Transcript Treaty of Versailles and the Paris Peace Conferences 1919

Treaty of Versailles and the
Paris Peace Conferences 1919
Text pp. 59-64
Who ran it?
U.S. President Woodrow Wilson
British Prime Minister David
Lloyd George
French
President
Clemenceau
Georges
Italian Prime Minister Vittorio
Orlando
• Clemenceau and Orlando were realists; they wanted to punish
Germany to make sure it could never go to war again.
• Wilson and Lloyd George were idealists; they did not want
Germany punished severely
Each leader had their own goals for the Peace Conferences
1) Clemenceau
• Germany’s military must be restricted.
• Germany must pay for the war.
2) Orlando
• Italy switched sides to get Austrian territory.
• Italy got Tyrol and Trieste, but Orlando left in a
huff when he didn’t get more.
3) Lloyd George
• Germany’s navy had to be strictly limited.
• German colonies should be given to Britain.
• Germany did have to pay for the war, but Britain
wanted to trade with Germany in the future, so
reparations should not be too burdensome.
4) Wilson
• Wilson’s notions were the most idealistic.
• They can be seen in his Fourteen Points, which
he thought would be the basis for a lasting peace.
1) No more secret treaties!
2) Freedom of the seas—everyone gets to use
it
3) Free trade—no economic barriers
4) Disarmament—only up to “basic
safety”
5) Decolonization and selfdetermination—no
more
imperialism and an equal
voice to colonized people
6) Russia—let them figure themselves out with their
civil war
7) Belgium—restore it to what it was before the war.
8) Give Alsace-Lorraine to France
9) Redraw Italian borders by nationality
10) Give nationalities within
Austria-Hungary autonomy
11) Balkans to be decolonized; Serbia given access to the sea
12) Non-Turkish peoples of the
Ottoman Empire given autonomy
13) Poland given access to the sea—the
Polish Corridor
14) League of Nations—an international
association of countries organized to keep
peace.
 These were Wilson’s ideas that he
brought to the Peace Conferences.
Two main ideas dominated the conferences:
• National self-determination
• German war guilt—the War Guilt Clause:
- The war is Germany’s fault.
- Germany has to pay for the war.
 Look at p. 61 for the Provisions of the Treaty of Versailles
Many of the provisions were very harsh towards Germany:
• Germany had to accept the War-Guilt Clause.
• Germany lost territory (Alsace-Lorraine and the Polish Corridor).
• Their armed forces were limited to 100,000 men, and their navy
and air force were restricted.
Many of the provisions hurt Germany economically:
• The German merchant fleet was given to the allies as reparation
for U-Boat activities.
• The Rhine River Valley was occupied by allies; much of German
industry was located here.
New Map of Europe
Before WWI
After the Treaty of Versailles
Assignment: what were the flaws to the Treaty of Versailles?