conflict and tension

• Germany signed an Armistice to end World War One


  November 1918
• Terms of the Armistice

  • Withdrawal of troops from France, Belgium and Luxembourg
  • Handing over of Alsace-Lorraine
  • Demilitarization of the Rhineland
  • Handing over of military arsenal
  • Payment of reparations
• The Armistice terms were very contentious, with the leader of the German delegation who signed it being murdered in 1921 by right-wing groups
• The Paris Peace Conference took place, with over 30 countries participating


  January 1919
• The Big Three


  France's Clemenceau, USA's Wilson, Britain's Lloyd George
• Clemenceau's (France) aims


  • Punish Germany for deaths, infrastructure damage and effects on French land
  • Demand maximum reparations to rebuild France
  • Break up Germany economically
  • Push German borders back to the Rhine to protect France
• Lloyd George's (Britain) aims

  • Cautious about punishing Germany too harshly to prevent the spread of communism and allow for growth in international trade
  • Wanted Germany's colonies confiscated and British naval supremacy
• Wilson's (USA) aims


  • Wanted a fair peace so Germany wouldn't seek revenge
  • Proposed the 14 Points including freedom of the seas, self-determination, and the creation of the League of Nations
  • Faced criticism from Americans who wanted isolationism
• The Treaty of Versailles was the main product of the Paris Peace Conference, dealing specifically with Germany
• Military terms of the Treaty of Versailles


  • Germany forced to demilitarize the Rhineland
  • German Army restricted to 100,000 volunteers, no conscription
  • Germany prohibited from having tanks, submarines, or aircraft
  • German Navy restricted to 15,000 men and 1,500 officers
• Economic terms of the Treaty of Versailles

  • Germany required to pay reparations of 6.6 billion pounds
  • Saar coal fields handed over to the League of Nations for 15 years
  • Germany lost 10% of its land, 1/8 of its population, and 48% of its iron industry
• War Guilt Clause


  Article 231 stating that Germany and its allies were to accept responsibility for World War One
• Territorial terms of the Treaty of Versailles


  • German colonies became mandates under League of Nations control
  • Germany split in two by the Polish Corridor with Danzig becoming a free city
  • Memel given to Lithuania, Posen and West Prussia given to Poland, Alsace-Lorraine given to France, Northern Schleswig given to Denmark
• Reactions to the Treaty of Versailles were mixed
• French reaction


  • Clemenceau unhappy that Alsace-Lorraine and Rhineland were not fully annexed, but public somewhat unsatisfied
  • French right saw treaty as too lenient, French left saw it as too harsh
• British reaction


  • Lloyd George happy with British naval supremacy and gaining more colonies, but privately said treaty would start another war in 25 years
  • British public praised Lloyd George as a hero, but some like Keynes and Nicholson criticized the treaty as too harsh
• American reaction


  • Wilson moderately unhappy, felt 14 Points were ignored
  • American public saw treaty as harsh and unfair
  • U.S. Senate refused to ratify the treaty, preventing U.S. from joining the League of Nations
• Americans felt very negatively towards the Treaty of Versailles, calling it harsh and unfair
• Partisan political divisions and isolationist concerns about Article 10 potentially forcing the U.S. to protect other countries meant that the U.S. Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles
• The U.S. could not join the League of Nations because the Senate did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles
• The U.S. not being part of the League of Nations undermined the League and made it much weaker
• Woodrow Wilson's goal of self-determination was not fully satisfied as the Treaty of Versailles was negotiated with France and Britain, which were massive global empires
• Austria-Hungary


  • A truly multi-ethnic empire with many different ethnic groups wanting self-determination
• The Treaty of Sèvres was signed

  10th of August 1920
• The Treaty of Sèvres was very harsh on the Ottoman Empire, giving away significant territory to Greece, Italy, Britain, and France
• The Locarno Treaties in 1925 aimed to improve diplomatic relations between Western European countries, leading to Germany joining the League of Nations in 1926
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 was an unenforceable agreement between 62 countries to avoid using war to solve disputes
• The Young Plan in 1929 revised the Dawes Plan, reducing Germany's reparations to 2 billion pounds and encouraging the withdrawal of Allied troops from Germany
• The U.S. even took part as well as the Soviet Union following the Litvinoff Protocol of 1929
• The Litvinoff Protocol was realistically unenforceable
• The Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1929 was a failure
• The Young Plan of 1929 reduced Germany's reparations to 2 billion pounds, a 20% reduction
• The Young Plan encouraged the Allies to stop intervention in the German economy
• The Young Plan was doomed by the 1929 Wall Street Crash
• The League of Nations set up a disarmament conference in 1926 but Britain and France refused to cooperate
• The World Disarmament Conference held in 1932 was a failure
• League of Nations


  An organization for international cooperation based in Geneva, established in January 1920 by the Treaty of Versailles
• Aims of the League of Nations

  • Disarmament
  • Improving global welfare
  • Preventing war through collective security
  • Settling disputes between countries through negotiation or diplomacy
• Main bodies of the League of Nations

  • Council
  • Assembly
  • Secretariat
  • Permanent Court of International Justice
  • International Labour Organization
• Council


  • The main part of the League, made up of permanent members (France, Italy, Britain, Japan) and temporary members, meeting 5 times a year and during emergencies