay for damages caused by war
Lost Territory
- Alsace-Lorraine to France
- Saarland and Danzig to League of Nations
- Rhineland demilitarised
- North Schleswig to Denmark
- West Prussia, Polish Corridor, Upper Silesia to Poland
- Anschluss with Austria forbidden
Lost Colonies
-Germany’s colonies controlled by League of Nations (Britain and France)
Disarmament
- Army reduced to 100,000 men
- No tanks, submarines, aircrafts
- Navy limited to 6 battle ships
- Rhineland demilitarised
League of Nations
- International police force
- Germany not permitted to join until proved it was a ‘peacd-loving’ country
War Guilt and Reparations Reaction
- Did not believe war was their fault entirely
- Bitter about crippling effects of reparations
Disarmament Reaction
- Armed forces were symbol of nation’s pride
- Humiliating
- More galling when allies failed to honour their commitment to disarmament
Lost Territory and Colonies Reaction
- Major blow to pride and economic strength
- More galling when Britain and France took control of colonies
14 Points and League of Nations Reaction
- Germany territory and self-determination seemed hypocritical
- Exclusion from League of Nations was an insult
Non-representation Reaction
-German government not represented at Versailles
-German leaders forced to sign
Treaty seen as ‘diktat’
Political Violence
- 1920 Kapp Putsch
- Attempted revolution led by right-wing Freikorps, defeated by general strike in Berlin
- German Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau assassinated
- 1923 Munich Putsch
- Attemlted revolution led by Hitler and Nazis, put down by police
Conflict in Ruhr
- Germany failed to pay reparations 1922
- France invaded Ruhr to take what was owed
- G responded with campaign of passive resistance
- Crippled German Economy
Hyperinflation
- Responded to Economic problems by printing more money
- Led to rampant hyperinflation
- Money and savings became worthless
Treaty of Versailles Fair?
YES
- Germans started war by attacking Belgium 1914
- Germany not raised to taxes to pay for war
- Assumed would win and lay off debts by claiming reparations from Allies
- 1917 Germans dictated harsh peace with Russia (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
- People of France and Britain needed to see Germany punished for death and destruction caused
- Many French and British thought Germany not treated harshly enough
Treaty of Versailles Fair?
NO
- Kaiser had abdicated leaving innocent Germans to pay for his mistakes
- War Guilt Clause was unfair and humiliated Germany
- Big Three were hypocritical (Germany had to disarm they didn’t, Germany lost colonies they didn’t)
- Excluding Germany from League of Nations was a spiteful action
- Harsh treaty made it hard for new German government to succeed (saw Elbert’s signing of treaty as ‘stab in the back’)
- In years after treaty, Germany plunged into chaos (revolutions, political murders, hyperinflation)
Treaty of St Germain
- 1919
- Austria
- Army limited to 30,000 men
- Anschluss forbidden
- Austro-Hungarian Empire broken up
- Bohemia and Moravia to Czechoslovakia
- Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia to Yugoslavia
- Galicia to Poland
- Austria suffered economic problems
Treaty of Neuilly
- 1919
- Bulgaria
- Land given to Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia
- Army limited to 20,000 men
- £100 million in reparations
- Treated less harshly than other nations
Treaty of Trianon
- 1920
- Hungary
- Transylvania to Romania
- Slovakia and Ruthenia to Czechoslovakia
- Slovenia and Croatia to Yugoslavia
- Meant to pay reparations but never did (severe economic problems)
Treaty of Sevres
- 1920
- Turkey
- Smyrna to Greece
- Syria under French control
- Lost empire to British and French control
- Army limited to 50,000 men
Treaty of Lausanne
- 1923
- Replaced Treaty of Sevres
- Turkey’s new nationalist leaders refused to accept old treaty
- Accepted loss of empire
- Other terms dropped
