SUMMARY OF THE PEACE SETTLEMENTS,

1919-23

The Main Issues

Problems

Revolutionary condition of Europe

Russian civil war

Diverging Allied aims

Competing nationalism

Problems contd.

Desire for revenge

Hunger, disease and economic chaos

Allied lack of military strength as a result of demobilization.

Principles

Independence for subject nations.

International rule of law through the League of Nations.

Disarmament and reparation from defeated powers.

Principles contd.

Determination to prove German war guilt.

Selective application of the 14 points.

All the major decisions made by the Big 4, who became the Big 3.

The Versailles Settlement, June 1919

There are five treaties that make up the Paris peace settlements.

The most well known is the Treaty of Versailles, which dealt specifically with Germany.

The four others are St Germain, Trianon, Neuilly and Sevres/Lausanne.

Apart from the clauses that dealt with specific issues, each of the treaties incorporated the Covenant of the League of Nations. (Pg 26)

Territorial changes

Independent Poland Plebiscites in Upper Silesia, Schleswig

and West Prussia Alsace-Lorraine to France Saar administered by League of Nations Germany loses colonies and foreign

investments.

Reparations

Reparation Commission fixes amount of 132 million gold marks in May 1921

Prolonged struggle to force Germany to pay, 1921-3

France occupies the Ruhr in Jan 1923 Dawes Commision Jan 1924 (Pg 39)

Disarmament

Abolition of conscription Regular German army of 100,000 Very small fleet Allied Control Commisions in Germany

until 1927 Rhineland occupied for 15 years

The Germans and Treaty

They felt ‘pain and anger’. They were particularly angered by the War

guilt clause – Clause 231 (pg 26) The Germans could not accept what was seen as

a Diktat (pg 27) Turn to pgs 30/31 ‘German reactions to the

Terms of the Treaty 1) Identify the general German reaction to

the Treaty, through analysis of sources B and C?

2) What evidence supports or refutes their attitudes?

Allied verdicts on the Treaty

Clemenceau; liked the harsh things in the treaty:

Reparations would repair the damage to France.

The tiny German army, and the demilitarised zone in the Rhineland would protect France.

France got Alsace-Lorraine, and German colonies.

He wanted the Treaty to be harsher!!!!

Allied verdicts contd.

Wilson; He got self-determination for the peoples of

Eastern Europe, and a League of Nations, but he hated the Treaty:

few of his “Fourteen Points” got into the Treaty.

when Wilson returned to America, the senate refused to join the League of Nations because of its opposition to Article X (pg 29)

they even refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

Allied verdicts contd.

Lloyd George: Many British people wanted to make

“Germany pay”, but Lloyd George hated the treaty.

He only liked the fact that Britain got some German colonies.

The small German Navy, which helped British sea-power.

He thought the Treaty was far too harsh “We shall have to fight another war in 25

years time”

Allies verdicts contd.

John Maynard Keynes, a prominent British economist, wrote a book on the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles. (pg 28)

He called it a Carthaginian peace based on a spirit of revenge.

As a result of his attacks people in GB began to see the Treaty as unfair to Germany.

Including Lloyd George who reflected on this in his Fontainebleau memorandum on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Source Analysis Activity

Turn to pg 30 in your IB book.

Source A has many different comments regarding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Identify the authors and then with reference to the origin and purpose of each of these sources discuss its value and limitations.

The Eastern European, Balkan and Near East peace settlments Four other treaties were made with the four

other countries that had helped Germany. They were written by officials. They just

followed the principles of the Treaty of Versailles.

The Treaties were all named after the parts of Paris in which they were signed.

All four countries had to pay reparations, disarm and they all lost land

The treaties created new nation states in Eastern Europe out of the old A-H Empire

Treaty of St Germain

Dealt with Austria, its Empire was gone and split up.

Czechoslovakia was set up Slovenia, Bosnia and Dalmatia became

Yugoslavia Istria, Trieste and S.Tyrol to Italy Galicia to Poland Austria was not allowed to integrate with

Germany

Treaty of Trianon

This was the harshest of the four small treaties it dealt with Hungary

It left one third of Hungarians outside its borders

Hungary lost 2/3 of its pre-war territory to Austria, Czechoslovakia and Romania.

Hungary was humiliated and insulted…Big 3 did not care

Treaty of Neuilly

This was mild in comparison to the Treaty of Trianon

It dealt with Bulgaria

Bulgaria lost territory to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia

Treaty of Sevres

Dealt with Turkey Turks cede Middle East empire; Greeks

gain Thrace; Straits controlled by the Allies Liberation of the Arab states Mandates of Britain and France Turks rebelled when Asia Minor was carved

up This treaty was revised at Lausanne,

1923: Greeks were expelled, Constantinople was given back to Turkey

Self-determination

The treaties created new nation states;

Czechs and Slovaks in Czecholovakia Hungarians in Hungary Austrians in Austria Poles in Poland Slavs in Yugoslavia It seems Wilson’s ideals of self-

determination was a success….

Problems with self-determination

Self-determination causes small wars; Poland went to war with Russia and took

more land Czechs and Poles fought over the town of

Teschen An army of Italians marched into the

Yugoslavian town of Fiume

Treaty of Riga

This was a lesser known treaty

Russia defeated by Poland, August 1920

Poland’s eastern frontiers fixed by the Treaty of Riga, March 1921

More problems with self-determination

Self-determination was not allowed for Germany

A large number of small, weak countries were created, which Hitler easily conquered later

All the new nation states had racial minorities living in them

Treaty of Rapallo

Signed in 1922 between Germany and the USSR

A consequence of Germany and the Soviets being excluded from the League of Nations

A treaty of mutual assistance that allowed Germany to develop weapons in violation of the Versailles Treaty

Germany’s status as an outlaw encouraged her to evade the restrictions placed on her by any means possible