Treaty of versailles and end of WW1 Flashcards
Main terms of 1918 armistice
- Alsace Lloraine back to France
- Remove any troops from foreign land they still occupied in 14 days
- hand over German navy, artillery, planes etc to allies
who were the ‘big three’
- Georges Clemenceau (PM France)
- David Lloyd-George (PM GB)
- Woodrow Wilson (President USA)
Aims of Clemencau
- Punish Germany
- Cripple Germany so they could never be a threat to France again
- £200 billion reparations payed to France
Aims of Lloyd George
- punish Germany, but not too harshly to avoid future conflict
- wanted German colonies to expand British empire
- wanted Germany to still be able to be a trading partner
- British control of seas (strongest navy)
Aims of Woodrow Wilson
- 14 points
-disarmament so it would be impossible for countries to fight
-self-determination and end of all empires
-League of Nations to be created
Important points of Treaty of Versailles
- £6.6 billion in reparations paid to victors
- army restricted to 100,000 men, no subs, air force, 6 battleships
- article 231- Germany take full blame for WW1
- demilitarisation of Rhineland
- 13% of German land lost
Satisfaction of Lloyd George with Treaty
+ Pleased with British empire gaining extra colonies
+ Pleased with German navy restricted
- Felt reparations too harsh
- Feared another war in future
- lost trade partner
Satisfaction of Clemenceau with Treaty
+ Given control of Saar for 15 years
+ Happy to receive reparations
- Angry Germany allowed to keep an army
- Felt reparations were too small, wanted Germany to be completely crippled
Satisfaction of Wilson with treaty
+ Happy that league of Nations had been created
+ Happy with self-determination in parts of eastern Europe
- Devastated that USA didn’t join League
- Feared harsh treaty would drag USA into another war
What did Lloyd George say about the Treaty of Versailles?
‘We will have to fight another war in 25 years time, and at 3 times the cost!’
Why was treaty unfair
- It was a Diktat
- Germany left too vulnerable
- Germany had to accept full responsibility, despite it not purely being their fault
- Germans signed armistice thinking it would be based on Wilson’s 14 points about justice and equality for all
Defence of peacemakers for Treaty of Versailles
- WW1 the most devastating war the world had ever seen
- It was normal for losers of a war to agree to harsh terms
- Europe was falling apart with Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires falling
What does Diktat mean?
- A forced peace
-Germany had to accept whatever terms they were given
German reactions to Treaty
- Shocked by severity of treaty
- Felt that Diktat was not fair or justified
- Targeted politicians who signed treaty and named them ‘November criminals’
