Was the Treaty Of Versailles fair?

The big three were:

Woodrow Wilson, George Clemenceau, David Lloyd George

Wilson wanted many things from the treaty of Versailles but he also

Didn't want to be too harsh on Germany

How many points did Wilson make

14

5 examples of Wilson's points

- no secret treaties

- free trade between countries

- League Of Nations to be set up

- All countries work towards disarmament

- Colonies to have a say in their own future

America was the

least affected by the war

Why didn't Wilson want to treat Germany too harshly

He thought that Germany might recover and want revenge, he thought communists might exploit this resentment and seize power in Germany (like Russian in 1917)

When did the Paris peace conference happen

1919-20

Where did the Paris peace conference take place

Palace of Versailles

how long did the Paris peace conference last

12 months

How many nations were supposed to be represented, who wasn't invited

32, nobody from defeated countries

5 treaties were drawn up at the Paris peace conference with the main one being the

Treaty of Versailles

Clemenceau wanted to use the treaty to

cripple Germany

Why did Clemenceau want to cripple Germany

France was affected worst by the war

France suffered damage to its

land, people and industry

How many of the French men who had fought in the war were dead or badly injured

over two thirds

David Lloyd George agreed with ... on many points and believed that Germany shouldn't be punished too harshly so that they wouldn't start another war

Wilson

What did Lloyd George want Germany to lose, why?

Its navy and colonies as they threatened the UK

Lloyd George wanted Britain and Germany to begin...

trading again

Lloyd George didn't want to be too harsh for fear of a

communist revolution (like Russia in 1917)

Lloyd George publicly praised Wilson, but...

in private he was less positive

How many casualties had Britain suffered in the fighting

over one million

For France, the war affect almost a

whole generation

5 main terms of the Treaty Of Versailles

- War guilt

- Reparations

- Territory

- Disarmament

- League of Nations

WAR GUILT: Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war and therefore had to pay

reparations

WAR GUILT: Why was the 'war guilt' clause particularly hated

Germans didn't feel they were the only ones who had started the war and thought that the blame should be shared

WAR GUILT: Germans were bitter that Germany was expected to pay for all the damages even though

German economy was also severely weakened

REPARATIONS: The reparation figure was set at

£6,600 million

REPARATIONS: With this reparations figure, Germany wouldn't have finished paying it off until

1984

TERRITORY: What territory did Germany lose

- 10% of it's land in Europe

- All overseas colonies

- 12.5% of it's population

- 16% of it's coalfields

- almost half it's Iron and Steel industry

TERRITORY: Germany was forbidden

Anschluss with Austria

TERRITORY: two examples of important industrial industries that Germany lost

Saar and Upper Silesia

TERRITORY: as Germany was losing territories,

France and England were increasing their empires by taking control of German territories in Africa

DISARMAMENT: Which country was most concerned about the size and power of the German army

France

DISARMAMENT: How many men was the German army limited to

100,000

DISARMAMENT: ... was banned (soldiers had to be volunteers)

conscription

DISARMAMENT: Germany wasn't allowed,

armoured vehicles, submarines or aircraft

DISARMAMENT: How many battleships was the German navy allowed

6

DISARMAMENT: the Rhineland was the border between

Germany and France

DISARMAMENT: The Rhine became a

demilitarised zone (no German troops allowed into the area)

DISARMAMENT: the Rhineland not being able to become an independent state meant that

Germany would be able to recover economically and trade

LON: Was set up as an

'international police force'

LON: Germany was NOT invited to join the LofN until it had shown it was a

peace loving country

LON: Germany felt insulted by

not being allowed to join the league of nations

What did Wilson Like from the Treaty

- LofN

- Some disarmament (Germany)

- Recreation of independent Poland

- Creation of Czechoslovakia

- Some self determination

- Rhine not an independent state

What did Wilson dislike from the treaty

- thought it was too harsh

- Britain, France and Japan all armed themselves with Germanys colonies

- Not everyone disarmed

- Principle of self - determination inconsistently applied

- US congress didn't agree with the treaty

What did Clemenceau like from the treaty

- return of Alsace Lorraine

- Gained some of Germanys colonies

- Main recipient of reparations

- Security was boosted by both the Germans disarming and the demilitarisation of the Rhine

What didn't Clemenceau like from the treaty

- Not harsh enough

- Made compromises over the Rhine and the Saar for and Anglo American treaty of guarantee which never happened

- France still felt threatened by Germany

In the next French presidential election, Clemenceau

lost showing his failure in the treaty

What did Lloyd George like about the treaty

- able to get Clemenceau to compromise (e.g. on the Rhine)

- gained colonies (east Africa, Tanzania)

- felt the treaty punished Germany enough without destroying it's economy

- German navy removed (sunk at Scapa Flow)

Why was the fact that Lloyd George felt the treaty punished Germany enough without destroying it's economy important

good for British business and prevents communism from spreading

What did Lloyd George dislike about the treaty

- that German speaking people had been placed under French and Polish rule and were now in Czechoslovakia

- Sceptical about league of Nations

- Concerned the treaty might be too harsh

GERMAN OBJECTIONS: Germany originally refused to sign the treaty but eventually did because they realised if they didn't...

war might break out and they would lose

GERMAN OBJECTIONS: Why did the Germans want to share the cost of reparations

they didn't believe that they had started the war

POLITICAL IMPACT: The right wing opponents of Ebert's government couldn't bear the treaty so in 1920 they attempted a a revolution known as the...

Kapp Putsch

POLITICAL IMPACT: when was the Kapp Putsch

1920

POLITICAL IMPACT: The Kapp Putsch was led by

right wing opponents of Ebert's government

POLITICAL IMPACT: the Kapp putsch was defeated by

a general strike by Berlin workers

POLITICAL IMPACT: In the summer of 1922

Germany's foreign minister was murdered by extremists

ECONOMIC IMPACT: The first instalment of £50 million towards reparations was paid in

1921

ECONOMIC IMPACT: In 1922

no reparations were paid

ECONOMIC IMPACT: Ebert tried to negotiate (1922)

concessions with the allies

ECONOMIC IMPACT: IN 1923, France lost patience and

invaded the Ruhr to 'take what was owed to them'

ECONOMIC IMPACT: How many workers did France kill when they invaded the Ruhr in 1923

over 100

ECONOMIC IMPACT: how did the German government 'solve' the problem of not having enough money

by printing more

ECONOMIC IMPACT: printing more money rendered it

essentially worthless and prices shot up

ECONOMIC IMPACT: due to hyperinflations, both ... and ... suffered

savings, pensions