Were the Peace Treaties of 1919-1923 fair?

a questions

1. What were the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

2. What was the War Guilt clause?

3. What were reparations?

4. What was meant by the following i. mandates ii. plebiscites?

5. What was the Saar Plebiscite?

6. What was the purpose of the demilitarisation of the Rhineland?

7. What were the aims of Georges Clemenceau?

8. What were the aims of Lloyd George?

9. What did Woodrow Wilson want to achieve in the peace settlement?

10. Which terms of the peace settlement directly affected France?

11. Which treaties affected Austria?

12. In what ways did the Treaty of Versailles weaken the German economy?

13. What restrictions on German armaments existed at the end of the 1920s?

14. What were Germanys main territorial losses?

15. Which terms of the peace settlement directly affected France?

16. Describe the French occupation of the Ruhr and the German response?

17. What was the Polish Corridor?

18. What was the Dawes Plan?

19. What was the Young Plan?

20. What were the main terms of the Treaty of St. Germain (1919)?

b questions
1. Why did the French want Germany to be treated severely?

2. Why did the Treaty of Versailles cause problems for Germany in the 1920s?

3. Why did the aims of the Big Three differ?

4. Why did the Big Three fail to achieve their aims?

5. Why did Clemenceau demand that a harsh treaty be imposed on Germany?

6. Why did the victors want to punish Germany severely?

7. Why did Germany dislike/hate/resent the Treaty?

8. Why did the terms of the Treaty of Versailles cause so much bitterness in Germany?

9. Why were the French unhappy with the Treaty of Versailles?

10. Why were the victors disappointed by the Treaty of Versailles?

11. Why did the victors not get everything they wanted?/ Why did the the victors fail to get
everything they wanted?

12. Why did some people criticise the reparations which Germany had to pay?

13. Why did French and Belgian troops invade the Ruhr in 1923?

14. Why was there hyperinflation in 1923?

c questions

1. How far can the Treaty of Versailles be justified?

2. How far was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

3. To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles a sensible treaty in the circumstances of the time?

4. Were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, other than reparations, unfair on Germany?
Explain your answer.

5. How far did the Treaty of Versailles satisfy the victors?

6. How far had Germans accepted the Treaty of Versailles by the end of 1923?

7. To what extent was the Treaty of Versailles successful?

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Treaty Of versailles
Extracts from this document...

Introduction
A) What military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles were imposed on Germany? The Allies imposed many
military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles to ensure that Germany would never again pose a military threat. The
Treaty of Versailles contained a number of provisions to that end. Among them was the requirement that the
Rhineland became demilitarized to ensure Germany couldn't attack France. In addition, no German troops were
allowed to enter the Rhineland. Strict limits were placed on the size of Germany's armed forces. It was restricted to
100,000 men. The manufacture of military aircraft, tanks and submarines was prohibited. Furthermore, the navy
could only build 6 battle ships. The German government also had to ban conscription- all soldiers had to be on a
voluntary basis. This meant that people had the choice to join the army instead of being forced. B) Question: Explain
why the 'Big Three' disagree over how to treat Germany. The 'Big Three' disagreed on how Germany should be
treated on many occasions. As the talks at Versailles went on it became clear that the objectives and outcomes of the
Big Three were very different. This was mainly down to the fact that the Big Three had different aims for the treaty.
Clemenceau wanted the treaty to be very harsh. Whereas Wilson, wanted the treaty to be fair and wanted world
peace. However Lloyd George was often in the middle ground between the two. He wanted Germany to be punished
but not harshly. Clemenceau clashed with Wilson over many issues. This was because the USA had not suffered
nearly as badly as France in the war because of the fact most of the fighting took place on French soil. ...read more.

Middle
The Saar land was also an important area of industry which was also seen as a vital source of revenue. Germanys
European borders were very extensive. Furthermore, the treaty also forbade Germany to join with its former ally
Austria. This was also known as Anschluss. Germany lost 12.5% of its population as a result of the loss of territory.
This meant that whilst self-determination was given to countries such as Estonia, it also meant that people in these
areas were also mainly German. This meant that German-speaking people were divided. This went against their idea
of self-determination and further angered them and made the treaty unfair. Germany lost 16% of its coalfields and
almost half of its steel and iron industries. Under the treaty of Versailles the Rhineland became demilitarized. This
was done in the aim of stopping Germany from attacking its neighbour France as they both shared borders. As a
result of this no German troops were allowed into the Rhineland. The loss of territory was a massive factor which
affected German pride. The territories which Germany lost were vital sources of income. Now that they had been
taken away, it made paying reparations even harder. It was made even worse as Danzig was given to Poland. This
was a port which would've been used for trade. Overall the loss of territory was a major blow to German pride and
to its economy. The disarmament terms upset Germany. An army of 100,000 men was very small for a country of
Germany's size. The army was also a symbol of German pride and strength. Despite Wilsons fourteen points calling
for disarmament of all countries, none of the Allies disarmed to the extent that Germany was disarmed in the 1920s.
...read more.

