12, Versailles and Aftermath

Question 1

How was Woodrow Wilson (US president) a peacemaker?

Answer 1

January 1917 Wilson: “peace without victory”

Point 14 of Woodrow’s “14 points” called for a nations organisation to prevent future disagreements becoming war - League of Nations founded 1919

Question 2

What were the main clauses of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 2

War guilt clause (end of German colonies)
Territorial (loss of Western Prussia to Poland, Danzig made LoN city)
Military (no air force, naval limitations)
Reparations (forced to accept blank cheque, reparations bill $33b)

Question 3

Debating the significance of Versailles

Answer 3

Harsh peace caused German resentment
John Maynard Keynes: ‘the treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe’

Question 4

German political climate 1918-1919

Answer 4

Weimar government moderate liberals
Socialism popular in 1914, but reduced after 1918
Socialists divided into communists, majority socialists, independent socialists

Question 5

What were the German reparations from the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 5

$2b a year
German gov couldn’t afford reparations: payment demands, but can’t increase taxes

Question 6

Great Inflation

Answer 6

1923
Crisis over reparation payment, collapse in economy and currency
Rentenmark introduced (1 = 1 1 trillion marks
Dawes Plan: 5 year loans from America

Question 7

What was the Locarno Treaty (1925) and Young Plan (1929)?

Answer 7

1. Allied war debt settlements
   Germany paid only 32% of debt, UK paid 82% of their debt
2. Reduced reparations from $32b to $29b
   French troops withdrew from Rhineland

Question 8

How did Germany fall back into economic crisis in the late 1920s?

Answer 8

1929 Wall Street Crash - US ask for loans to be repaid immediately
Banking crisis: German-Austrian customs union, French fears led to pressure on Austrian banks, effecting Germany