Treaty of Versailles

• When did the Paris Peace Conference begin?


  January 1919 at the Palace of Versailles, Paris
• What did the PPC aim to do?


  Create 5 peace treaties called the Versailles Settlement.

  - Biggest treaty was Treaty of Versailles for Germany
• Who were the "Big 3"?


  George Clemenceau (PM of France), Woodrow Wilson (President of USA), David Lloyd George (PM of Britain)
• What were Clemenceau's motives?


  - Saw PPC as opportunity to gain territory back

  - Wanted harsh treaty

  - Feared future invasions due to shared borders

  - wanted to limit military strength of Germany

  - wanted compensation of infrastructural damage
• What were Woodrow Wilson's motives?


  - Idealist, wanted lasting peace

  - wanted treaty to embody his 14 points

  - Points included: Self determination, disarmament, no secret treaties and international cooperation especially in trade

  - Wanted to establish new international organisation: League of Nations

  - Wanted to trade with Germany still, so not many large reparations
• What were David Lloyd George's motives?


  - realist and agreed with some aspects of both the USA and France.

  - British public hated Germany and wanted revenge

  - understood some of Clemenceau's personal anger

  - Germany challenged Britain's naval power

  - also challenged Britain's empire

  - Supported Wilson's point in strong Germany which were better for european economies.

  - Wanted germany to still trade with Britain
• Clemenceau's aims for TOV


  -harsh treaty

  - high reparations

  - protection of France's borders

  - Splitting germany into states

  - Germany disbanding armed forces to prevent another invasion

  - return of Alsace-Lorraine to France

  - Give France rich industrial area in Germany (Saar Basin)

  - germany give oversea colonies to France
• Woodrow Wilson's aims


  - soft treaty

  - creation of independent states like Poland that had access to sea

  - return of Alsace Lorraine to France

  - end of Germany's empire and weakening of all empires

  - avoid blaming Germany for start of WW1

  - inclusion of all nations in the LON

  - freedom of the seas, trading ships should have access to any waters without fear of attack
• David Lloyd George's aims


  - retaining strong trading relationship with Germany

  - taking Germany's overseas colonies

  - harsh enough terms to satisfy British desire for revenge

  - germany to keep military strength to prevent communism from russia spreading into europe

  -reduction in germany's navy to reinforce britain's naval supremacy
• Military Terms of the TOV


  42: Rhineland to be demilitarised

  - made Germany vulnerable to an invasion from France

  160: Army to be restricted to 100,000 men

  - Ex-soldiers became unemployed

  181: navy restricted to 6 battleships and no submarines

  - Germany became weaker couldn't develop military technology

  198: Germany not allowed to have an air force

  - Germany became weaker
• Territorial Terms of the TOV


  45: France given Saar Area with coalfields for 15 years

  - Germany lost 15% of coal resources

  51: Alsace-Lorraine part of France again

  - Germany had no buffer between France and themselves

  80: Anschluss was forbidden (union between Germany and Austria)

  - Austria part of Germany's cultural identy

  87: Germany lost Posen and West Prussia allowed allies to create Polish Corridor and gave Poland access to sea

  - divided Germany into 2, around 1 million Germans came under Polish rule

  199: France and Britain ruled all 11 of Germany's colonies in Africa and Far East as mandates.

  - Germany's reputation destroyed and fewer items to trade with other countries.
• Political and Economic Terms of the TOV


  1-26: LON created yet Germany not allowed to join

  - Germany felt excluded from world politics, more likely to resort to violence to resolve disputes

  231: War Guilt Clause, Germany had to accept responsibility for deaths and destruction during wartime.

  - most anger among German Population, felt unfair

  232: Germany pay Allies reparations as condition of their surrender. Amount set at 132 billion gold marks (6.6 billion pounds) had until 1980 to pay debt

  - amount enough to bankrupt Germany, especially due to the territorial terms which reduced their ability trade
• Military Compromises of the TOV


  Clemenceau: didn't believe treaty restricted Germany's army enough

  Wilson: Britain's naval supremacy meant Wilson abandoned idea of free navigation of the seas
• Territorial compromises of the TOV


  Clemenceau: Rhineland not given to France, instead it was demilitarised

  Wilson: Forced to allow Britain and France to increase their empires

  Lloyd George: reluctantly agreed to independence of Eastern European nations like Latvia and Bulgaria
• Political and economic compromises of TOV


  Clemenceau: wanted reparation payments higher

  Wilson: Germany not allowed to join LON

  Lloyd George: Worried about reactions of Germans under control of France and Poland
• Why did the Big 3 have to compromise?


  - different aims and motives

  - each leader had different public pressure

  - French wanted to impose severe punishments due to 2/3 of French Army which died

  - USA didn't want revenge on Germany as they didn't suffer as much

  - repayments of loans to Allied countries allowed the US economy to boom.
• The 'Diktat'


  - treaty took force on 10th of January 1920

  - Many Germans argued that Weimar Republic should not have signed TOV

  - believed German politicians committed 'dolchstoss' (stab in the back)

  - politicians who signed TOV known as 'november criminals'

  - many felt humiliated and weaker than rest of Europe

  - German representatives not allowed to attend peace talks

  - had to accept terms of peace otherwise Allies take control of the country
• Which sections angered the German people of the TOV?


  War guilt cause: not fair that they had to take all of blame for WW1.

