Paris Peace Treaties (1919-1923)

Versailles; Neuilly; Trianon; St Germain; and Sèvres/Lausanne—aims, issues and responses

Treaty of St. Germain, 1919

Austria was separated from Hungary and reduced to a small landlocked state consisting of only 25 per cent of its pre-war area and 20 per cent of its pre-war population. Due to its shape and size, it became a republic of 7 million people, which many nicknamed ‘the tadpole state’The treaty also required Austria to recognize the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia, and it placed restrictions on the size of its military and economy. .

• Austria lost Bohemia and Moravia – wealthy industrial provinces – to the new state of Czechoslovakia.

• Austria lost Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina to a new state peopled by Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes – a state that, from 1929, became known as Yugoslavia.

• Poland gained Galicia.

• Italy received the South Tyrol, Trentino, and Istria.

• In addition, Anschluss (union with Germany) was forbidden and Austrian armed forces were reduced to 30,000 men. Austria had to pay reparations to the Allies, and by 1922 it was virtually bankrupt and the League of Nations took over its financial affairs.

Treaty of Trianon 1919

Hungary had to recognize the independence of the new states of Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Austria. In this treaty it lost 75 per cent of its pre-war territory and 66 per cent of its pre-war population. In addition:

• Slovakia and Ruthenia were given to Czechoslovakia.

• Croatia and Slovenia were given to Yugoslavia.

• Transylvania and the Banat of Temesvar were given to Romania.

Furthermore, the Hungarian army was limited to 35,000 men and Hungary had to pay reparations. Hungary complained bitterly that the newly formed Hungarian nation was much smaller than the Kingdom of Hungary that had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and that more than 3 million Magyars had been put under foreign rule.

Treaty og Neuilly 1919

Bulgaria lost territory to Greece and Yugoslavia. Significantly, it lost its Aegean coastline and therefore access to the Mediterranean. However, it was the only defeated nation to receive territory, from Turkey.

 

Treaty of Sèvres 1920

The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire had been long expected and both Britain and France hoped to make some gains in the region.

• Syria went to France as a mandate.

• Palestine, Iraq, Transjordan, and Cyprus went to Great Britain.

• Eastern Thrace went to Greece.

• Rhodes and the Dodecanese Islands went to Italy.

• Smyrna was occupied by the Greeks for five years and then a plebiscite was due to be held.

• The Straits (exit from the Black Sea) were to become a demilitarized zone administered by the League of Nations: Britain, France, and Italy were to keep troops in Turkey.

 

The treaty was accepted, yet there was fierce resentment to the terms. The nationalist leader Mustapha Kemal led a National Assembly at Ankara to pledge the unification of Muslim Turks and the rejection of Sèvres. Greece, ambitious for more land, attempted to take advantage of this internal disorder and declared war, but Kemal smashed the Greek advance, captured and burned Smyrna, and finally ejected all Greek soldiers and civilians from Asia. A compromise was agreed upon, however, which resulted in the treaty being revised at Lausanne in Switzerland.

Treaty of Lausanne 1923 - Revision of Sèvres

• Turkey regained Eastern Thrace, Smyrna, some territory along the Syrian border, and several Aegean islands.

• Turkish sovereignty over the Straits was recognized, but the area remained demilitarized.

• Foreign troops were withdrawn from Turkish territory.

• Turkey no longer had to pay reparations or have its army reduced