Chapter 3: Attempts to Make and Keep Peace: The Paris Peace Conference and The League of Nations in the 1920s

Paris Peace Conference - Context, Aims and Compromises

The Paris Peace Conference took place between January and June 1919 in France.
It involved leaders of countries that participated in World War I (WWI).
The conference aimed to officially end the war by establishing treaties between the victorious Allies (Britain, France, Italy, and the United States) and the defeated powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, and their allies).
The main purpose was to decide the terms of these treaties.

Public Sentiments of the Allies in 1919

The people of the Allied countries, particularly Britain and France, believed Germany was responsible for the war and should be punished.
Total casualties on both sides exceeded nine million, including killed and injured.
Civilians faced shortages of food and medicine, and large areas of Belgium and France were devastated.

The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk

Germany forced Russia to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.
Russia had to give Germany large areas of agricultural land, industrial areas, and coal mines.
Russia lost a third of its population and resources, such as oil and iron stores.
Russia was required to pay 6 billion marks in reparations to Germany.

Paris Peace Conference and its Impacts

Key terms of the Treaty of Versailles.
Reactions of Germany towards the Treaty of Versailles.
Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany.
Judgement of the Paris Peace Conference.

The Aims of the Big Three at the Paris Peace Conference

The main leaders at the Paris Peace Conference were Britain (David Lloyd George), France (Georges Clemenceau), and the United States (Woodrow Wilson).
They were known as the Big Three.
David Lloyd George (Britain):
- Believed Germany should be punished but not overly harshly.
- In a middle-ground position between Wilson and Clemenceau.
- Wanted to rebuild Britain's economy and deter Russia from spreading communist beliefs in Europe.
- A weak Germany was detrimental to Britain's economy and security.
- Concerned about the idea of self-determination.
Georges Clemenceau (France):
- Wanted to punish Germany severely for the damages inflicted on France and to receive reparations.
- Wanted Germany to be weakened so that it could not threaten France again.
- Concerned about the idea of self-determination.
Woodrow Wilson (United States):
- Seen as the Idealist, whose aim was to build a better and more peaceful world after WWI
- Believed in self-determination - nations should rule themselves rather than be ruled by others
- Least harsh towards Germany

Compromises Made at the Paris Peace Conference

Clemenceau's Compromises:
- Had to give up its aim of breaking up Germany.
- Allowed Eastern European countries to determine if they want to rule themselves.
Clemenceau's Gains:
- Was able to get Germany to pay reparations to cover the damages
- Some control of Germany’s Rhineland and coalfields in the Saar.
Wilson's Compromises:
- allowed Eastern European countries to determine if they want to rule themselves
Wilson's Gains:
- Was able to achieve its aim of self-determination by allowing Eastern European countries to determine if they want to rule
Lloyd Georges' Compromises:
- allowed all countries to have access to the seas which he was hesistant to as it reduced the supremacy of the Royal Navy

Key Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

The Allies announced the terms of the Treaty of Versailles signed with Germany in June 1919 after six months of discussions and disagreements.
Key terms:
1. War Guilt Clause:
  - Under Article 231, Germany had to accept total blame for starting the war.
2. Reparations:
  - Germany had to pay $6.6$ billion pounds as reparations to the Allies for war damage. This figure was set in 1921.
3. Territory Changes:
  - Germany lost 10% of its land and 12.5% of its population.
  - Was forbidden to make alliances with Austria to form an Anschluss (union).
  - Germany had to give up its overseas empire. Former German colonies became mandates controlled by the League of Nations, effectively under French or British control.
4. Armed Forces:
  - The army was limited to $100,000$ men.
  - Conscription was banned; soldiers had to be volunteers.
  - No armoured vehicles, submarines, or aircraft were allowed.
  - The navy could have only six battleships.
  - The Rhineland, the border area between Germany and France, was demilitarised.
5. League of Nations:
  - The League of Nations was set up as an international body to help countries resolve disputes and enforce decisions. Germany was not allowed to join.

Germany's Reaction

Germans were appalled by the Treaty of Versailles because:
1. Germany had not been consulted about the terms of the Treaty.
  - The German Chancellor chose to resign rather than sign it.
  - His successor asked for small revisions, but the Allies demanded Germany sign it or face an invasion within 24 hours.
  - A German delegation travelled to Paris to sign the Treaty on June 28, 1919.
2. Most Germans did not know their army had been defeated in the war.
  - The Armistice in 1918 came as a shock.
  - Regular updates from the German Army had misled them on Germany's progress in the war.
  - The terms of the Treaty horrified the Germans.
  - Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war.

