Transcript the paris peace treaty

THE PARIS PEACE TREATY
1919-1921
IMPORTANT ISSUES ABOUT
GERMANY… BEFORE THE
ARMISTICE.
•
The following issues have been raised by
Doug Newton an Australian historian.
1. Between June-August 1918, Germany seemed
poised for victory. She had troops entrenched
from the Belgian coast to beyond the Black
Sea and from the Gulf of Finland to the
Aegean. Russia had been crushed by the
Treaty of Brest Litovsk.
2.
Germany herself was not actually defeated by
the Allies. It was the intervention of the USA
and the collapse of Germany’s allies that
“turned the scales”.( by Oct. 1918 Turkey,
Bulgaria and Austria had fallen.)
3. When the Armistice was signed, Germany still
had control of large areas in Europe-:
i. French Territory.
ii. Most of Belgium.
iii. Parts of Russia( Ukraine and Georgia) and
Poland.
4. Germans agreed to evacuate all territory
if Germany was not invaded.
5. The Treaty would be based on the 14
Points of Woodrow Wilson.
The Armistice was
signed on a train
carriage.
WILSON’S 14 POINTS
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
The Armistice accepted by Germany and
Austria in 1918 was based on Wilson’s 14
Points.
Wilson’s Points called for-;
Open covenants of peace openly arrived at
Freedom of the seas
Equality of trade
Reduction of national arms
Proper adjustment of colonial claims
Adjustment of boundaries and selfdetermination
CLASS OF 1942
PEACE AND FUTURE CANNON FODDER
Class of 42
“Curious ! I seem to hear
a child weeping!”
Copy of the Treaty
What is the significance of this political cartoon?
Treaty of
Brest Litovsk
1917
RUSSIA
Treaty of
Versailles
1919
GERMANY
PEACE
TREATIES
Treaty of
St Germaine
1919
AUSTRIA
Treaty of
Trianon
1920
HUNGARY
Treaty of
Neuilly
1919
BULGARIA
TREATY OF BREST LITOVSK
•
The Treaty of Brest was signed in
March 1918 and it brought to an end
the war on the Eastern Front between
Germany and Russia.
•
The Treaty imposed on the Russians
by Germany was a humiliating one; it
also paved the way for the Treaty of
Versailles, which was to end WW1.
•
The severity of the treaty of Brest Litovsk was
the work of Ludendorff, who worked hard on the
Eastern Front and now wanted annexation.
•
Russia lost Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania,
Estonia and a large section of the Ukraine. All up
Russia lost 3 million square kilometres and 62 million
people.
•
However, Germany’s problems continued as the
withdrawal of Russia was balanced by the entry of the
USA.
•
The Treaty of Brest Litovsk had ignored Wilson’s
14 Points issued on the January 8 1918, which had
called for SELF - DETERMINATION
FEATURES OF THE PARIS
PEACE CONFERENCE
1. Germany’s hope for a lenient peace… based
on Wilson’s Fourteen Points.
2. The Big Four…
3. Harsh terms of the treaty.
4. Germany not present
5. Article 231: Guilt clause – Germany had to
accept responsibility.
6. Was it a “just peace”?
7. Severe impact on Germany.
THE END OF THE WAR
In January 1919, two months after the
Armistice was signed, representatives of 31
victorious “Allied and Associated Nations”
assembled in Paris to make peace.
WAS THE END OF WW1 A CAUSE OF WW2??
PARIS PEACE TREATY
(Treaty of Versailles Jan.-June 1919)
AIM.
• TO MAKE GERMANY PAY FOR BEING
THE “AGRESSOR” IN WORLD WAR
ONE.
• 31 Allied nations present
• The Big Four
• Germany excluded from the conference.
“chameleon”
“THE BIG FOUR”“humanitarian”
“fiery”
“tiger”
DAVID LLOYD GEORGE
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•
British Prime Minister.
He believed that Britain had made a major
contribution to the war effort.
• HOWEVER…he personally believed that
Germany had to be “justly treated” or major
problems would emerge.
• He was under pressure from the British
people.
• He had recently won an election on the slogans
1. “Hang the Kaiser”
2. “Make Germany Pay”
Lloyd George won the 1918 election with harsh
slogans, and he was aware that the British people
wanted a hard line approach.
MAKE
GERMANY
PAY
HANG THE
KAISER
GEORGES CLEMENCEAU
• French President nick named “THE OLD
TIGER”
• Pushed for revenge.
• Remembered the Franco-Prussian War.
• Wanted to ensure that Germany was
punished once and for all… Germany
would never rise again!!!
VICTORIO ORLANDO
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The Italian President and a minor player.
Described as “firey” .
Spoke little English and was disadvantaged.
