Conflict and Tension: Peacekeeping

Question 1

When and by whom was the armistice signed?

Answer 1

• november 11th 1918
• signed by Matthias Erzberger on the behalf of the new German government.

Question 2

Where was the armistice signed?

Answer 2

in Compiegne

Question 3

Was the armistice signed before or after the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 3

before

Question 4

What was the armistice?

Answer 4

• an agreement to stop fighting and end the war

Question 5

Was Germany involved in the discussions of the Armistice?

Answer 5

• no
• french general Foch did not negotiate with Erzberger, but just told him what he had to agree to
• new German government were desperate to end the war and they told Erzberger to sign whatever was put to him
• they hoped a formal peace treaty would be negotiated later on the basis of President Wilson’s 14 points.`

Question 6

what did Germany have to agree to in order to end the war?

Answer 6

• remove their troops from any foreign land they still occupied (in France including Alsace-Lorraine, Belgium and Luxembourg) as well as from Austria and Turkey within 14 days
• give back Alsace-Lorraine to France, which had been a part of Germany since Germany took them from France in 1871.
• hand over German navy to the allies as well as German artillery, aeroplanes, thousands of trains and trucks so that Germany was no longer a military threat
• release all allied prisoners held by Germany but German prisoners would not be released immediately by the Allies
• to give back all land gained during fighting
• allow allies to send troops into Germany to occupy the Rhineland
• give up all payments agreed by Russia when she admitted defeat
• accept that britain would maintain a naval blockade preventing food and other supplies from entering Germany
• accept that Germany would be blamed for the war and reparations would be paid for all damage caused.

Question 7

what were the British, French and American reactions to the Armistice?

Answer 7

• celebrated the end of fighting

Question 8

what was Germany’s reaction to the Armistice?

Answer 8

• Germany was divided
• faced civil war
• many Germans were shocked and angered at how the war had ended in November, when victory had seemed so close in the Spring of 1918. many soldiers believed the armistice was only temporary and that fighting would begin soon/.

Question 9

who were the peacemakers?

Answer 9

• the Big Three
• Georges Clemenceau: prime minister of France
• Woodrow Wilson : president of the USA
• David Lloyd George - prime minister of Britain

Question 10

what were the impacts on france during world war one?

Answer 10

• part of north-eastern france had been occupied by German troops for four years, the war had left significant damage to agriculture and industry in that area
• one in eight French soldiers had been killed and over half were wounded
• Germany had invaded France in 1871 and again now in 1914.

Question 11

what were the aims of Georges Clemenceau?

Answer 11

• revenge and to punish the Germans for what they had done to France and its people
• he wanted to make Germany pay for the damage done during the war
• weaken Germany militarily so France would never be invaded again
• German weakness to be the factor that guaranteed peace
• the return of Alsace-Lorraine
• he wanted the Rhineland to be made into an independent country to create a buffer between Germany and France and keep France safe
• he was worried about the threat of Communism in the east.

Question 12

what did Georges Clemenceau get through the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 12

• Germany was punished harshly enough that the Germanys felt it was unfair, but not as harshly as Clemenceau might have wanted
• harsh reparations of £6.6 billion were granted but the amount was not as much as Clemenceau might have wanted - they did not cover the cost of the war
• France was given the Saar coalfields for 15 years, but Clemenceau had wanted them permanently
• army wasn’t disbanded entirely but was reduced to 100,000 men
• 6 battleships
• banned airforce, submarine and conscription
• League of Nations created as the guarantor of peace
• Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
• Rhineland demilitarised- but still a part of Germany
• Germany left strong enough to avoid Communist revolution spreading from Russia to Germany.

Question 13

How did the French react to the treaty?

Answer 13

• furious that the treaty was too lenient and that Germany should have been made to suffer like France had suffered during the war
• were a few positive reactions - Saar coalfields for 15 years
• most people felt like Clemenceau had not done enough and he was voted out of office in the next election.

Question 14

what were the impacts on Britain during World War One?

Answer 14

• had not been invaded and occupied like France
• had lost many men
• spent massive amounts of money on the war

Question 15

why was Lloyd George in a difficult position?

Answer 15

• wanted to please British voters who wanted to punish Germany - “Hang the Kaiser”, “Make Germany Pay”, “Squeeze Germany like a lemon until the pips squeak”
• his views of how to achieve a just and lasting peace

Question 16

what were the aims of Lloyd George?

Answer 16

• wanted Germany punished but not so harshly that it would start another war
• wanted Germany to be able to be a strong trading partner for Britain.
• wanted Britain to receive indemnities
• wanted to expand the British empire
• wanted to maintain British control of the Seas
• worried about the threat of Eastern Communism and wanted to keep Germany strong enough to resist communism
• Justice

Question 17

what did Lloyd George get through the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 17

• Germany wasn’t punished as harshly as France wanted, but harshly enough to encourage support for the Nazis and in turn to WW2
• Germany had been crippled by the reparations, but couldn’t afford to pay them by 1923, never mind develop trade
• Indemnities were received to pay for the pensions of british war veterans
• Britain benefitted from the German colonies in Africa and from LofN mandates over the Turkish colonies in the Middle East
• german navy was handed over to Britain, but was scuttled at Scapa Flow
• Germany was left strong enough to avoid Communist revolution spreading from Russia
• there was a sense of injustice about the treaty in Germany, and even from the viewpoint of some in Britain.