Reasons for German Resentment towards the Treaty of Versailles

War Guilt Clause:
- The Germans did not feel they alone had started the war.
German territories:
- Losing so much territory was a major blow to German pride and its economy.
- Thousands of Germans would have to live under the rule of other governments in Poland and Czechoslovakia.
- Germans in Danzig would be cut off from the rest of Germany to give Poland access to the sea.
Disarmament:
- An army of $100,000$ was very small for Germany.
- The army was a symbol of German pride.
- None of the Allies were disarmed to the same extent.
Reparations:
- Germany already had huge debts from the war effort.
- Many Germans feared reparations would ruin the economy.
The League of Nations:
- Being left out of the international body felt like a further insult to Germany.

Possible explanations for Germans’ resentment of the Treaty of Versailles

Disarmament: It weakened Germany to the point that it could not defend itself, which was unfair.
Reparations: Germany was unable to pay the heavy reparations, and it did not allow Germany's economy to recover.
War Guilt Clause: It assigned sole blame of the war on Germany, and its acceptance meant that Germany had to agree to the detrimental terms of the Treaty of Versailles.

Impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany

The Treaty of Versailles proved to be damaging for Germany in the short, medium and long term.

Recap on the Paris Peace Conference and the Treaty of Versailles

The negotiation of the various treaties at the Paris Peace Conference was not easy.
Different leaders wanted different things, and they also had to take into consideration the interests and concerns of their people.
Although the Treaty of Versailles was eventually signed, it was not a popular treaty with the Germans.
Even though it may be easy for us today to question the harshness of the Treaty of Versailles towards Germany, we have to keep in mind the considerations of the various leaders at that point in time.

Aims and Concerns about the League of Nations

Aims of the League of Nations.
Concerns about the League of Nations.

Aims of the League of Nations

Before WWI, countries in Europe relied on forming alliances, thinking this would prevent wars.
After WWI, many nations believed the alliance system had failed. Thus, they decided to try internationalism, which is building up cooperation between countries.
The most significant means of international cooperation in the post-war world was the League of Nations.
The League of Nations was set up to resolve international disputes without going to war.

Wilson’s vision for the League

Wilson’s vision for the League was a world government and police force.
In theory, all the major countries would join the League, bind themselves to its Covenant and disarm
If they had a dispute with another country, they would take it to the League and accept its decisions.
Definition; disarm  to take away or reduce weapons or armies
League members would also promise to protect one another if attacked.
This arrangement was called collective security. ( keep peace together)
If any member broke the Covenant and went to war illegally, other members would impose economic sanctions. This meant they would stop trading with that country.
As a last resort, the League could take military action against an aggressor nation.
Definition; collective security  A system where nations agree not to attack each other and to defend each other against any attack

Organisation of the League of Nations

The General Assembly
- Members met in the General Assembly, which is similar to a Parliament.
The Secretariat
- It handled day-to-day work such as preparing the agenda for meetings and publishing records of the meetings.
Permanent Court of Justice
- Fifteen judges met at the Hague in the Netherlands. They settled international disputes, such as those over frontiers or fishing rights.
The Council
- It consisted of four permanent members (Britain, France, Italy and Japan) and four (later nine) other members that were elected by the General Assembly every three years. Its members discussed and decided the most important issues.
Agencies and Commissions
- They attempted to tackle medical, economic and humanitarian issues. They included the High Commission for Refugees and the Health Organisation.

Concerns about the League of Nations

Not all the leaders of the major powers were convinced by Wilson's vision for the League of Nations.
Lloyd George wanted a simpler organisation that met only in emergencies
Clemenceau was also sceptical about the League. Like Lloyd George, he wanted his country to be free to act independently.
Besides Britain and France, other member countries were also not convinced of Wilson's vision.
By joining the League, members were expected to disarm but they were reluctant to as they would not be able to protect their territories and interests if they were to do so.
Member countries were also concerned about the impact of economic sanctions on their economies
Therefore, they were reluctant to stop trading with the offending countries.
Although the League could take military action against an aggressive country as a last resort, this was difficult to do. This was because the League did not have any army of its own.
Another major cause of concern was the absence of the United States in the League as the US Congress refused to the Treaty of Versailles or allow the United States to join the League.
Without the United States in the League, economic sanctions would be difficult to enforce.
The United States could continue supplying weapons and goods to aggressor countries even if the League imposed military or economic sanctions.
This meant that aggressor countries would not be as badly affected as they could continue to trade with the United States which was the world’s largest economy.
The United States also had one of the most powerful militaries.
The absence of the United States from the League made it difficult to take strong action against aggressor countries even if the League chose to take military action as a last resort.
The USSR was not included in the League too as they were communist. This meant that the two of the world's major powers were not part of the League.