His aim was to gain territory promised to him in
the Secret Treaty of London, which saw Italy
change sides in 1915.
• Italia Irrendenta (Trieste) and African colonies.
• Stormed out of the Conference
• The “Big Four” became the “Big Three”
WOODROW WILSON
• President of the USA during WW1.
• Described by historians as “a humanitarian”…
“an idealist”… “a man before his time”
• The originator of the 14 Points.
• He called for a ‘just peace’ not ‘revenge’.
• Spoke of “international peace and brother hood”
and “self-determination”.
What made Wilson different???
•
The views of Wilson
were different to those
of Britain and France.
a) USA joined the war late.
b) Not fought on their
territory.
c) Not interested or
affected by territorial
changes in Europe.
•
Wilson was an idealist
calling for-;
a) Democracy.
b) Self-Determination.
c) International peace and
brotherhood.
Ruth Henig suggests that
Wilson was on a crusade
aimed at “the extension of
democracy throughout the
world”
Historical Opinion…Ruth Henig
•
“He (Wilson) saw this as a moral
commitment, entrusted to the American
people and their leaders by the founding
fathers, and already in 1916 he had
proclaimed that the object of the war
should be ‘to make the world safe for
democracy’.”
GOD: Woodrow Wilson, where are
your 14 points?
WILSON: Don't get excited, Lord, we
didn't keep your Ten Commandments
either!
The Treaty was to be based
on the 14 Points, but this
did not eventuate.
Thomas Heine, Simplicissimus,
(17th June, 1919)
THE SIGNING OF THE TREATY
• The Treaty was signed on June 28th 1919.
• It caused bitterness and resentment
among the German people.
• Reichstag unanimously rejected the first
draft.
• Members of the Cabinet resigned
including Schiedemann.
• Germany anticipated a lenient treaty.
WHY DID GEMANY THINK IT
WOULD BE A LENIENT PEACE??
1. Wilson’s 14 Points seemed humane and
based on reconciliation rather than
punishment.
2. The old regime (Kaiser) Had been
replaced by a democratic constitution.
3. The German Army had not actually been
defeated and Germany itself had not
been invaded.
TERMS OF THE TREATY.
•
The terms of the treaty of Versailles can
be divided into three main categories.
1. Territorial
2. Military.
3. Economical.
• In order to understand these terms you
need to have access to a 1919 map of
Europe.
THE DIVISION OF GERMANY BY THE ALLIES.
TERRITORIAL LOSSES
1. Alasce-Lorraine was returned to France.
2. The Rhineland was to be permanently
demilitarised.
3. The mines of the Saar Valley were to be
exploited by France.
4. The Saarland was to be separated from
Germany and administered by the
League of Nations.( a plebiscite was to
determine its future)
4. Eupen and Malmedy were given to
Belgium.
5. Schleswig was returned to Denmark by
plebiscite.
6. Parts of Posen and West Prussia were
incorporated into a new state of Poland.
7. The Polish Corridor was devised to
separate east and west Prussia.
8. Danzig became an independent state
under the League of Nations.
8. Memel was taken from Germany and
placed under the French High
Commission.
9. This rich industrial land of Upper Silesia
was assigned to Poland.
10. ANSCHLUSS (union) was
banned…VITAL. Germany was forbidden
to unite with Austria for economic or
political reasons.
11. Germany lost all her overseas colonies
and they became MANDATES for the
winning Nations…New Guinea..
MILITARY LOSSES
1. Germany was to surrender all heavy weapons.
2. Fortifications along the Rhineland had to be
dismantled.
3. Germany had to reduce her army.
4. Conscription was forbidden.
5. The production of gas, tanks and aircrafts for
military purpose was forbidden.
6. The navy was to be reduced.( figures are
available but varied) .
ECONOMIC
1. Germany had to an amount of money
“as compensation for the damage
caused to allied civilians and their
property.”
• This payment was known as
REPARATIONS.
ARTICLE 231…WAR GUILT.
•
•
Article 231 of the Paris Peace
Conference is also referred to as the
“war guilt” clause, and caused the most
resentment among the German people.
This clause required Germany to accept
and admit full responsibility for-:
1. Causing the war.
2. The damage caused.
ACTUAL CLAUSE
“The Allied and Associated Governments
affirm and Germany accepts the
responsibility of Germany and her
Allies for causing all the loss and
damage to which all the Allied and
Associated Governments and their
nationals have been subjected as a
consequence of the war imposed on
them by the aggression of the enemy
states.”
WHAT DOES ARTICLE 231
REALLY MEAN???
WHY DID GERMANY ACCEPT
THE TREATY OF
VERSAILLES IN JUNE 1919?
REASONS WHY GERMANY
ACCEPTED.
