1.

1 Were the Peace Treaties of 1919-

23 Fair?
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What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles?

The leaders Lloyd George (Britain), Clemenceau (France) and Wilson (USA) met in the Paris
Peace Conference in January 1919 to draw up a peace treaty (Treaty of Versailles).

David Lloyd George (Britain)

 Wanted Germany to be punished but not too harshly

 Wanted Germany to lose its navy and its colonies as they pose as a threat towards the
British Empire.
 Did not want Germany to seek revenge in the future and possibly start another war.
 Keen for Britain and Germany to begin trading with each other again. Germany was
Britain’s second largest trading partner.
Woodrow Wilson (USA)

 Was an idealist – aim was to build a better and more peaceful world. Yet he believed that
Germany should be punished.
 Believed the treaty shouldn’t be as harsh; if Germany was treated harshly, as soon as it
recovers Germany wanted revenge.
 Wanted to strengthen democracy in the defeated nation so that people would not let their
leader cause another war.
 Propose to set up the League of Nations
 Self determination – the idea that nations should rule themselves rather than be ruled by
others
Georges Clemenceau (France)

 Germany was a threat towards France.

 France suffered badly after the war: damages to its land, industry people, and self-
confidence. Two-thirds of the men who served in the French army has been killed or
injured.
 Wanted to cripple Germany so that it could not attack France again. They say the treaty as
an opportunity to do so.
 German lands were not as badly damaged as the French.
 France’s population was in decline.
 Knew he would need to compromise with Wilson and Lloyd George.
Verdict of the Treaty of Versailles

Clemenceau problem: it wasn’t harsh enough. Also both Clemenceau and Lloyd George did not
support all of the Fourteen Points. ‘The future of colonies should be reviewed and the wishes of
local people taken into consideration’ France and Britain both had large colonies overseas that
they wished to keep regardless of the feelings of the locals, ‘there should not be secret deals or
treaties between states’ both had made secret treaties before and during WWI such as the
Treaty of London in 1915 and ‘the level of armaments should be reduced in each country’ the
British navy was the strongest navy in the world.

Lloyd George: described it as a great pity and believed that another war would abrupt
Wilson: disappointed with the treaty. Went along with it as he thought the treaty could be sorted
out at a later date.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles:

War guilt – Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war

Reparations – Germany had to pay reparation to the Allies for the damages caused. 6600
million euros

German territories/colonies – Germanys overseas empire was taken away. These colonies
became mandates controlled by the League of Nations (basically means that Britain and France
controlled them).

 Togoland & Cameroon – run by Britain and France

 German South West Africa – to South Africa
 German East Africa – to Britain
 New Guinea – to Australia
 Samoa – to New Zealand
 The Marshall, Mariana and Caroline Islands – to Japan
 Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia became independent states
 West Prussia and Posen – to Poland
 Danzig, run by the League of Nations, became a sea port for Poland
 The Rhineland became a demilitarised zone
 Alsace-Lorraine – to France
 Saarland, run by the League of Nation, and then a plebiscite to be held after 15 years.
 North Schleswig – to Denmark after a plebiscite
Germany’s Armed Forces – the German army became a threat to all powers, therefore the
Treaty degraded German armed forces to a weak level

 Army was limited to 100,000 men

 Soldiers had to be volunteers
 No armoured vehicles, submarines or aircrafts are allowed
 Could only have 6 battleships
 No German troops were permitted into the Rhineland as it bordered between Germany and
France
League of Nations – set up as an international ‘police force’. Germany was not permitted to join
until it has shown to be a peace-loving country.

Impact of the Peace Treaty on Germany up to 1923

Economic Problems

 bankruptcy – all reserved gold has been used in WWI. Also had to pay reparation
 occupation in the Ruhr – French troops invaded the industrial region of Germany, the
Ruhr, and took all of its resources. Passive resistance was ineffective and the German
troops were unmatched by the French troops (750,000 soldiers). 80% of German coal and
iron were based there. This event increased Germany’s debt, unemployment and the
shortage of goods
 hyperinflation – the German government constantly printed out more money to pay off
debts. However as prices increase more money gets printed out which then increased
prices again. Everyone found it difficult to buy necessities as people had to carry a bundle
of money to buy goods which made it inconvenient. There were a lot of shortages as value
 of German marks starts to become worthless. Foreign supplier did not accept German
marks so imports and shortages of food started to decrease. People with saving found their
money to become worthless. Those affected were mostly middle class. Despite this,
farmers were better off as they get to charge their goods for a higher price as well as
businesses that have loans as money starts to lose value which means loans are cheaper.
Other Peace Settlements