  Restrictions on armed forces: armed forces were source of pride for German people. Many felt humiliated and vulnerable to attack. whilst rest of europe not forced to disarm

  Reparations: set too high, Germany financially ruined by WW1, from 1922 Germany couldn't pay reparations bill

  Territorial losses: placed citizens under rule of other countries, felt that Allies had taken away their cultural identity
• Occupation of the Ruhr


  - Dec 1922

  - France accused Germany of not sending amount of coal required by TOV

  - French and Belgian troops entered Ruhr in Jan 1923, soldiers seized coal, manufactured products and machinery

  - workers went on strike and sabotaged machinery

  - french brought their own workers into Ruhr

  - occupation destroyed economy as Weimar government insisted paying wages to striking workers, began importing coal from other countries and faced shortages in everyday products
• Hyperinflation


  -1923

  - decided to print more money to pay for striking Ruhr workers and purchase coal

  - 1923: 300 paper mills and 2000 printers solely to print currency, caused hyperinflation crisis

  - Nov 1923, German currency (the mark) became worthless

  - workers had to receive pay twice a day to purchase essential goods before wages became worthless

  - people filled wheelbarrows full of money to buy loaf of bread
• Causes and consequences of hyperinflation:


  causes:

  - TOV

  - invasion and occupation of Ruhr

  - printing more money

  consequences:

  - unemployment

  - loss of savings and pensions

  - debts from loans decreased

  - increased support in extremist parties
• Rise of Extremism: The Munich Putsch


  - Nov 1923: Hitler decided Nazi Party was ready to take control of Germany

  - putsch relied upon support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow (key officials in Bavaria)

  - yet it failed in the end and Hitler was arrested for high treason
• Causes of the Munich Putsch


  Long term:

  - people angry with the Weimar government, TOV was 'dolchstoss' for many

  - From 1929s, NSDAP (National Socialist German Worker Party) growing in popularity

  Mid term:

  - Mussolini, inspired Hitler through his successful 'March on Rome' in 1922

  Short term:

  - French invasion of Ruhr caused shortages

  - hyperinflation crisis reached worse state towards end of 1923
• Causes and Consequences on Munich Putsch


  Causes:

  - Mussolini's 'March on Rome'

  - hatred of the TOV

  - hyperinflation crisis

  Consequences:

  - Hitler arrested, wrote Mein Kampf

  - Nazi Party banned

  - Hitler gains national attention for his beliefs

  - desire to make nazi party electable
• What were the 4 other treaties which created the Versailles Settlement?


  - Treaty of St Germain: Austria

  - Treaty of Neuilly: Bulgaria

  - Treaty of Trianon: Hungary

  - Treaty of Sevre: Ottoman
• Treaty of St Germain


  - Sep 1919

  - Austria

  Terms:

  - End of Austro-Hungarian empire

  - loss of land

  - Anschluss forbidden

  - army limited to 30,000 troops

  - reparations

  - accept blame

  - recognition of LON

  Impacts:

  - land given to Czechoslovakia housed most of Austria's industry

  - experienced financial crisis in 1921

  - never paid reparations

  - Small states created old Austro-Hungarian empire caused conflict and instability in Eastern and Central Europe
• Treaty of Neuilly


  - November 1919

  - Bulgaria

  Terms:

  - Loss of land

  - recognise existence of kingdom of Serbs, croats and slovenes

  - limited to 20,000 troops

  - reparations set at 100 million pounds

  -accept blame

  - recognition of LON

  Impacts:

  - loss access to Aegean Sea

  - Allies cancelled 75% of Bulgaria's reparation bill

  - continued unrest in Balkans
• Treaty of Trianon


  - June 1920

  - Hungary

  Terms:

  - Ending of Austro-Hungarian empire

  - Loss 2/3 of it's land, 1/3 of population

  - army limited to 35,000 troops

  - Reparations

  - accept blame for starting WW1

  - recognition of LON

  Impacts:

  - collapse of its economy, resulted in not paying reparations

  - treaty forced many ethnic Hungarians (Magyars) out of Hungary

  - Conflict within Hungary during 1920s
• Treaty of Sevres


  - August 1920

  - Ottoman empire or Turkey

  Terms:

  - Ended Ottoman empire

  - Britain and France to take control of land in Middle East

  - Loss of control over the Dardanelles Strait (important waterway)

  - Turkey limited to 50,000 troops

  - control of Turkey's tax system and budget

  - Reparations

  - accept blame for WW1

  - recognition of LON

  Impacts:

  - people of Turkey threatened to overthrow government

  - negotiated new treaty in 1923 (Treaty of Lausanne)

  - New treaty gave Turkey: land back in Europe

  - control of Dardanelles Straight

  - no reparations or restrictions of army
• Why the Treaty can be justified:


  - Some journalists in Britain insisted that Germany could afford reparations

  - French claimed that Germany's diktat on Russia in 1917 (Treaty of Brest Litovsk) was much harsher than TOV

  - Marshal Foch stated treaty did not protect France from invasion

  - Some politicians in US believed treaty was best solution given the political context in 1919

  - Some in Britain and France thought treaty was too lenient
• Why the TOV cannot be justified?


  - Austria and Hungary's reparations cancelled due to economic crashes yet Allies reduced instead of stop reparations when it came to Germany's economy collapsing

  - Treaty of Lausanne undermined TOV

  - Some believed Treaty's terms would cause Germany to start another war

  - Allies had different motives and aims, more interested in achieving own aims then creating fair treaty

  - forcing Germans to live under foreign rule and exclusion from LON isolated Germany. This increased support for extremist groups in Germany