Question 18

how did the British react to the Treaty?

Answer 18

• thought it was fair but could have been harsher
• Lloyd George was hailed as a hero and they thought that Britain would never be threatened by Germany again
• as the years went on the British public thought it had been too harsh

Question 19

what were the impacts on the USA during world war one?

Answer 19

• joined the war in 1917
• lost relatively few soldiers when compared to Britain and France

Question 20

why was Woodrow Wilson in a hard position?

Answer 20

• he had to please American voters who did not want America to get dragged into European wars in the future - isolationism

Question 21

what were the aims of Woodrow Wilson?

Answer 21

• mainly principles from the 14 points
• disarmament so it would be impossible for countries to fight
• national self-determination and end of empires to avoid problems which triggered war in 1914 when Serbs wanted Bosnia to be free of Austrian control
• creation of a league to avoid future wars by negotiation and collective security.
• a peace without victors - one where Germany were not punished harshly so there would be no justification for them wanting “revenge” of some kind
• wanted peace and the peace process to be based on his 14 points

Question 22

what did Woodrow Wilson achieve through the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 22

• Germany made to disarm, but not the victorious allies
• new eastern-european nations were given self-determination from the defeated powers but the overseas colonies of the defeated powers were not- but put under the supervision of the victorious powers
• britain and france made their empires larger rather than smaller
• League of Nations was created but USA itself did not join and it failed in the long term.
• Germany was left feeling harshly punished
• war was ended, but his 14 points were not fully implemented and peace was not achieved in the long term.
• the USA ended up getting dragged into WW2

Question 23

how did the American public react to the Treaty?

Answer 23

• felt it was too harsh
• opinion turned to isolationism
• Senate refused to approve the Treaty
• USA failed to join the League of Nations

Question 24

what were some of Wilson’s 14 points?

Answer 24

• no secret treaties
• reduction in arms
• countries cannot claim colonies without consulting each other and locals
• self-determination for countries which were a part of the Austro-Hungarian empire
• independence for Belgium
• France to regain Alsace-Lorraine
• Poland to be independent and have access to the seas
• League of Nations to be set up and settle disputes between countries

Question 25

what did Britain and France think of the 14 points?

Answer 25

• did not agree
• impractical
• would be v.difficult to give peoples of eastern europe the chance to rule themselves as they were scattered across many countries

Question 26

name the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Answer 26

• Anschluss (union) between
  Germany and Austria was forbidden
  
  • Danzig was taken from Germany and made a free city under League of Nations control
  • The Saar was an important industrial part of Germany ; there were many coal mines in this area ; it was put under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years.
  • The League of Nations was formed, but Germany (punishment) , Russia (communism) and Austria-Hungary (allies of Germany) was not allowed to join.
  • Article 232: Germany was blamed for the war and had to pay reparations to the winners; in 1921, the figure was agreed at £6.6 billion ; it was estimated this would take until 1998 to pay back
  • Article 231: War guilt clause: Germany and their allies had to take full responsibility for starting the war ; this was the term which Germany hated the most.
  • Germany was not allowed tanks, submarines or an air force
  • The German Navy was limited to 15,000 men , 1500 officers and only 6 battleships ; the size and number of other ships were also limited.
  • The German army was limited to 100,000 men, and conscription was not allowed.
  • Germany lost 12% of its land and 10% of its population, including: Alsace Lorraine, which was returned to France ; Eupen and Malmedy, given to Belgium ; and North Schleswig, which was given to Denmark ; East Prussia, to Poland
  • Germany was split in two by the Polish Corridor, a strip of land that was given to Poland to allow them to have access to the sea.
    Germany’s colonies in Africa were given as mandates to the League of Nations, which meant that Britain & France controlled them.

Question 27

why did Germany hate the terms of the armed forces?

Answer 27

• make Germany weak and left it open to constant threat and invasion
• a source of national pride - humiliating

Question 28

why did Germany hate the terms of the demilitarised Rhineland?

Answer 28

• Germany left vulnerable to attack from traditional enemy France
• France invaded easily in 1923

Question 29

why did Germany hate the terms of the lost land?

Answer 29

• colonies were a source of trade and income
• lost land also contained resources like coal in the Saar and many German speaking people.

Question 30

why did the Germans hate Article 231?

Answer 30

• they had hoped to be treated as an equal under the 14 points
• the exact opposite of what they thought would happen

Question 31

why did the Germans hate the reparations?

