CIE IGCSE History - Treaty of Versailles

how many soldiers did Britain lose in WW1?

1 million

how many French soldiers were killed or wounded in WW1?

2/3 of those called up

which war took place in 1870 and who won?

franco-Prussian war; Germany won and declared victory from Versailles

what government did Winston Churchill lead and why?

2nd XI government - best politicians were dead

how many British were killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme?

20000

what happened in Russia in 1917?

Bolshevik Revolution

how much did WW1 cost Britain?

35 billion dollars

how much did WW1 cost France?

24 billion dollars

how much did WW1 cost the USA?

22 billion dollars

how many US soldiers died in WW1?

116,000

when was the Paris Peace conference held?

January 1919

where was the Paris Peace Conference held?

Palace of Versailles

who were the Big Three at Versailles?

• Clemenceau

• Lloyd George

• Woodrow Wilson

who was Clemenceau?

• prime minister of France

• 78 years old; 40 years of political experience

• realist and stubborn

who was Lloyd George?

• British prime minister

• brought up in poverty in Wales

• Chancellor of Exchequer prior → brought in liberal reforms

who was Woodrow Wilson?

• president of the USA

• received Nobel Peace Prize for inventing LoN

• idealist

what were Clemenceau’s aims at Versailles?

• to take revenge on and punish Germany - for 1914 invasion and damage caused

• to guarantee French security by making it impossible for Germany to invade again - memory of Franco-Prussian war as well as 1914 - wanted to strengthen border

• to reduce German strength

• to appease French public anger

what were Lloyd George’s aims at Versailles?

• to punish Germany for invading France

• to reduce German naval threat/naval race

• to appease public opinion

• to not make the settlement too harsh → Germany may never recover or seek revenge - feared communism

• to avoid another war and restore trade with Germany

what had Germany been in relation to Britain to do with trade?

Britain’s 2nd biggest trading partner

what were Woodrow Wilson’s aims at Versailles?

• to punish Germany for naval aggression and casualties + public opinion

• not to punish Germany too much - no recovery/revenge

• to apply his ‘14 points’ to the settlement

• to create the League of Nations to keep the peace through collective security

summarise WW’s 14 points

• no secret treaties

• freedom of the seas

• self-determination for peoples of former Austria-Hungary (Czechs and Poles)

what 2 reasons meant that the victors did not get everything they wanted at Versailles?

• different past experiences

• different priorities for future

describe the reason ‘different past experiences’ in more detail

• France had suffered more than Britain and USA, so Clemenceau wanted harsher terms

• Britain suffered less so Lloyd George more generous

• USA suffered no damage at home so WW least motivated by revenge

describe the reason ‘different priorities for future’ in more detail

• French priority was to end threat of invasion by reducing German strength

• British priorities were economy and Empire

• US priority was peace

which country was not present at the ToV?

Germany

why was Germany not present at the ToV?

did not want it’s input to weaken/alter terms of the ToV

what were the 5 (brief) terms of the ToV?

1. Blame

2. Reparations

3. Land Loss

4. Military Restrictions

5. League of Nations

describe term 1 of the ToV: Blame

• Germany had to accept blame for starting the war

• allies included this to belittle Germany and so they had reasoning for the enforced payment of reparations

How did Germany respond to Term 1 of the ToV?

• Hated by Germany as evidence suggested that all nations played a part

• did have some blame however as they invented and tried to action the Schliefflen plan

• did not have a role in the assassination of Duke Franz Ferdinand

describe term 2 of the ToV: reparations

• allies could demand payment for all damage due to blame

• the amount payable was not determined at Versailles, but in 1921 it was set at £6.6 billion (changed in 1929, otherwise would have taken to 1983 to pay off)

• number was so high in order to try and weaken Germany enough to prevent them from going to war again

How did Germany respond to Term 2 of the ToV?

very angry as had to pay the entire cost of war despite being economically weakened

describe term 3 of the ToV: land loss

• 13% of German land was taken:

  • 10% of industrial land

    • 16% of coal fields, 50% of iron fields → Upper Silesia

  • 15% of agricultural land

  • loss of all overseas colonies

  • amounted to 6 million people across Europe and colonial land

• areas included:

  • Saarland and Danzig to LoN control

  • Alsace-Lorraine area to France

  • West Prussia and Posen to Poland (Polish corridor between Germany and East Prussia)

  • colonies: Togoland, Cameroon

• Rhineland demilitarised

• Anschluss forbidden

How did Germany respond to Term 3 of the ToV?