Treaty of St. Germain, 1919 dealt with Austria

 Restricted to 30,000 and forbidden to reunite with Germany

 Land given to Poland and Italy
 Suffered severe economic problem, as much of the industry has gone to Czechoslovakia
 New state called Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
Treaty of Neuilly, 1919 dealt with Bulgaria

 Lost land to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia, and its access to the Mediterranean.
 Limit its armed forces to 20,000
 Pay 100 million euro
Treaty of Trianon, 1920 dealt with Hungary

 Numerous of territories went to Romania

 Lost substantial amount of its territory and its population
 Suffered from lost of population and resources
 Was due to pay reparation but the economy was so weak it never did
Treaty of Sevres, 1920 dealt with Turkey

 Egypt, Tunisia and Morrocco were turned into independent state or were run under French
or British protection.
Treaty of Brest-Litvosk 1918, dealt with USSR

 Forced to accept treaty by the Germans

 Lost 34% of its population, 32% of its agricultural land, 54% of its industry, 26% of its
railways, and 89% of its coalmines.
 Had to pay 300 million gold roubles

Motives of the Big Three

Georges Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France, President Woodrow Wilson of the USA
and David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain, dominated the Conference and
made the main decisions. They also met in secret, as the Council of Four, with the Prime
Minister of Italy.

Although the big three agreed that their task was to make sure that such a terrible war
could never happen again, each had very different ideas about what could be done.
Clemenceau was nicknamed ‘The Tiger’ because of his determination that France
should not be defeated in the war. He had the strong backing of the French people. He
wanted the peace treaties to protect France in the future and to compensate the French
for their suffering. Most of the fighting had been on French soil.

Wilson was a high minded man. In 1918 he had proposed Fourteen points as a basis for
future world peace. He hoped that the countries at the Peace Conference would agree to
these points.

Fourteen Points The main points were:

1 Countries should stop making secret treaties with one another. The peace should be
negotiated in the open. After that there should be no more secret diplomacy.

2 they should reduce their weapons and armed forces

3 People living under the rule of foreign countries should be allowed to form their own
nations and choose their own type of government. Wilson called this the principle of
national self-determination.

4 countries should belong to a new organisation, the League of Nations, to be set up

to protect the independence of all states.

Lloyd George was a clever politician and negotiator but, above all, he was not prepared
to ignore British public opinion. Britain had suffered 750,000 killed and 1.5 million
wounded. The British public which had just re-elected his government, wanted to ‘hang
the Kaiser’ and ‘Make Germany Pay’.

The Aims of the Big Three

 Lloyd George
1 end the German threat to the British Navy and empire

2 make Germany a non-aggressive country without colonies

3 prevent Germany becoming so weak that a revival of European &industry & trade is
hindered

4 prevent Germans becoming so poor that they return to communism

5 avoid humiliation of Germans so that they have no reason to seek revenge

6 help secure France against Germany, but prevent France becoming too powerful

7 create a balance of power so that no one European country can threaten the others

Clemenceau

1 have revenge on Germany for French suffering

2 make Germany pay for French suffering

3 punish Germany for the humiliation she had inflicted on France after defeating her
in 1871.

4 ensure that Germany would never be able to attack France again: take away
German land; weaken her industries; reduce her armed forces

Wilson

1 prevent Germany from becoming aggressive again

2. Punish Germany for her aggression, but avoid forcing her to pay very heavy
damages

3 base the peace treaties on his Fourteen Points.

Why did all of the victors not get everything they wanted?

Why did the peacemakers have to compromise?

Pressure of time – Although the peacemakers in Paris faced complicated problems, they
had to work very quickly because:

 the Austro-Hungarian Empire had started to break up before the war ended
and the new states were already quarrelling about their frontiers
 The Armistice was only a truce, and the Allies were continuing their blockade
of Germany until a formal peace was signed. As a result, thousands of
German civilians were dying of starvation.
 The Allied leaders feared that if a settlement was not agreed quickly, the
Germans, and other peoples, might follow the Russians’ example and choose
Communist governments.

Conflicts of interests:

 All 27 countries at the conference made their own demands

 Even the Big Three disagreed on many points
 The peacemakers had to do too much work in too short a time
 To achieve a settlement quickly, everyone had to compromise.

Particular conflicts:

Clemenceau disagreed with Wilson:

1. thought that France had suffered much more than the USA and resented
Wilson’s generous attitude to Germany
2. Wanted harsher treatment of Germany over the Rhineland and Saar
coalfields.
3. Disagreed with Wilson over self-determination of Eastern Europe.