Attempts to Keep Peace in the 1920s

The Paris Peace Conference.
The main historical actors involved in the Paris Peace Conference.
The aims of the historical actors.
The outcomes of the Peace Peace Conference.

The League in the 1920s

The League was always going to be judged primarily on whether it could prevent war between member nations.
This was extremely challenging. For example, the peace treaties had created a whole new set of states, which meant new borders.
Redrawing the borders of a country on a map was easy enough but enforcing these new borders in practical terms was much more difficult.
The 1920s were a busy time for the League. During that period, it had to deal with over 60 disputes.
The League was also involved in social and humanitarian work.
It was able to resolve the issues with the prisoners of war from WWI and address international problems related to slavery, drugs and disease.

Which dispute/s was the League able to resolve?

The League was successful in resolving these disputes as the major member states, Britain and France, were committed to maintaining peace and supported the League of Nations' decision.
It is also important to note that the League of Nations was only generally successful in resolving disputes where major countries were not involved and when the League's major member states' (Britain and France) interests were not being threatened.

Which of the dispute/s was the League ineffective in resolving?

Vilna, 1920
- In 1920, Poland took control of Vilna, the Lithuanian capital. Lithuania appealed to the League. However, the League could not make Poland withdraw. Britain and France were reluctant to act because Poland was a potential ally against Germany.
Corfu, 1923
- One of the borders that had to be decided after the war was between Albania and Greece. The Conference of Ambassadors was given this task. Three Italian officials were killed while surveying the Greek side of the frontier area. Italian leader Benito Mussolini blamed the Greeks, demanded compensation, and attacked and occupied the Greek island of Corfu. Greece appealed to the League for help but Mussolini insisted that this dispute should be resolved by the Conference of Ambassadors, not the League. The British wanted to stand up to Mussolini. However, the French was involved in a dispute with Germany in the Ruhr region over reparations and did not want a dispute with Italy as well.
- In the end, Mussolini got his way. The Conference of Ambassadors ruled that the Greeks must apologise and pay compensation directly to Italy. If Britain and France had stood together, Mussolini would probably not have gotten his way.
The League was ineffective in resolving these disputes because the major powers in the League, i.e. Britain and France, did not have the resolve as well as were unwilling to take action against the aggressor nations due to their own interests and issues at hand.
At times, Britain and France were also focused on recovering from World War I and did not want to risk going to war again which would impact their economies adversely.
In addition, even though the League could take military action against an aggressor nation as a last resort, this was difficult to do as the League did not have an army of its own.

Agreements Signed by Major Powers to Keep Peace

Outside the League of Nations, the major powers also worked together to reach several agreements that sought to maintain world peace.
The Dawes Plan (1924)
- Represented by the United States, Britain, Italy and France, the Plan helped Germany's economy recover from hyperinflation and restructure its reparation payments. It ended a crisis in Europe by removing French and Belgian troops from the German Ruhr region so that the area could start production to generate money. At the same time, the United States also loaned Germany large sums of money to support its economy.
The Locarno Treaties (1925)
- This series of treaties sought to maintain peace in Europe among Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Belgium. Germany accepted its western borders as set out in the Treaty of Versailles. This decision reassured France and paved the way for Germany to join the League of Nations. However, nothing was decided about Germany's eastern borders with Poland and Czechoslovakia. These states remained nervous about Germany.
The Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928)
- This was an agreement between 65 nations not to use force to settle disputes.
The Young Plan (1929)
- The Plan was also intended by the former war time allies to support Germany's economy and ensure that Germany could pay the reparations. The plan sought to reduce the reparation amount and extend the repayment period. However, the Plan had barely been put into effect when the Great Depression of 1920 began.
Rapallo Treaty (1922)
- The USSR and Germany re-established diplomatic relations.

Looking back on the effectiveness of the LON

In many ways, the task of the League of Nations in the 1920s was a difficult one. It had to deal with many different challenges. Many would tend to judge the League as ineffective as it failed to prevent the outbreak of World War II.
On the other hand, the League of Nations was effective in the 1920s as it provided a platform for countries to raise and resolve any international disputes as well as extending humanitarian aid to refugees and supporting measures in tackling diseases such as malaria.