WERE THE PEACE TREATIES OF 1919-1923 FAIR?

BACKGROUND:
What led to them?
- End of WWI= reparations, who is to be blamed?
- Allies as the winners get to decide…. BUT! Will they be fair?
- Armistice signed on 11/11/11….1918
o At 11 o’clock, 11th day of 11th month 1918
- Towards the end of the war Allied powers much better supplied/coordinated
- US President Wilson Woodrow – came up with a plan for a just world based on the
Allies aims to end WWI… 14 Points Plan
o SUMMARY OF GENERAL POINTS:
1. No secret treaties
2. Freedom of the seas for all nations
3. Removal of all econ. Barriers
4. Reduction of national armaments
5. Adjustment of colonial claims so they were fair to both the imperialist
powers and the colonial claims so they were fair to both the imperialist
powers and the colonial peoples
6. Establishment of ‘a general association of nations’ to guarantee
political independence and protection to small and large states alike
TREATY OF VERSAILLES 1919:
Expectations of the peace treaty
- The people of Europe wanted lasting peace
- However, many people felt that Germany should be made to pay for the damage done
- Germans expected that the peace treaty will be based on Wilson’s 14 points plan
- neither Britain nor France was willing to base a peace settlement on the fourteen
points after November 1918. As both controlled large Empires, they realised that
Wilson’s view of colonies would cause them problems as well.
The Paris Peace Conference
- meeting of victourious nations to write the terms for peace following WWI
o US (Woodrow Wilson)
o UK(PM David Llyod George)
o France (PM Georges Clemenceu)
o Italy (PM Vittorio Orlando)
- PROBLEM! = some countries excluded form the process
- Europe allies = not forgiving
- Destruction caused by war also brought up question about reparations – PAYMENT
FOR WAR DAMAGES
o Many of the allies believed Germany should pay
- LEAGUE OF NATIONS to be established
What kind of Peace?
 - 2 conflicting points of view
- US believed the peace settlement should be FAIR and not so harsh that it would kindle
future wars
- French, British, Italian = hatred toward Germany, believed Germany started the war
and should be blamed for it, believed that to ensure lasting peace they need to prevent
Germany from ever being powerful again
- BLAME=PAY
- Clemenceu proposed that the only way to keep France safe is to break up Germany
and have Allied forces occupy its various region ….. didn’t go through with this
- After 6 months= TREATY OF VERSAILLES
- Allied powers also made peace treaties with each of the Central Powers (Germany,
Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, Austria, Hungary)
- Wilson disappointed= treaty very harsh
- Germans= FURIOUS called it the DICTAT
Terms:
- Germany to pay all reparations
- Alsace- Lorraine = back to France
- Belgium gained some territory
- Germany agreed not to fortify Rhineland
- Germany to abolish its military draft and not allowed to manufacture heavy artillery,
tanks or military airplanes
- This meant= Germany unable to start a war
- Allies lacked ability to enforce terms

Other Treaties of 1919-1923

- Treat of St Germain (1919)
- Treaty of Trianon (1920)
- Treaty of Neuilly (1919)
- Treaty of Sevres

Treaty of Saint Germain

- Signed 10 September 1919
- In relation with AUSTRIA
Terms:
- Disarmament – Austria to limit army to a force of 30,000 volunteers, no navy or air
force
- Reparations – Austria did not pay much in reparations as her economy was too weak
- Loss of territory –
o Austro-Hungarian empire dismantled
o Tyrol lost to Italy
o Dalmatia & Bosnia Herzegovina lost to Yugoslavia
 o Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania all gained land
o Population fell from 22 million to around 6 million

Treaty of Trianon:
- Signed 4 June 1920
- Signed with HUNGARY
Terms:
- Limit army to a force of 35,000 volunteers and three patrol boats
- Reparations - apart from some shipments of coal, Hungary could not meet the
demands for reparations. As a result, the payments were suspended
- Land lost –
o Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled
o Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania all gained land
o Population fell from 21 million to cca 7.5 million
o Outcome- 2/3 of land lost
Treaty of Neuilly
- Signed 27 Nov 1919
- Signed with Bulgaria
- Disarmament - army limited to a force of 20,000 volunteers, four torpedo
boats, no air force
- Reparations - set at £100 million
- Land lost - land lost to Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece
Treaty of Sevres
- Signed 10 August 1920
- Signed with Turkey
- Ottoman Empire renamed Turkey
- Created Armenia
- Greece/ Italy gained land
- Created Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
- Mandates given Britain (Iraq and Palestine) and France( Lebanon and Syria)
- Disarmament - 50,000 soldiers, seven sailboats and six torpedo boats. No air
force
- Reparations - the economy was to be controlled by the Allies
- Land lost - the Ottoman Empire was broken up.
o areas such as Iraq and Palestine became British mandates
o Syria became a French mandate
o the Straits of the Dardanelles would be placed under international
control
o Armenia became an independent country
 - The treaty provoked a backlash in Turkey. Turkish nationalists, led by Kemel Attaturk,
rebelled against the Sultan and rejected the treaty. In 1923 a new treaty was signed
at Lausanne in Switzerland. This removed foreign control over the economy. Turkey
also regained land and some control over the Dardanelles.

The League of Nations

- Set up by ToV
- USA proposed but didn’t join
- Main Aims:
o To promote international cooperation
o To keep peace among nations by settling disputes and reducing armaments
- An assembly, council, secretariat
- To work closely with the Permanent Court of International Justice = World Court
- Assembly = representatives of all members nations (each 1 vote)
- The council to be the main peace keeping body= 9 members
o 5 permanent = US, France, Italy,GB, Japan
o The rest rotate
- Members not go to war on any disputes
- If a nations broke this = sanctions