Transcript The Peace Treaties

The Peace Treaties
1919-1920
The Treaty
of Versailles
The Main Terms
Treaty of Versailles Overview
The Paris Peace Conferences finally began on January 19, 1919
Nine weeks after the signing of the armistice, due to the political
situation in both the USA and Great Britain
The conference was to be a showpiece - it had its own printing press
and telephone lines
However, lacked clear organization or formal procedures
Treaty of Versailles Overview
The opening was attended by
delegates from 27 states – 32 nations
ultimately represented
Discussions about the terms were not
attended by all 32 states – special
commissions and committees were
established to draft the clauses
No central coordinating body –
conflicting solutions
The Council of 10: the prime/foreign
ministers of France, Great Britain,
USA, Italy, Japan
Requests in formal writing – slowed
progress
Treaty of Versailles Overview
Many of the terms were
compromises designed to keep
the peace process alive
In June 1919, the Treaty was
finally signed
The treaty became the basis for
all the other treaties that
resulted from the peace talks
Final version was over 200
pages long and contains 440
clauses including astronomical
instruments to China and an
African chieftain's skull to
Britain
Treaty of Versailles Overview
Discussions in the first months of the peace talks focused on five
main areas:
The formation of the League of Nations
Responsibility for the outbreak of the war
Reparations for the cost of an damage caused by WWI
The redistribution of territories in Europe and colonies
Disarmament
The League of Nations - USA View
Wilson was an idealist –
future peace could only be
derived through the League
The league would allow
nations to discuss their
differences
The United States wanted
the League to operate like a
world parliament
Representatives could
reach decisions on matters
that affected them
The League of Nations - British/French View
The British sought to avoid formal
world parliament
They preferred a loose organization –
meet when there is an emergency
The French, in contrast, imagine a
military alliance – an organization
that:
-would enforce treaties
-ensure security
-prevent Germany from recovery
-intervene in disputes as necessary
Responsibility
For the Outbreak of
World War I
Responsibility
Vital to establish during
early talks
Linked to who would pay
for the war
Little doubt – Germany
responsible
made it difficult for anyone
to express any other
opinion
Responsibility
Commission On the
Responsibility of the
Authors of the War and on
the Enforcement of Penalties
Representatives: Great
Britain/Belgium/Italy/France/
Poland/Greece/Japan/Roma
nia/Serbia
Clause 231 of Treaty of
Versailles - "War Guilt
Clause"
War Guilt Clause
Provided the legal argument
for guilt
Clause 232 – Germany must
pay reparations
Physical damage/war
pensions
Reparations
No one knew total cost –
made difficult to assess
value
France wanted reparations
to hinder German recovery
Britain wanted Germany to
recover for reasons of trade
– British citizens didn't
Reparations
War taxes-didn't cover all
expenses
Needed to pay back the US
(Who refused to cancel war
debts)
US agreed with Britain – Great
Britain canceled assistance to
France
This placed a heavy financial
burden on France
Reparations
Great Britain sought
maximum reparations
Feared
France/Belgium
would eat into their
share
Demanded pensions
included – George
threatened to walk
out of conference
Reparations Commission
Formed due to
bickering and disputes
To determine what
Germany could pay
back
Germany made
interim payment of 20
billion gold marks
Belgium took nearly
half/Britain and
France split the rest
Reparations
Question of what form reparation
payments would take
The German central bank did not
have enough liquid assets
Germany handed over all
merchant ships of more than
1600 tons, a quarter of their
fishing fleet, 200,000 tons of
shipping to be built for the allies
for the next five years
All considered excessive by
Germany
Redistribution
Of territories
Western Europe
Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
Belgium won the regions of Eupen and Malmedy from Germany
Some German land annexed to Poland
Poland
The reestablishment of an
independent Poland was
important to both the USA and
France
It would create a strong nation on
Germany's eastern border
For Wilson, a matter of selfdetermination
However, Poland would need the
economic means to maintain its
independence
Therefore, Poland needed access
to the sea
Poland Before Treaty
Poland
The new state of Poland was
awarded a number of regions
from Germany
Danzig, at the mouth of the
Vistula River was strategically
important for Poland to be
economically viable
Problem: Danzig was mainly a
German town surrounded by a
Polish area
Lloyd George worked out a
compromise – Danzig would
become a free city controlled
by the league of Nations
Poland
Polish Corridor – a territory defined by the Treaty of Versailles
made up of land that was formerly part of West Prussia.
Curzon Proposal - The attempts to mark out Poland's eastern
borders with Soviet Russia
Poland
Poland
Poland
As a result of the creation
of Poland, the German
nation was split in two
Germany lost around 2
million of its citizens in the
east
Germany lost a large
amount of raw materials –
coal in particular
Lithuania, Estonia, and
Latvia were also created in
the Baltics
Former German Colonies
German colonies seized
during the war should not
be returned
Problem: what should be
done with them?
Wilson opposed to the
outright seizure – self
determination for colonial
peoples
Instead, Wilson wanted
these regions to be run as
mandates by more
advanced nations
The Mandate System
Mandates - territories formally belonging to Germany or Turkey
that were taken away following their defeat and placed under the
administration of another country-often Britain or France-under the
supervision of the league of Nations. The aim was to prepare the
country for independence
The Mandate System
The allies would help former colonies
develop into modern states
Lloyd George agreed with Wilson
believing that the "mandate system"
was part of what Great Britain had
already been practicing for years
South Africa, Australia and New
Zealand were concerned about their
own security
They wished to annex German south
west Africa, New Guinea, and Samoa
These demands cause conflict with
the USA – Wilson determined to
uphold point 5 of the 14 points
The Mandate System
The Mandate System
Jan Smuts - South African prime minister
Posed compromise. Suggested that the
mandates should be divided into three
categories
Based on: stage of development of the
population, the economic conditions, and
the geographical situation of the territory
The dominions and Japan were willing to
accept this – they wanted the mandatory
states to be named immediately
The Mandate System
The United States objected
Wilson did not want to give the
impression that the victorious
powers were carving up plans
as if they were spoils of war
Wilson first suggested the
mandate system but was not
happy with the terms which
favorite the British dominions
and Japan
The United States grew
increasingly nervous about the
Japanese influence in the
Pacific region
The Mandate System
Japan threatened to leave
the conference – forced
Wilson to except the
compromise.
The mandates themselves
were allocated in May 1919
Some historians argue that it
was these decisions that
helped turn the US Senate
against the treaty – ultimately
rejecting the peace
settlements
The loss of German colonies
impacted the German
economy to a great degree
Disarmament
Disarmament
The allies agreed that
Germany must reduce its
Armed Forces to the lowest
point compatible with their
security
Britain and the United
States sought an end to
conscription
France did not want
Germany to have a
professional army at all
The United States won the
argument
Disarmament Terms
Germany was allowed in army of 100,000
professional soldiers
Soldiers could serve for 12 years
preventing an established reservist force
Restrictions were placed on the number
and size of guns/could not own armored
vehicles
German Navy restricted to six battleships
six light cruisers, and 12 destroyers;
forbidden to build U-boats
Germans banned from having any military
aircraft
Read handout: pages
55–70