Transcript Results of the First World War

Results of
the First World War
The First World War lasted for four years and three months. It
began on August 4, 1914 and ended on November 11,
1918. It involved sixty sovereign states, overthrew four
Empires (German Empire, Hapsburg Empire, Turkish Empire,
Russian Empire), gave birth to seven new nations, took ten
million combatant lives (another 30 million were wounded),
and cost about £ 35,000 million.
Paris Peace Conference 1919
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Although representatives of thirty-two states
attended the Peace Conference at Paris in
January 1919 to write the peace treaties,
three men stood out above others:
Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States
 Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France
 Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain.
These came to be known as the Big Three, for they
eventually made all the decisions of the
Conference.
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The decisions of the Big Three were
influenced by five factors:
Secret Treaties
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While the war was being fought, there were a series of
agreements made among the Allies for dividing up the
spoils.
In March 1915, France was promised Alsace-Lorraine,
control of the left bank of the Rhine and German
colonies in Africa.
Britain was allowed to take over German colonies in
Africa and the Pacific.
In April of the same year, Italy was tempted to join the
war on the side of the Allies by promises of Austrian and
Turkish territory.
In August 1916, Rumania was promised territories in
Transylvania and Bukovina.
The Big Three had to respect these treaties when they
were making the territorial settlement after the war.
New States
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Before the Conference opened in January 1919,
the Russian and the Austro-Hungarian Empires had
collapsed.
There arose many new states
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Yugoslavia
Czechoslovakia
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Poland.
The Big Three had to accept the existence of these
new states when they were making the territorial
settlement after the war.
Communist Russia
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Since November 1917, there was a
communist government in Russia.
The Big Three wanted to strengthen
the neighbouring states of Russia so
that they could form a "cordon
sanitaire" to protect Europe against
the spread of Communism.
After-war bitterness
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During the war, the Allied governments had
done their best to arouse the patriotism of
their own people.
Immediately after the war, the people of
the Allied countries still had a fierce hatred
against the enemy nations.
Because they had suffered so much during
the war, they brought pressure on their
governments to exact heavy
compensation from the losers.
Conflict between the objectives of
the Big Three
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Woodrow Wilson was an idealist, a theorist and a
pacifist.
As a pacifist (the horrors of the American Civil War
had made him a pacifist), he hoped that there
would be no war for mankind.
As a theorist (he was an ex-professor of history and
political economy), he liked to apply his academic
theory and knowledge to solve the problem of
war.
As an idealist (he was a man of good intentions),
he was able to produce his blueprint for peace in
the future in his Fourteen Points in January 1918.
Clemenceau Prime Minister of France
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Clemenceau was a man of completely different character
and aim as Wilson.
Known as 'Tiger‘, he was no idealist and pacifist.
His basic aims when he came to the Conference were to
give to France first of all, her two lost provinces—Alsace and
Lorraine; secondly, security against any possible German
aggression in the years to come.
To realize his second aim, he wanted to weaken Germany
permanently by confiscating all her colonies and her past
conquests, by depriving her of armed forces, by exacting
heavy reparations from her and by creating a buffer state
between Germany and France.
This might be regarded as a policy of 'realism'. French hatred
of Germany was excusable. France had been defeated by
Germany in 1871 and nearly defeated in the First World War.
As France was next to Germany, she always feared another
German aggression.
Lloyd George the Prime Minister of
Britain
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Lloyd George stood midway between these two extreme
personalities.
He was being pressured by the anti-German public opinion in
Great Britain that Germany must pay for the war and "Hang
the Kaiser".
He also understood that if excessively heavy reparations and
exceedingly harsh political terms were imposed on Germany,
Germany might think of a war of revenge in the future.
Moreover, a poor and impoverished Germany would also
render herself to be a poor customer of British goods.
A settlement with moderate, terms on Germany suited
Britain's long-term interests. As a result, this tactful politician
tried his best to smooth over the differences between the
extreme viewpoints of Wilson and Clemenceau.
The outcome of the efforts of Lloyd George was that the
Versailles settlement, taken as a whole, appeared to be a
compromise between Wilson's pacifist ideals and
Clemenceau's revengeful attitude.
The Peace Treaties
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The Big Three, first of all, drew up the Covenant of
the League of The Nations. They decided that the
Covenant should be included in each of the
peace treaties. The peace treaties they drew up
were as follows:
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Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles in June 1919.
Austria signed the Treaty of St. Germain (September 1919)
Bulgaria signed the Treaty of Neuilly (November 1919).
Hungary signed the Treaty of Trianon (June 1920)
Turkey signed the Treaty of Sevres (8/1920) & Lausanne
(7/1923).
Criticism of the Versailles
Settlement
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The makers of the Versailles Settlement had contradictory
viewpoints in making the peace treaties but, in general, they
did agree to reconstruct Europe on the principles of
democracy and nationalism.
The peace settlement was made by the Big Three and the
defeated states were never allowed to discuss the terms.
The punishment on Germany was somewhat excessive, since
a democratic government had come to power.
There was the existence of many national minorities in the
new states of Europe—about 17 millions.
The victorious powers did not disarm, even though the
defeated powers had been disarmed to the lowest level.
There were many cases in which the Big Three abandoned
the principle of nationality when they were making the
territorial settlement.
General Effects of the First World
War
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The First World War had far-reaching repercussions on the
political and economic developments of Europe.
After the First World War, there was little political stability in
Europe. In eastern Europe, the new states, Poland,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and
Finland were always threatened by the rapid increase in
national strength of communist Russia. In central Europe, the
Germans always longed for a revision of the Treaty of
Versailles. They would give full support to a government
which advocated a strong foreign policy. In southern Europe,
the Italians also harboured ill-feeling towards the Versailles
Settlement because the Big Three failed to realize the
territorial ambitions of Italy as were promised in the Treaty of
London of 1915. There were only two states in Europe which
hoped to preserve the Versailles Settlement. They were Britain
and France. As both Britain and France were gravely
weakened by the war, it is doubtfu1 that they would be
willing to make a costly war against any aggressors who were
determined to revise the Versailles Settlement.
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The First World War left crushing economic burdens on all the
European countries. It has been estimated that the European victors
owed an aggregate of $10 billion to the U.S.. The economic burdens
of the European governments were multiplied when they had to
rehabilitate devastated areas, to pay pensions to the wounded and
to the relatives of the dead and to pay the interest due on the
public and foreign debts. To add to the economic burdens of the
European governments, trade and industry did not revive after the
war. There was mass unemployment in Italy, Germany, Britain and
France shortly after the war. The immediate result was that in Italy
the people were so discontented with their government that they
overthrew it. The long term result was that in order to solve their
economic problems, most of the European nations tried to become
economically self-sufficient and to keep out the products of other
countries by building high tariff walls. Economic nationalism was a
bad omen for the peace of Europe.
There was one hopeful sign for the peace in the future—the League
of Nations was born in 1920. The League had a noble ideal. It
advocated open diplomacy, economic co-operation and
peaceful solution of international disputes.