Clemenceau disagreed with Lloyd George:

1. Clashed over Lloyd George’s desire not to treat Germany too harshly
 2. Thought Lloyd George would be happy for Germany to be treated fairly in
Europe where France was under threat
3. But not allow Germany to keep its navy and colonies which would be more of
a threat to Britain

Lloyd George disagreed with Wilson

1. Lloyd George was not happy about point 2 of the Fourteen Points allowing all
nations access to the seas.
2. He was also unhappy with Wilson’s views on people ruling themselves with
millions ruled by Britain in its empire.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

General Clauses
The establishment of the League of Nations
War Guilt clause – Germany to accept blame for starting the war.

Financial Clauses
Reparations – Germany was to pay for the damage caused by the war. The figure of
£6,600 million was set some time after the signing of the treaty.

Military Clauses
Army – was to be reduced to 100,000 men and no tanks were allowed
Navy – Germany was only allowed 6 ships and no submarines
Air force – Germany was not allowed an air force
Rhineland – The Rhineland area was to be kept free of German military personnel and
weapons

Territorial Clauses
Anschluss – Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria.
Land – Germany lost land to a number of other countries. Alsace-Lorraine was returned
to France, Eupen and Malmedy were given to Belgium, North Schleswig was given to
Denmark. Land was also taken from Germany and given to Czechoslovakia and Poland.
The League of Nations took control of Germany’s colonies

The Other Defeated Nations

The Treaty of Versailles determined the punishment that Germany should face. Other
treaties determined the fate of those countries that had fought with Germany - Austria-
Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey. Austria and Hungary were divided and therefore signed
separate treaties

Austria - The Treaty of St Germain 10th September 1919

Land - Austria lost land to Italy, Czechoslovakia and Serbia.
Army – To be reduced to 30,000 men.
Anschluss – Union with Germany was forbidden
Reparations – Austria was to pay reparations but went bankrupt before the rate could be
set.

Hungary – The Treaty of Trianon 4th June 1920

Land – Hungary lost land to Czechoslovakia, Romania and Serbia reducing its size from
283,000 sq km to less than 93,000 sq km. Population was reduced from 18.2 million to
7.6 million.
Army - To be reduced to 35,000 men
Reparations - Hungary was to pay reparations but the amount was never set

Bulgaria – The Treaty of Neuilly 27th November 1919

Land – Bulgaria lost land to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia.
Reparations – Bulgaria had to pay £90 million in reparations
Army - restrictions were made on the size of Bulgaria's army

Turkey – The Treaty of Sevres 20th August 1920

Land – Turkey lost land to Greece. The League of Nations took control of Turkey’s
colonies.

What was the immediate impact of the peace treaty on Germany up to 1923?

German Anger

In the 1920s the Germans called the Treaty of Versailles the ‘Diktat’, the ‘dictated
peace’. They resented:

1. The loss of so much territory, especially the splitting of East Prussia from the
rest of Germany.
2. The loss of resources. The treaty took away 74% of their iron ore production
and 26% of their coal.
3. Foreign occupation of the Rhineland and Saar
 4. Having to accept ‘war guilt’ and pay reparations. They argued that Germany
alone was not responsible for the war.
5. The fact that while other peoples were given the right of self-
determination, Austrians and Germans were forbidden to unite.
6. The fact that Germany was the only country required to reduce its weapons
and armed forces.

Reparations. Should the Allies make Germany pay?

Arguments for Arguments against

Some, like the British economist John

Maynard Keynes, disagreed with
reparations altogether. Others though the
Most, especially the Belgians and French: payments were too high because:

1 wanted to keep Germany weak so that 1 Many Germans would be forced to lead
she would no longer be a danger to them. poor and miserable lives. Many would die.
This was inhumane.
2 pointed to the huge cost of the war to
the Allies, much of it owed to the USA 2 Misery would fuel the Germans’ desire
which insisted on repayment. They said it for revenge and might drive them into the
was right for Germany to contribute. arms of the Communists.

3 The rest of Europe would suffer because

of Germany’s economic weakness.

These burdens and resentments added to the instability of the Weimar Republic

1. There were revolutions from left and right

2. In 1922 Germany fell behind in its reparations payments and so in 1923
France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr. German workers went on strike. The
French killed over 100 workers and expelled over 100,000 protestors from the
region.
3. The economic problems of the crisis led to hyperinflation in 1923.

Could the treaties be justified at the time?

In 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was not only criticised by the Germany.

Clemenceau thought it had not been harsh enough and lost an election in 1920

Lloyd George was welcomed when he returned to Britain by a public that thought
Germany had been punished, but he believed that another war would happen because of
it

Wilson was very disappointed with the Treaty. The American Congress (Parliament)
refused to approve the treaty.

Some historians have often agreed with the critics of the Treaty and that it contributed
to the causes of WWII. However, the majority of people outside Germany thought it was
fair. A more generous treaty would have been totally unacceptable to public opinion. It
was a difficult treaty for all parties to agree to, which suggests that the Treaty was the
best that could be hoped for in the circumstances.

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