International relations in 1919: Was the Treaty of Versailles fair? Flashcards
(19 cards)
What was the Paris Peace Conference? (5)
- a conference held from January 1919 to January 1920 to decide the punishments of the defeated countries after the end of WW1
- 32 representative countries excluding defeated countries invited
- 5 treaties drawn up, including the Treaty of Versailles for Germany, and the rest were for Germany’s allies
- important decisions were made by Woodrow Wilson (US), David Lloyd George (Britain), and Georges Clemenceau (France)
- Big Three often ignored advice of diplomats and expert advisers
What were Wilson’s Fourteen Points? (5)
- speech outlining guidelines for a just and lasting peace treaty to end conflict
- included: democracy in defeated countries to reduce the risk of war
- all countries work for disarmament
- self-determination for people of Eastern Europe
- League of Nations be set up
What did Lloyd George want from the PPC? (4)
- moderate peace
- not too harsh punishment for Germany, didn’t want Germany to want revenge, wanted them to remain stable/recover as a trading partner
- wanted Germany to lose its navy and colonies as they threatened the British Empire
- was facing huge public pressure in Britain, due to over 1 million casualties and food shortages
What did Clemenceau want from the PPC? (4)
- severe punishment due to enormous damages to land, industry, people, and self-confidence
- over 2/3 of men who had served in the army were killed or wounded
- heavy reparations to France
- was facing huge public pressure from French people
What did Wilson want from the PPC? (6)
- no harsh punishment, didn’t want Communism in Germany
- treaty following his 14 points
- democracy in defeated countries to reduce the risk of war
- all countries work for disarmament
- self-determination for people of Eastern Europe
- League of Nations be set up
What disagreements were at the PPC? (3)
- self-determination: C + LG wanted to protect empires/take over Germany’s colonies
- level of punishment for Germany
- LG didn’t want free trade/access to the seas for all nations, reduced Britain’s dominance over international trade
How far did Lloyd George achieve his aims at the PPC? (2A 1DA)
Achieved:
- Germany remained united
- Britain kept control of its empire and continued to dominate world trade
Didn’t achieve:
- Germany had to pay reparations of 132 billion marks, or £6.6 billion
How far did Clemenceau achieve his aims at the PPC? (4A 2DA)
Achieved:
- Germany lost 10% of its territory
- German army was limited to 100,000 men
- Rhineland (French-German border) was demilitarised
- harsh reparations for Germany
Didn’t achieve:
- Rhineland didn’t become independent
- Germany wasn’t broken up into small states
How far did Wilson achieve his aims at the PPC? (2A 3DA)
Achieved:
- League of Nations was set up
- new Eastern European countries were given self-determination, e.g. Czechoslovakia, Lithuania, and Poland
Didn’t achieve:
- self-determination wasn’t applied everywhere
- Britain/France still had colonies
- there was no freedom to navigate the seas or free trade
What were the 4 different areas of the Treaty of Versailles’ terms?
Economic, territorial, political, and military
What were the economic terms of the ToV, and the Germans’ reactions? (3)
- Article 231 forced Germany to sign the War Guilt Clause, and accept responsibility for the war and pay high reparations
- made Germans unhappy, they thought the blame should be shared
- said they were ‘signing a blank cheque’ because the reparations sum was unspecified
- coal from Saarland was given to France for 15 years
- a blow to German pride
- reparations of 132 billion marks, or £6.6 billion
- Germans thought reparations would cause economic problems, their economy was already weakened
- led to Ruhr invasion, strikes, and hyperinflation
What were the territorial terms of the ToV, and the Germans’ reactions? (6)
- Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France
- Danzig became a free port city run by the League
- Saarland would be run by the League for 15 years, then a plebiscite would be held
- heavily affected the economy because it was a key industrial area
- West Prussia was given to Poland for sea access
- left Germans in foreign countries, under foreign governments
-Germany was forbidden from joining together (Anschluss) with Austria, its former ally
- lost all of its overseas colonies
- France and Britain were taking control of German territories in Africa
What were the political terms of the ToV, and the Germans’ reactions? (1)
- League of Nations set up as an international ‘police force’, Germany wasn’t allowed to join until they proved they were a peace-loving country
- Germans felt that if they could have joined, they could have persuaded the Allies to alter the terms
What were the military terms of the ToV, and the Germans’ reactions? (4)
- army limited to 100,000 men, 6 battleships, and 15,000 sailors in the navy
- no submarines, aircraft, or armoured vehicles
- led to German loss of pride, felt they couldn’t defend against attacks
- banned conscription, soldiers had to be volunteers
- Rhineland became a demilitarised zone
Was the Treaty fair or unfair? (5F 7UF)
Fair:
- Germany forced Russia to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1917, which was a much harsher treaty
- the people of Britain and France had suffered from the war; they deserved compensation
- the army was able to rebuild as their leaders weren’t removed
- reparations were common at the time; Germany made France pay 5 billion Gold Francs after losing the Franco-Prussian War in 1871
- new Turkish government refused to accept the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres
Unfair:
- self-determination promised by Wilson was not given
- European powers all played a part in causing the war
- German rulers caused war, but the treaty punished ordinary citizens
- reduced army left Germany vulnerable to attack
- reparations/lack of industrial area led to huge economic problems
- Germany was not allowed to send a representative to the Paris Peace Conference
- Weimar Government was forced to sign the Treaty, made them seem weak
What were the 4 other treaties, and with whom were they signed?
Treaty of Trianon: signed with Hungary
Treaty of St. Germain: signed with Austria
Treaty of Neuilly: signed with Bulgaria
Treaty of Sèvres: signed with Turkey
What were the terms of the Treaty of Trianon? (4)
- signed with Hungary
- 2/3 of the land lost to Romania/Yugoslavia
- went bankrupt before the reparations figure was agreed on
- army was reduced to 35,000 men, lost 40% of population
What were the terms of the Treaty of St. Germain? (5)
- signed with Austria
- alliances were forbidden, army reduced to 30,000
- had to sign war guilt clause
- lost land to Czech, Poland, Italy
- went bankrupt before the reparations figure was agreed on
What were the terms of the Treaty of Sèvres?
- signed with Turkey
- European lands given to Greece, straits linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean run by an international commission
- colonies divided into French/British mandates
- there was a nationalist uprising, and the new government refused to accept the terms of the treaty