1. Overall low morale among the German people.
2. Fear of further political turmoil in Germany.
3. If the war resumed the German Army would
not be able to hold out any longer on the
Western Front.
4. Germany was facing a major food shortage as
a result of the Allied naval blockade of German
ports.
• Starvation and malnutrition were both evident
in Germany by 1918.
• Germany was unwilling to take any more risks.
IMPACT OF THE TREATY.
• Germany’s territorial changes hampered
her economic recovery. On third of her
coal’s reserves and three-quarters of her
iron deposits were lost.
• It created/intensified public resentment
and despair. Was the Weimar Republic
doomed from its inception????
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2.
3.
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1.
2.
3.
The treaty enabled enemies of the Republic
(right wing) to assume the role of patriots
resorting to violence and attempted coups.
Wolfgang Kapp 1920
Beer Hall Putsch 1923 ( Hitler)
Assassinations of left wing leaders such as
Erzberger.
It saw the development of issues and concepts
such as-:
November Criminals.
Stab-in-the- Back.
The Diktat.
IMPACT OF THE TREATY ON
GERMANY
PEACE TREATY ISSUES.
• The following issues have been raised have
been raised by Australian historian Doug
Newton.
• WW1 was a “new type of war”.
• Peace should have been by negotiation not
victory.
• “Victory has been seen as a problem”
• “ The worst thing about the war was that the
peace was not a peace agreed upon, but one
dictated.”
• The Peace Treaty magnified the concept of the
“evil Germany” and “glorifies the Allies”
• Several attempts had been made as early as
1915 to bring the war to an end by mediation
(USA)_ neither side could agree.
• Private diary of Mrs Asquith: … “she could see
that the war was a “draw” and believed that a
negotiated peace could be conducted.”
• The politicians believed that victory was worth
prolonging the war.
• At the end of the Somme the Germans asked for
peace with the USA as mediator, but Lloyd
George refused. He wanted to fight on, wanted a
military victory.
• The Germans agreed on a settlement “ involving
no annexation, no contributions, no punitive
damages, except that Germany agreed to make
reparations to all damage done to civilian
population of the Allies.
• The Treaty of Versailles was signed In the Hall
of Mirrors, where Bismarck had in 1871 founded
the German Republic.
• It saw the compromise of the 14 Points.
• Berlin referred it as a “treaty of shame”, and “a
gross violation of peace between equals”.
What is your opinion???
“the treaty was not excessively harsh on
Germany--- either territorially or
economically --- However, the German
people were expecting victory not defeat .
It was the acknowledgement of defeat, as
much as the treaty terms themselves,
which they found so hard to accept”
Ruth Henig
“it was the moral stigma
of the sole-guilt that they
objected to the most”
E.H Carr
TRIANON
HUNGARY
ST GERMAINE
AUSTRIA
1920
1919
TREATIES
OTHER THAN
VERSAILLES
NEUILLY
BULGARIA
1919
SEVRES
TURKEY
1920
RESULTS OF THE ASSOCIATED
TREATIES
1. These treaties simply ratified what had taken
place at Versailles and FRAGMENTED the
defeated nations.
2. Carried out under the banner of “SELFDETERMINATION” , they aimed to redraw
state frontiers in the hope to deal with
nationalism and dissatisfied minorities.
• The reality was that new countries were
formed and problems caused which are still
evident today.
AUSTRIA
• Austria lost her empire and became a
small republic of only eight million people.
• Regions of Galicia with a predominantly
Slav population went to Poland.
• 3 ½ million Austrians were included in the
new country of Czechoslovakia.
• ¼ million Austrians from the South Tyrol
passed under Italian rule(1915 deal)
• Bosnia-Herzegovina became part of Yugo
slavia.
• Austria was forbidden any unity with her
neighbour Germany.
• Austria also suffered economically as the
ANSCHLUSS was not allowed with
Germany.
What was the ANSCHLUSS???
HUNGARY
• Hungary fared worse than Austria.
• The Treaty of Trianon took 2/3 of
Hungary’s territory and 1/3 of the
population.
• Slovakia became part of Czechoslovakia.
• Croatia went to Yugoslavia.
• Transylvania went to Rumania.
TURKEY.
• Internal problems saw the fall of the
Ottoman Empire and the rise of the
modern democratic republic of Turkey
under Ataturk.
• Arabian Peninsula became independent.
• Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan became
mandates of Britain.
• Syria and Lebanon were taken by France.
“NOVEMBER CRIMINALS”
•
Name given by the Nationalists to the
Social Democrats and members of the
coalition parties responsible for-;
1. Accepting the Armistice
2. Signing the Peace Treaty.
• Concept used by Hitler as the bases of
his propaganda.
• They were accused of stabbing Germany
in the back…accepting a shameful
treaty.