Topic 1 - Treaty of Versailles

~ Treaty of Versailles Notes ~

Verdicts on the Treaty:

·       The treaty angered Germany and did not even satisfy the Big Three

·       America (Woodrow Wilson)

o      Got a League of Nations

o      Self-determination for the peoples of Eastern Europe

o      Didn’t get all his ‘Fourteen Points’ in the treaty

o      When Wilson went back to America, the Senate refused to join the League of Nations and even refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles

·       England (Lloyd George)

o      Many people wanted to ‘make Germany pay’

o      Got some German colonies (expanded British Empire)

o      The small German navy helped Britain ‘rule the seas’

o      But, Lloyd George thought the treaty was too harsh and would ruin Germany

o      He thought it would cause another war in 25 years time

·       France (Georges Clemenceau)

o      Wanted revenge

o      Wanted reparations (would repair the damage to France)

o      Wanted a tiny army

o      Wanted demilitarized zone in Rhineland

o      Got Alsace Lorraine, and German colonies

 

Fourteen Points:

Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points were first outlined in a speech Wilson gave to the American Congress in January 1918. Wilson's Fourteen Points became the basis for a peace programme and it was on the back of the Fourteen Points that Germany and her allies agreed to an armistice in November 1918.

1. No more secret agreements ("Open covenants openly arrived at").

2. Free navigation of all seas.

3. An end to all economic barriers between countries.

4. Countries to reduce weapon numbers.

5. All decisions regarding the colonies should be impartial

6. The German Army is to be removed from Russia. Russia should be left to develop her own political set-up.

7. Belgium should be independent like before the war.

8. France should be fully liberated and allowed to recover Alsace-Lorraine

9. All Italians are to be allowed to live in Italy. Italy's borders are to "along clearly recognisable lines of nationality."

10. Self-determination should be allowed for all those living in Austria-Hungary.

11. Self-determination and guarantees of independence should be allowed for the Balkan states.

12. The Turkish people should be governed by the Turkish government. Non-Turks in the old Turkish Empire should govern themselves.

13. An independent Poland should be created which should have access to the sea.

14. A League of Nations should be set up to guarantee the political and territorial independence of all states. 

v    America did not sign Fourteen Points because

o      Didn’t join League of nations

o      Reparations

o      War guilt clause

o      African colonies

o      Congress and senate control/in charge of foreign policy

v    Fourteen Points was aimed to please general American public to convince them they had fought for something (democracy)

Territorial

v    The following land was taken away from Germany:

o      Alsace-Lorraine (given to France)

o      Eupen and Malmedy (given to Belgium)

o      Northern Schleswig (given to Denmark)

o      Hultschin (given to Czechoslovakia)

o      West Prussia, Posen and Upper Silesia (given to Poland)

v    The Saar, Danzig and Memel were put under the control of the League of Nations and the people of these regions would be allowed to vote to stay in Germany or not in a future referendum.

v    The League of Nations also took control of Germany's overseas colonies.
Germany had to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Some of this land was made into new states : Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. An enlarged Poland also received some of this land.

Military

v    Germany’s army was reduced to 100,000 men; the army was not allowed tanks

v    She was not allowed an airforce She was allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines The west of the Rhineland and 50 kms east of the River Rhine was made into a demilitarised zone (DMZ). No German soldier or weapon was allowed into this zone. The Allies were to keep an army of occupation on the west bank of the Rhine for 15 years.

Financial

v    The loss of vital industrial territory would be a severe blow to any attempts by Germany to rebuild her economy. Coal from the Saar and Upper Silesia in particular was a vital economic loss. Combined with the financial penalties linked to reparations, it seemed clear to Germany that the Allies wanted nothing else but to bankrupt her.

v    Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria to form one superstate, in an attempt to keep her economic potential to a minimum.

v    General

v    There are three vital clauses here:

v    Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting the war. This was Clause 231 - the infamous "War Guilt Clause". 2. Germany, as she was responsible for starting the war as stated in clause 231, was, therefore responsible for all the war damage caused by the First World War. Therefore, she had to pay reparations, the bulk of which would go to France and Belgium to pay for the damage done to the infrastructure of both countries by the war. Quite literally, reparations would be used to pay for the damage to be repaired. Payment could be in kind or cash. The figure was not set at Versailles - it was to be determined later. The Germans were told to write a blank cheque which the Allies would cash when it suited them. The figure was eventually put at £6,600 million - a huge sum of money well beyond Germany’s ability to pay.

v    A League of Nations was set up to keep world peace. 
In fact, the first 26 clauses of the treaty dealt with the League's organisation.