Humanities: History

Unit 2: The World in Crisis

Chapter 1: Impact of WWI on Europe
1.1 Treaty of Versailles

Chapter Outline:
1.1: Treaty of Versailles
(a) How did the Treaty of Versailles come about?
1. Paris Peace Conference 1919 and the motivations and aims of the countries
involved
a. USA
b. France
c. Britain
d. Italy
e. Japan
2. Terms of the Treaty of Versailles (BRATS)
a. War Guilt Clause
b. Reparations
c. Demilitarisation
d. Territorial Reductions
e. Self-Determination
(b) Impact of the Treaty of Versailles – was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

(a) How did the Treaty of Versailles come about?

1. Paris Peace Conference 1919

This peace conference started in Jan 1919 and ended in Jan 1920. The Treaty of Versailles
was signed in June 1919.

Motivations and aims of the countries involved in the Paris Peace Conference:
Country / Led by Motivations and Aims
USA  Entered the war in order to “end all wars” and establish
Led by President Woodrow peace via Wilson’s 14 points (p.9 of textbook)
Wilson  USA’s entry into the war provided the Allied Powers
 Big Three with the resources and manpower needed to win the
 World Peace war. This gave USA much say in the Paris Peace
Conference (one of the “Big Three”)
 Americans did not want to be involved in European
wars anymore due to the human and monetary cost
France  Wanted to regain Alsace-Lorraine, which was lost to
Led by Georges Clemenceau Germany in 1871
 Big Three  Wanted Germany to pay severely for what they did and
 We want Revenge to accept all blame and cost for the war
Britain  Wanted Germany’s navy to be weak so that they would
Led by David Lloyd George not be threatened
 Big Three  Germany’s economy should be allowed to recover to
prevent the rise of Communism

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  We want a fair
punishment, not too
harsh
Italy  Entered the war based on the London Pact of 1915
Led by Vittorio Orlando which promised Italy control of Dalmatia, part of
 We want to be Germany’s colonies in Asia and Africa as well as
rewarded Albania
Japan  Wanted control over German colonies in Asia and
Led by Saionji Kinmochi Pacific region
 We want to be  Wanted to be seen as a world power (first Asian
noticed! country) at the conference
Germany  There was political instability within Germany after
Led by Foreign minister the war. The new government was unpopular as
Hermann Müller and colonial many Germans felt that the government had
minister Johannes Bell betrayed the country by calling for an armistice.
 We want to minimise  Thus, Germany was concerned that the peace terms
losses and negotiate would cripple Germany.
for a fairer treaty

2. Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

The main terms of the Treaty of Versailles dealt with the following areas: BRATS
1. Blame
2. Reparations
3. Armed forces and naval restrictions
4. Territories
5. Self-determination

Blame War Guilt Clause (Article 231)

 Germany had to accept total blame for causing World War I
 Once Germany admitted its guilt, the Allies could make it pay
reparations
Reparations  Germany had to pay for the cost of the war.
 The reparations amounted to 269 billion gold Reichsmarks
(6,600 million British Pounds), to be paid through on-going
payments to the Allies and through surrender of coal and
other resources.
Armed forces and  Rhineland was demilitarised – Germany was unable to
naval restrictions defend its borders with France.
 Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000 professional
soldiers. Conscription was not allowed.
 The army was not allowed to have any Air Force or tanks.
 The German Navy was limited to six battleships. Submarines
and naval aircraft were not permitted.
Territories  Rhineland became a demilitarised zone – Germany could
not have troops there.
 Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France.

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  Saar was to be run by the League of Nations until 1934. All
profits that the industries made were to be given to France.
 Austria and Germany were forbidden to unite ever again.
 East Prussia was divided from the rest of Germany by a
‘Polish Corridor’, giving Poland access to the sea.
 Germany lost all overseas colonies – her colonies in Africa
were divided between Britain and France, while Japan took
most of Germany’s colonies in the Asia Pacific.
Self-determination  Another clause included in the Treaty of Versailles was the
Principle of Self-Determination. It called for the creation of
independent nation states for the various ethnic groups within
Central Europe.
 Nine new states – Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
Yugoslavia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland
were created in Europe.
 The idea of self-determination was difficult to put in place as
the different ethnic groups were so intermingled that it was
impossible to create states in which just one ethnic group
lived.

(b) Impact of the Treaty of Versailles; Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany:

 German anger
 German humiliation
 Economic weakness
 Military weakness

The Treaty of
Versailles was Evidence / Details
unfair because:
It was too harsh  Huge amounts of reparations to be paid = 6600 million British
and difficult for pounds which was too difficult to repay
Germany to fulfil  Germany already weakened by the loss of 15% of her abled men
because of the war, unable to recover fast enough to pay the
reparations
 When Germany could not pay the reparations, France confiscated
coal and other goods from the Ruhr industrial region of Germany
which made it even more difficult for Germany
 With only 100,000 soldiers left, it was impossible for German to
maintain law and order within their own country. Germany could
not even manage her own security. Furthermore, no other country
was forced to reduce its military strength in the same humiliating
manner.

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 Germany had to  Article 231 in the Treaty of Versailles was the War Guilt Clause
accept complete which stated that Germany had to accept full responsibility for the
blame war
 But, other countries were involved in the war as well. Countries like
Britain, France and Serbia whose system of alliances also
contributed to the war, however they were not punished
It was not created  The Treaty of Versailles was created not to establish peace or as
for the right reasons a fair punishment for Germany but for other reasons
 For example, France wanted to take revenge on Germany by
taking away Alsace Lorraine for herself
 For example, the confiscation of land from Germany to create the
Polish Corridor contradicted Woodrow Wilson’s 14 Points about
considering the nationality and interests of the people there. It
showed that the Allied powers were more concerned about their
interests than the good of Europe or Germany when creating the
Treaty of Versailles

On the other hand…

The Treaty of
Versailles was fair Evidence / Details
because:
Germany was  Germany would have done the same if she had won the war
equally unfair to  Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed when Russia surrendered to
others Germany before the end of WW1.
 This treaty was very harsh, Germany took 1/3 of Russia’s
population, ½ of her industrial profits, 9/10 of her coal mines and
demanded to be paid 6000 million marks.
Some lands  Alsace Lorraine which was confiscated, originally belonged to
confiscated from France, but it was captured by Germany in 1870
Germany did not
belong to Germany
in the first place

Food for thought:

 Some historians believe that the Treaty of Versailles was unfair and too harsh on
Germany. They argue that the treaty only made the Germans bitter and determined to
take revenge resulting in the outbreak of World War II in 1939. (More on this in
Chapter 3: Hitler’s Germany)
 There are also criticisms that the Treaty of Versailles created more problems. For
example, new nation-states that were created were weak and unstable, which would
cause more tensions and strife during the post-war period.

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