HISTORY NOTES – TREATY OF VERSAILLES

BY – AKSHITA PODDAR

”The Big Three”

Source - https://www.historyonthenet.com/world-war-one-the-treaty-of-versailles
AIMS OF WOODROW WILSON – USA – THE FOURTEEN POINTS

 No more secret treaties

 No restrictions on the seas during peace or war
 Abolish economic barriers such as quotas and tariffs – establish free trade
 Reduce armament in all countries to the extent of having enough just for protection
 Self determination – colonies , Austro-Hungarian Empire – ethnic groups
 Alsace Lorraine return to France , German troops leave Russia , Belgium’s independence should be restored
 frontiers of Italy should be adjusted.
 The Turkish parts of the Ottoman Empire form one state whereas the other nationalities have their own state
 Romania , Serbia and Montenegro should be restored
 Poland should be made independent with sea access
 League of Nations an international body formed to form collective security and peace.
LLOYD GEORGE -BRITAIN
 British public wanted heavy revenge from Germany
because of the damage caused.
 Lloyd George wanted a moderate peace treaty to help
Europe build economically – British self –interest
 Aimed to re-establish a balance of power so that no one
power could dominate.
 Improve and build trade relations with different countries.
 Preserve the British naval supremacy to guard the
British Empire and the naval trade routes.
ITALY – VITTORIO ORLANDO
 Italy’s main objective was to receive the lands it
was promised during the Secret Treaty
 Trieste , southern Tyrol , northern Dalmatia and
some more territories
 However , it did not receive any of the lands it was
promised in return of entering the war which left
Italy very angry.
 Italy suffered severe losses in the Treaty of
Versailles.
GEORGES CLEMENCEAU – FRANCE = VERY AGGRESSIVE
POLICY

 He wanted Germany to pay – wanted large sums of reparations and make Germany so weak that never invades
France a third time.
 His motives were formed by recent history – invasion of France in 1870 –wanted France to be safe from Germany.
 Disarmament of Germany militarily – navy , air force, army
 Return of Alsace Lorraine and Saarland – rich coalfields to be given back to France
 Rhineland (area of Rhine between France and Germany be made an independent state to ensure a buffer zone
 German colonies to be given to France
 There was no boundary between France and Germany-no geographical obstacle –Clemenceau wanted to weaken
Germany and create a boundary
 His aims were shared by the French public
 it was a diktat , Germany
had no option but to
accept the terms of the
treaty which were very
harsh.

article 231 blamed

Germany and the Central
the big three all had to

TREATY OF
Powers for starting the
compromise on their
war , and gave them full
demands
responsibility for the war

VERSAILLES
in 1914/

Basic information

formed at the Paris peace

was formed after 6
conference - Germany
months of negotiation for
and Russia not present
the main central power
and did not give their
country - Germany
views.

LAND
all German colonies went to
the Allied Powers .Poland was
given the Polish corridor to
give a water route which cut
East Prussia from Germany.
Alsace -Lorraine was given to
France and Saar coalfields
were also given to France for
15 years.
ARMAMENTS
The German army would be
limited to 100,000 soldiers
and it would be excluded
from trade of arms. Germany
could also not use, make or
store chemical weapons, tanks
and armoured cars.
It would have no air force and
its navy would be limited to
six battleships.
LAND
CONTINUED
Danzig was made a free city
run by the League of
Nations . Memel was
administered by France and
given to Lithuania . Posen a
rich farmland was given to
Poland.
Anschluss or union with
Austria was forbidden for
Germany. Eupen and
Malmedy were given to
Belgium and north Schleswig
was given to Denmark.
 LEAGUE OF • Germany was prohibited from joining the League of Nations until it proved

NATIONS AND that it was a peaceful country.

• The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk would be cancelled and the land was made
into Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania - 3 new states
TREATY
• There were reparations that were going to be set by a separate Reparations
Commission in 1921, as there was not enough time to calculate all the war
REPARATIONS expenses.
• In May, 1921 , the commission announced that Germany had to pay the
huge sum o 6.6 billion euros which was impossible for Germany to pay.

• Germany lost 13% of its land , 26% of its coal deposits , 75% of iron ore
deposits.
OTHERS • Rhineland remained with Germany however it was demilitarised , allied
troops would be stationed there for 15 years with no German soldiers being
stationed there.
 TREATY OF SAINT GERMAIN
 10TH SEPTEMBER 1919-AUSTRIA.
 Conscription was established and the Austrian Army
was limited to 30,000 soldiers.
 Article 88 of the treaty forbade Austria to join Germany.
 Reparations were not set because Austria went bankrupt
before the sum could be set.
 Allied powers assumed that the minorities wanted to
leave
Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the successive states
had
Significant numbers of German speakers
TREATY OF TRIANON
 4TH JUNE 1920-HUNGARY = FORMED AFTER
THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE
 It became land-locked , its population was just 7.6
million(36% of the pre-war population)
 3.3 million ethnic Hungarians were living outside
Hungary
 The army was limited to 35,000 and it had no navy
 Reparations were hardly paid as the Hungarian
economy was close to bankruptcy
 Most Hungarians detested the Treaty and considered it
very insulting and unjustified.
 TREATY OF NEUILLY TREATY OF SÈRVES

TURKEY -10th AUGUST 1920

 BULGARIA -27TH NOVEMBER 1919
 Western Thrace was given to Greece and Bulgaria  A lot of territory was given to Britain , France
did
 No air force , army of 50,700 men
not have access to the Aegean Sea, some other The Allies were to control the Ottoman finances and
land supervise the national budget and Ottoman Bank
was given to Yugoslavia and Romania
 Army was reduced 20,000 men , no air force TREATY OF LAUSANNE
 Reparations – 100 million euros
TURKEY - 24TH JULY 1923- renegotiated
It was known as the Second National Catastrophe
 No reparations or military restrictions
 Turkey gave up its claims to Cyprus , Egypt , Sudan , Syria
and Iraq.
 Boundaries of Turkey , Bulgaria and Greece were settled
WHY DID THE BIG THREE NOT GET WHAT THEY WANTED-

 Each country had very different aims which they wanted to fulfil which were not commonly shared by other countries
 Some of the aims of the countries were not very feasible and were something that directly threatened other powers in
the big three so they were refused.

