Appeasement And Road To War #2: The Treaty Of Versailles

Question 1

What were the aims of France at Versailles?

Answer 1

• Clemenceau wanted revenge and punishment for the Germans
• He wanted to make them pay
• He also wanted to weaken the Germany army to prevent yet another attack on France

Question 2

What were the aims of the USA at Versailles?

Answer 2

• Make the world safe
• He wanted to end war by making a fair peace
• disarmament and a League of Nations (countries could discuss problems without war)
• self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe

Question 3

What were the aims of Britain at Versailles?

Answer 3

• Lloyd George said he would ’make Germany pay’ - only because he knew that’s what the Brits wanted to hear
• He actually wanted justice, not revenge.
• He said the peace must not be harsh
• He wanted to expand the British Empire and maintain British control of the seas

Question 4

Who represented France at Versailles?

Answer 4

George Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France

Question 5

Who represented the USA at Versailles?

Answer 5

Woodrow Wilson, President of the USA

Question 6

Who represented Britain at Versailles?

Answer 6

David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain

Question 7

Disarmament

Answer 7

The process of limiting or removing of military forces and/or weapons

Question 8

Self-determination

Answer 8

The idea that nations should real themselves rather than be ruled by others

Question 9

How many states attended Versailles?

Answer 9

32, about 75% of the world’s population

Question 10

How long did the meetings in Versailles, Paris go on for?

Answer 10

Just over a year, from the 18th January 1919 until the 20th January 1920

Question 11

Who were the 5 major powers (responsible for defeating the central powers in WW1) that dominated the negotiations at Versailles?

Answer 11

USA, Britain, France, Italy, Japan

Question 12

When did the big three reach an agreement? When was it signed?

Answer 12

28th June 1919

Question 13

How did Germany feel about the ToV?

Answer 13

• They were not allowed to go to the peace talks
• They called it a Dikat
• They were devastated by the way they had been treated

Question 14

Diktat

Answer 14

Dictated Peace, Germans called the ToV this

Question 15

What were the overall aims of the treaty?

Answer 15

• Punish them
• Prevent them from attacking France again by weakening them
• Give the winning countries compensation to rebuild

Question 16

Why and how did Germany sign the treaty?

Answer 16

• They were told that the Allies would resume the war if they refused to sign
• Germany then sent a telegraph confirming that a number of German Politicians would arrive shortly to sign the treaty

Question 17

Territorial terms of the ToV?

Answer 17

• Germany to lose 10% of its land, including Alsace Lorraine, to France
• Germany was to split because the Polish Corridor was created, allowing Poland access to the sea
• Rhineland to be demilitarised
• All colonies (overseas lands she controlled) lost
• Anschluss forbidden

Question 18

Military terms of the ToV?

Answer 18

• Army 100,000 men
• No tanks
• No submarines
• 6 warships
• Anschluss forbidden
• Rhineland demilitarised

Question 19

Anschluss

Answer 19

Union of Germany and Austria

Question 20

Financial terms of ToV?

Answer 20

• Reparations of £6.6 billion (132 million marks)
• Coal and Iron works in the Saar region under LoN control for 15 years

Question 21

Guilt terms of ToV?

Answer 21

• Germany forced to sign Article 231 (war guilt clause) which said Germany were alone guilty for WW1

Question 22

French reaction to ToV?

Answer 22

• They fully supported it as they felt threatened by an aggressive Germany on the border
• This led to disagreement between Britain and France
• Many French looked at the terrible cost of the war and believed France had suffered far more than Germany

Question 23

German reaction the the ToV?

Answer 23

• They complained every aspect was far too harsh
• Labelled treaty as a diktat

Question 24

Hitler’s reaction to the ToV?

Answer 24

• He used it to his advantage to get more support and claimed he would scrap it when he came to power

Question 25

British reaction to ToV?

Answer 25

• Initially, they felt it was fair
• This quickly changed as they began to view it as being too harsh
• This was one reason why no action was taken against Hitler in the 1930’s
• British people said to have ”Versailles Guilt”

Question 26

What happened to Germany after the treaty was signed?

Answer 26

• Attacks from right (March 1920)
• Occupation of the Ruhr (Jan 1923)
• Hyperinflation (1923)
• Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch (1923)