Answer 31

• economically crippled them
• kept them weak throughout the 1920s
• led to the invasion of the Ruhr in 1923 and caused humiliation

Question 32

what was the impact of the Treaty on Germany?

Answer 32

• initially the government would not sign it
• became clear that Germany was not going to win and Ebert, the leader of Germany signed the Treaty on the 28th June 1919
• final bill of reparations announced in 1921 - seen as unfair as the economy of Germany was not strong enough after the war to sustain such levels of reparations
• French and Belgian soldiers entered the demilitarised Rhineland and occupied the industrial Ruhr region to take what was owed to them in the form of goods and raw materials
• German government ordered workers to go on strike to prevent Belgian and France from taking anything
• French killed 100 workers and expelled 100,000 protestants from the region
• strike meant that Germany no longer had enough goods to trade in order to make money
• government tried to solve this problem by printing more money
• hyperinflation and political instability
• Nazi attempts to seize power in Bavaria later that year

Question 33

What were the new countries formed as a result of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919?

Answer 33

• Czechoslovakia
• Yugoslavia
  -Poland

Question 34

What was the treaty given to Austria?

Answer 34

the Treaty of St Germain
- land given to Italy, Romania and the new states of Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
- Austria told to pay reparations - amount never fixed
- army limited to 30,000, no conscription and no navy
- forbidden anschluss with Germany

Question 35

What was the treaty given to Bulgaria?

Answer 35

the Treaty of Neuilly
- land was given to Yugoslavia, Greece and Romania
- Bulgaria gained some land from Turkey
- reparations of £100 million
- army limited to 20,000 , no conscription and no air force
- navy restricted to 4 torpedo boats

Question 36

What was the treaty given to Hungary?

Answer 36

the Treaty of Trianon
- land given to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Austria
- Hungary was to pay reparations but economy collapsed
- army limited to 35,000
- no conscription
- navy to 3 patrol boats

Question 37

What was the treaty given to Turkey?

Answer 37

the Treaty of Sevres
- turkish empire split up
- allies took control of the turkish finances
- turkey lost all land in europe to greece except a small area around the capital
- limited army to 50,000
- navy limited to 7 sailing boats and 6 torpedo boats
- allies could keep troops in turkey

Question 38

What was the new treaty given to Turkey?

Answer 38

The treaty of Lausanne
- turkish people were angry about sevres
- overthrew their government
- new government threatened to go to war with the allies
- britain didn’t want to go to warso agreed to a new treaty
- turkey regained control of Dardanelles and Bosphorus
- limits on armed forces lifted
- some land greece had taken was given back to turkey
- allies withdrew troops from turkey

Question 39

Why is the Treaty of Versailles unfair?

Answer 39

• the causes of the war, such as the arms race (where countries compete to have the biggest armed forces) were complicated and were not just Germany’s fault. yet the Germans were made to take all of the blame.
  -The Germans signed the treaty will be based on Wilson’s 14 points - but it was not and they were not allowed to negotiate. They might not have signed the armistice if they had known what the treaty would it be like, and that, it would be a diktat.
  -6 million Germans app, living in the new often hostile country gave Germany excuse to reclaim the land it had lost.
• The new countries created by the Paris Peace settlement, often grouped together people who did not want to share a country which caused unrest Czechoslovakia split in two in 1993, and Yugoslavia eventually collapse into civil war in 1991.
  -The treaty of Sevres was so harsh it was the revolt and was overturned. This showed that the treaties could not be enforced.
  At this time, the settlement was signed many people, including Wilson, Lloyd George thought it was too harsh and would lead to another war.

Question 40

Why is the Treaty of Versailles fair?

Answer 40

• The Austrian and Turkish empires were broken up by demands for independence, which meant the allies accepted to weaken their enemies. This meant that the agreement had to be made quickly to prevent instability. Given the pressure they were under the treaty was not a bad job.
  -Germany had already agreed to several of the terms of the treaty at the armistice, including the payment of reparations.
• Germany only paid a fraction of the reparations it owed- and was able to rebuild its military and economy enough to start another war within 20 years. The problem wasn’t the treaty, but that it wasn’t enforced.
  -The Paris peace talks came at the end of a war that caused huge amount of death and devastation, especially to France. Expecting Germany to pay for the damage was not unfair.
  -it was normal for the losing side to be treated harshly. When Russia had pulled out of the war, Germany had made them sign the treaty of Brest-Litovsk , which took away more than a quarter of the people and agricultural land. Many people think that this shows that if Germany had war, they would have treated the allies just as harshly.

Question 41

Did the views on Versailles change over time?

Answer 41

In 1919, the treaties signed at the Paris conference were fairly popular outside Germany. Many felt that Germany deserve to be punished. I needed to be prevented from attacking its neighbours again however throughout the 1930s change and after the Second World War, the peacemakers were heavily criticised and blamed for the conditions are led to war breaking out again. This is an example of how interpretations of events and change over time, especially when the consequences of the company being able to recognise, what is the meaning might have come to a particular viewpoint is a key historical skill.