• seemed unfair as land taken had not been gained by Germany in WW1

• lack of self-determination felt unfair

• land that Germany needed to fulfil reparations had been taken away

• allies hypocratic as had expanded empires

describe term 4 of the ToV: military restrictions

• air force disbanded

• army reduced to 100,000 soldiers and no reserves; no conscription

• navy reduced to 15,000 men and 6 battleships, no submarines

• France did not want Germany to be able to start another war

How did Germany respond to Term 4 of the ToV?

• felt that it was very unfair and left them vulnerable

• difficult psychologically as Germany was a very militaristic country - their army had united them in 1870 and was a symbol of pride

• seemed unfair that only they were disarming - French army had 660,000 soldiers and 4 million reserves - Wilson had asked all to disarm

describe term 5 of the ToV: League of Nations

• peace keeping force meant to talk instead of war - to solve nay disputes

• representative from all countries except Germany and her allies were forbidden

• weak as it had no army and lacked all countries so no collective security

How did Germany respond to Term 5 of the ToV?

angry that they couldn’t represent themselves at ToV or LoN

how satisfied was Clemenceau with the ToV?

• very satisfied

• Germany found guilty and weakened economically and militarily

• angry that reparations undecided; Germany allowed an army; Saarland’s future left to plebiscite; President’s idea of breaking Germany up into smaller states ignored

how satisfied was Lloyd George with the ToV?

• satisfied with Germany being found guilty and stripped of naval strength

• satisfied with promise of reparations

• feared reparations may damage trade; feared German desire for revenge; feared implications for British Empire of freedom of seas and self determination (not central however)

how satisfied was Woodrow Wilson with the ToV?

• satisfied with Germany being punished for aggression; set precedent to discourage other nations from starting wars

• satisfied with his ideas of League of Nations being accepted

• angry that self-determination not applied to Germans nor freedom of the seas; concerns about British and French self-interest

what political consequences emerged as a result of the treaty?

• political turmoil emerged in Germany - rise of extremist factions - thought that Government betrayed them at ToV and WW1

• angry at the fact that ethnic Germans were now in other countries

• left wing Spartacist uprising 1919

• nationalist anger at Treaty led to right-wing political violence

• Kapp Putsch - 1920 (Right wing took action - ex-soldiers from the Freikorps)

• assassination of Weimar’s Foreign Minister → 1922 → Rathenau

• Munich Putsch - 1923

what economic consequences emerged as a result of the treaty?

• Ruhr crisis - 1923 - occurred after Germans failed to pay reparations → French and Belgian troops occupied the Ruhr → seized raw materials → German workers went on strike → 100 Germans died

• Hyperinflation - Government just printed more money - reduced value of money - deepened social and economic divisions

what was the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (1917)?

• Germany treaty towards Russia when they withdrew from war

• Stripped Russia of 25% of population as well as most of its best agricultural land

why might the Treaty of Versailles be justifed?

• at the time, most thought it was justified, partly due to anger at lives lost/ruined as well as economic costs and damage to infrastructure

• Germany had issued an equally harsh treaty towards Russia in 1917 (B-L)

• Britain and France had increased taxes to cover war costs, whereas Germany had simply increased its debts; this too meant little British or French sympathy for the reparations demanded

why might the Treaty of Versailles be unjustified?

• short-term impact of Treaty suggests that it did more to destabilise country than increase Allied security

• Allies were hypocritic also - allies did not disarm; Britain and France took opportunity to increase colonial influence in Africa at German expense

• Treaty of Versailles made it easy for Germans to unite behind hatred of Allies - wanted to make Germany a Pariah state, ultimately sowing seeds for ultra-nationalism