Conclusion
This was mainly because it was seen as hypocritical and showed the double standards of Germans who wanted a
fairer treaty. This was because of the treaty that Germany had given to Russia was something even harsher than the
Treaty of Versailles. It was also a diktat. But Germany got off lightly with this treaty as it wasn't as harsh as the
treaty of Brest-Livtosk. However if Germany had received a treaty that wasn't as harsh then the German people
wouldn't have been outraged. As a result, the German people stored this anger. I believe that the harshest term of the
treaty was the reparations payments. This is because France and Britain demanded that Germany pay huge
reparations that further strained the German economy to well beyond the breaking point. Germany's industry was
destroyed, unemployment was through the roof, and the currency known as the Mark was worthless. Hyperinflation
added to the misery. Germany's cries for relief from these harsh terms were rejected. The French and British knew
full well that that Germany couldn't possibly repay that amount of money - most of its industry was concentrated in
the Rhineland, which had been occupied by Allies. As a result of the humiliation and the unfairness of this treaty, it
allowed parties such as the Nazi party to gain popularity. As a result Hitler was elected as chancellor and within a
few years of his reign he became a Fuhrer. Due to the fact this treaty was very harsh for people living in Germany at
the time such as Hitler, they wanted revenge. As a result World War Two began in 1938. ?? ?? ?? ?? Surbjit Singh
11SK History- Essays on the Treaty of Versailles

A)

What military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles were imposed on Germany?

The Allies imposed many military restrictions in the Treaty of Versailles to ensure that Germany would never again
pose a military threat. The Treaty of Versailles contained a number of provisions to that end. Among them was the
requirement that the Rhineland became demilitarized to ensure Germany couldn't attack France. In addition, no
German troops were allowed to enter the Rhineland. Strict limits were placed on the size of Germany's armed forces.
It was restricted to 100,000 men. The manufacture of military aircraft, tanks and submarines was prohibited.
Furthermore, the navy could only build 6 battle ships. The German government also had to ban conscription- all
soldiers had to be on a voluntary basis. This meant that people had the choice to join the army instead of being
forced.

B)

Question: Explain why the 'Big Three' disagree over how to treat Germany.

The 'Big Three' disagreed on how Germany should be treated on many occasions. As the talks at Versailles went on
it became clear that the objectives and outcomes of the Big Three were very different. This was mainly down to the
fact that the Big Three had different aims for the treaty. Clemenceau wanted the treaty to be very harsh. Whereas
Wilson, wanted the treaty to be fair and wanted world peace. However Lloyd George was often in the middle ground
between the two. He wanted Germany to be punished but not harshly. Clemenceau clashed with Wilson over many
issues. This was because the USA had not suffered nearly as badly as France in the war because of the fact most of
the fighting took place on French soil. Furthermore, Clemenceau resented Wilson's more generous attitude to
Germany. They disagreed over what to do about Germany's Rhineland and coalfields in the Saar. In the end, Wilson
had to give way on these issues. In return, Clemenceau and Lloyd George did give Wilson what he wanted in
Eastern Europe (which was self-determination), despite their opinions about his idea of self-determination.
However, this mainly affected the other four treaties, not the Treaty of Versailles. Clemenceau also clashed with
Lloyd George, particularly over Lloyd George's aim- which was not to treat Germany too harshly. Clemenceau felt
that the British were quite happy to treat Germany fairly in Europe where France rather than
An extract from this document...

Evaluate the proposition that the "Treaty of Versailles was a harsh peace".

To officially end the First World War, a peace treaty named the Treaty of Versailles was signed at Versailles on
June 28 1919. This peace treaty was signed after the war had stopped and was the one of the most dominant and
imperative peace treaties of the fiver others to conclude the War. It is disputed that the Treaty of Versailles was an
insensitive concord; however this termination is seen erroneously by several people. Germany was left in sorrow as
a result of the harsh result of the Treaty of Versailles as well as the greediness of the Allies. The big four; Woodrow
Wilson of the USA, Georges Clemenceau of France, David Lloyd George of England and Vittorio Emanuele
Orlando of Italy were left responsible for negotiating the treaty. It is supposed that the leaders resulted in such a
harsh treaty because of the conflicting, greedy ideas and the sense of demilitarising the country. The treaty was
known as the "War Guilt Clause," and Germany was not invited to the negotiations of the Treaty of Versailles due to
their recently defeated power resulting in a very ruthless peace treaty.

The treaty formally placed all blame for the war on Germany and imposed Germany with reparations payments.
German Colonies were divided amongst allies, the right bank of the Rhine was permanently demilitarised, the
German army was reduced to a maximum of 100,000 soldiers as was the German navy and Germany was forbidden
to build major weapons of aggression. It is thought by some that that the German dissatisfaction with the treaty may
have caused the rise of the Nazi movement. In 1931 the reparations payments were suspended and in 1935
Chancellor Adolf Hitler cancelled the military clauses of the treaty and in 1936 began the remilitarization of the
Rhineland.

World War one saw one of the largest war mobilisations in history, in the years between 1914 and 1918 over 60
million European soldiers from different sides were mobilised. Of this amount, fifteen million soldiers were badly
injured, eight million were killed and seven million were disabled, five million civilians also died.

Germany had an alliance with Austria - Hungary when the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated; Austria
declared war against Serbia and so brought Germany into the war as well. The