 WOODROW WILSON – USA

 He was very idealistic and his main motive was to bring about world peace
 Several of his aims were clashing with those of different powers like Britain and France
 He wanted free waters which was nulled by Britain whose navy was its strength
 He wanted colonies of Germany to be mandates or follow self-determination which France and Britain were against
because they both were empires and wanted to have a part in ruling the colonies.
 CONTINUED

 GEORGR CLEMENCEAU - FRANCE  LLOYD GEORGE – BRITAIN

 He was very aggressive and his aims were very harsh
 He was the one who gained the most out of the
while Britain and USA wanted a more suitable and
treaty of Versailles because he was the one who
less harsh treaty
was sort of in the middle of both Wilson and
 Most of his aims were just regarding France and other Clemenceau.
countries had aims related to their countries so
therefore not all his aims were agreed upon  However, he wanted the treaty of Versailles to
not be that harsh but had to comply with the
British people who wanted the treaty o be harsh
and get revenge.
The biggest aim that he did not achieve was that France
was still not as secure against Germany and there could be
another invasion.
POLITICAL IMPACT OF TREATY ON GERMANY

 The people hated the Weimar politicians for signing the treat and did not trust them with running Germany
 A group called the Freikorps emerged which included ex-servicemen
 In March , 1920 , a coup was staged to install a right wing government and overturn the Treaty of Versailles
however the coup collapsed due to a strike.
 Several politicians and political activists were being murdered such as Matthias Erzberger, the finance minister.
 A right wing takeover took place in the Bavarian republic in May 1919
 The Munich Putsch took place
 Russia and Germany became closer due to the Treaty of Versailles – Treaty of Rapallo -16 April , 1922 and started
working together and cooperating
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE TREATY ON GERMANY

 The Germans did not know the amount of reparations they had to give in the treaty of Versailles until May , 1921
where the amount was announced to be euros 6.6 billion.
 Germany did not have the resources to pay the reparations as it had lost 26% of its coal deposits , 75% of its iron
ore etc.
 WW1 had already left the German economy in a poor state where spending was higher than income which led to
an inflation and the reparations worsened the situation
 There was heavy rise in prices of goods and paper money started loosing its worth.
SOCIAL IMPACT OF THE TREATY ON GERMANY

 People lost hope in the government and started revolting which caused a lot of disruption and turmoil in the
societal structure
 There was increased class system where people thought themselves superior than others.
 Groups like the Freikorps emerged which had very radical ideologies
 Due to the different boundaries created between countries due to Treaty of Versailles there was displacement of
people from their homeland and a refugee crisis occurred
 Germans living in other parts of Europe were not welcomed and were told to leave the country leaving them in
poverty , with no home.
CAUSES OF HYPER INFLATION

 The large sums of reparations that Germany needed to pay

 The French and Belgians invasion of the Ruhr to take the reparations themselves when Germany failed to pay the
reparations on time
 The government kept printing more and more money to pay workers who had gone on strike and therefore money
started losing its worth
 The workers went on strike to make sure that that the invaders wouldn’t get what they wanted but income fell as
the Ruhr was a industrial region
DETAILS OF THE HYPER INFLATION

 The government called for non-violent opposition against the invaders and German industry stopped in the Ruhr
which led to loss of income
 Miners and workers went on strike and the government paid them for which they printed more money and
peoples money and savings became worthless . In 1923, 300 paper mills and 2000 printing companies worked all
day to print money.
 The occupation prevented resources like coal , iron and steel from reaching the rest of Germany and reduced
income in exports and trade
 Violence increased as people sabotaged the railway lines and bridges and led operations
 Unemployment was also wide-spread as people were not being able to work
SOLUTIONS TO THE INFLATION

 The currency was charged to the Rentenmark and all the old currency was collected and burnt
 The French and Belgium occupation was stopped
 The strikes were called off by the new coalition government
 Germany had the sympathy of the international community and the reparations amount was changed significantly
 The French agreed to the Dawes Plan of 1924 under American pressure which reduced the reparation payments
 American Banks also loaned large sums of money like 800 million marks to the German government for
redevelopment and building
JUSTIFICATION OF THE TREATIES

 The treaties were very harsh and had a large negative impact in the long run but at that point of time it was the
best the countries could manage taking into account :
 Public pressure
 Secret treaties and the redesigning of political boundaries
 At that time they felt that a harsh treaty would help contain Germany
 The difference of opinion of different countries in regards of their aims from the treaty
 There were a lot of factors to think of especially all of the central powers
OPPOSITE SIDE – THE TREATIES WERE NOT JUSTIFIED

 Countries like Germany and Russia who were largely involved in the issue were not invited to the Paris Peace
Conference
 The defeated powers were blamed for the war even when it was not necessarily their fault
 The reparations for Germany had not even been set until 1921 which was unjust
 The treaty was a diktat and there was no room for negotiation and it was forced onto Germany
 Germany was left in a position where it could not fend for itself and it was just an armistice for a short while
before world war 2 started.