The Treaty of Versailles
• The aims of the Big 3 and how they wanted to achieve them
British Prime Minister Lloyd George wanted...
To negotiate a moderate peace with Germany
To punish Germany for their crimes, but not too harshly so they do not want revenge in the future
Germany to remain stable and recover as a trading partner
French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau wanted...
To severely punish Germany: 1 million French were killed and the war had caused huge damage to their land and infrastructure as it was fought mainly in France.
Germany to pay heavy reparations to France
United States President Woodrow Wilson wanted...
A fair and lasting peace
Countries should disarm
A Treaty which followed his Fourteen Points.
Ethnic groups in Europe to be given self-determination.
The League of Nations to be set up with the purpose of settling disputes peacefully and not through war.
• The reasons for disagreements between the Big 3
Self-determination= Although PM Lloyd George and PM Georges Clemenceau were happy to create the new countries in Eastern Europe, they disagreed with President Woodrow Wilson as they did not want to give self-determination to their colonies as they wanted to protect the British and French empires. They also wanted to take over Germany's colonies.
The level of punishment imposed on Germany= France wanted to make them weak, but Britain wanted them to remain economically stable for trading. Britain also didn't want France to become too powerful. In addition, Lloyd George and Wilson were worried that Germany would become communist if they became too weak.
Wilson's idea of Free Trade= Lloyd George disagreed as he wanted to protect the British Empire and their dominance over international trade.
The Treaty overall= Britain and the US wanted fair and lasting peace, but France wanted heavy punishment imposed on Germany and wanted them to pay huge reparations. Although the British public agreed with France, Lloyd George and President Wilson worried that if the treaty was too harsh, Germany would want revenge in the future.
• How far the Big 3 achieved their aims
Lloyd George achieved these aims...
Germany remained united.
Britain was able to keep control of her empire and continue to dominate world trade.
The Dawes Plan was agreed and Germany began to recover. Germany and Britain became trading partners again.
Lloyd George did not achieve these aims...
Germany only had to pay reparations of £6.6.billion or 132 billion Marks.
Georges Clemenceau achieved these aims...
Although it was not broken up, Germany lost 10% of it's territory.
Germany's army was limited to 100,000 men and the Rhineland on the French-German border was demilitarised.
Germany was forced to accept blame for the war and was required to pay reparations. The figure was later set at £6.6 bn
Georges Clemenceau did not achieve these aims...
The Rhineland did not become independent
Germany was not broken up into smaller states.
Germany only had to pay reparations of £6.6.billion or 132 billion Marks.
Woodrow Wilson achieved these aims...
The League of Nations was set up.
New Eastern European countries were given self-determination, such as Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
However, free trade was not fully achieved as Britain still dominated international world trading.
Woodrow Wilson did not achieve these aims...
The Republican US congress refused to join the League of Nations as they were against the Treaty and the LON.
The new countries set up in Europe remained weak and vulnerable.
The British and French Empires were not broken up.
There was no freedom to navigate the seas or any agreement on free trade.
• What were the reactions to the Treaty of Versailles?
German reactions to the Treaty of Versailles
Germans were unhappy that they had to accept all the blame for the war as all of the European powers had played a part in causing the war. They believed that the blame should be shared.
Germany believed the high reparations would cause economic problems and the treaty was too harsh a punishment.
Germany was worried that because their army was reduced to such as small size, if they were attacked, they would be unable to defend themselves.
Germany hated that they had lost key industrial areas, sujc as the Saarland and Danzig and that their colonies were shared between Britain and France.
As Germany was not allowed to sent a representative to the conference, they felt that the treaty was a diktat.
President Wilson (USA) had promised that the peace treaty would be based on his Fourteen Points, however, this was not the case, and certain groups were angry about the lack of self-determination.
When it was first set up, Germany was not invited to join the league of nations. They were angered by this as they felt if they had been allowed to join, they could have persuaded the allies to alter the treaty's terms.
Reactions from the Allies
Some people in Britain and the USA had sympathy for Germany as they felt that the treaty was too harsh and would lead to political and economical problems which could result in Germany seeking revenge in the future.
President Wilson was from the Democrat Party, while the Republican Party was in charge of the US Congress. Many Republicans believed the treaty was too harsh, and they also believed that joining the League of Nations would reduce the independence of the USA, so they rejected the treaty and made their own peace with Germany. Around this time, the US began their policy of Isolationism.
Was the Treaty of Versailles fair or unfair?
Fair= ✓, Unfair= ✘
✓ When Russia surrendered in 1917, Germany forced Russia to sign a much harsher treaty (The Treaty of Brest Litovsk), so Germany should not have been given 'special treatment'.
✘ Many people in Germany lacked the self-determination and freedoms promised by President Wilson as they were ruled over by Poland and Czechoslovakia.
✓ The people of Britain and France had suffered from the war, so they deserved compensation.
✘ All of the European powers had played a part in causing the war. The blame should be shared- Germany should not have been forced to sign the war guilt clause.
✓ Although the Army was reduced, it's leaders were not removed from power, so they were able to rebuild the Army under Hitler and the Nazis.
✘ It was the rulers of Germany who had caused the war, but the treaty mainly punish the ordinary citizens.
✘ As their army was significantly reduced, Germany was left vulnerable to attack.
✓ At the time, reparations were very common. In fact, when France lost the Franco Prussian war in 1871, Germany made them pay 5 billion Gold Francs (worth US$1 bn).
✘ The reparations and lack of industrial area led to huge economic problems in the 1920s.
✘ Germany was not allowed to send a representative to the Paris Peace Conference or invited to join the League of Nations.
✘ As they were forced to sign the Treaty, the new Weimar Government was made to look weak.
Vocabulary
Reparations= the compensation for war damage paid by a defeated state (from Oxford)
Diktat= dictated peace