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Background:
In the aftermath of the First World War, four empires disappeared; the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires. Four dynasties and their ancillary aristocracies fell due to the war; the Hohenzollerns, the Habsburgs, the Ottomans, and the Romanovs.
Numerous nations regained their former independence and new ones were created.
Belgium and Serbia were badly damaged as well as Russia, France, and Germany.
Germany signed the armistice on 11 November 1918, and all nations agreed to stop fighting until the peace terms were negotiated till then, a formal state of war persisted between the two sides until the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
Paris Peace Conference:
It was a formal meeting between the victorious Allies (France, Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States) to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria).
Although Russia had fought alongside the Allies, it withdrew in December 1917 following the Bolshevik Revolution. Since the Allies refused to recognise the new government, its diplomats were not invited to the peace conferences.
The Conference took place in the Palace of Versailles, France, and is often referred to as the ‘Versailles Conference’, but only the signing of the first treaty took place here.
It was under the leadership of Georges Clemenceau.
There was a council of ten with two members from the five leading countries; the USA, Britain, France, Italy, and Japan.
There were over 50 commissions to advise on the topics such as prisoners of war, undersea cables, and who started the war.
The Conference lasted for 12 months; from January 1919 to January 1920.
The Conference involved diplomats from 32 countries and nationalities but no one from the defeated countries was invited.
The Conference was controlled and all important decisions were taken by the Big Three; British Prime Minister Lloyd George, French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and US President Woodrow Wilson.
The Big Three were supported by many diplomats and expert advisors but they often ignored their advice.
The Big Three met informally over one hundred and forty times.
The Conference resulted in five controversial treaties that rearranged the map of Europe and parts of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific Islands.
War Aims of the Allies:
Britain:
Monarch: King George V
Prime Minister: Lloyd George (Liberal)
Lloyd George won the elections in Britain in 1916 with slogans such as ‘Hang the Kaiser’ and talk of getting from Germany ‘everything that can squeeze from a lemon and a bit more.’
The British public, therefore, expected and wanted a harsh settlement however, Lloyd Geroge himself wanted a less severe settlement because;
i. He didn't want Germany to take revenge in the future and start another war or for it to experience a communist revolution.
ii. He wanted Germany to recover quickly so that it could resume its role as a major
customer of British goods. Trade with Germany also meant jobs for the British.
Defence of democracy.
Germany lost its navy and colonies - Britain considered it a threat to its empire.
France to regain Alsace-Lorraine.
Restoration of Belgium and Serbia.
An independent Poland.
Colonies in the Middle East (the area that was previously under Ottoman Rule).
Democratic self-government for nationalities of Austria-Hungary.
An international organisation to prevent war.
Lloyd George clashed with Clemenceau over his desire for a less severe peace settlement since Lloyd George wanted to treat Germany fairly in Europe, where France was more under threat whereas, he didn’t want to grant Germany any colonial, naval, and commercial concessions since that were against Britain’s interest.
Lloyd George also didn’t want Germany to be crippled so it could act as a buffer against France, preventing France from becoming too powerful.
France:
President: Raymond Poincare
Prime Minister: Georges Clemenceau
France has been invaded by Germany twice in living memory;
i. The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 resulted in the German victory and the subsequent German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine.
ii. Germany started moving its army towards France after declaring war on Russia on 1st August 1914, due to the latter being France’s ally.
World War 1 cost France 1,357,800 dead and 4,266,00 wounded of which 1.5 million were permanently maimed) - six in every ten men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-eight died or were permanently maimed.
France’s population was in decline as compared to Germany’s.
Clemenceau and the French public wanted a harsh peace settlement that would reduce Germany to virtual impotence because an economically and militarily weak Germany would not be a threat to France anymore.
France, out of the Big Three wanted the harshest settlement for Germany and when the other two powers favoured a more lenient punishment, they often clashed.
Weaken Germany | Strengthen France |
i. Maximum reparations - Reparations refer to compensation for war damage paid by a defeated state | i. Strong states in Eastern Europe to ally with and curb any future German threat |
ii. Maximum disarmament | ii. Military Alliance with Britain and the USA |
iii. The breakup of Germany;
| iii. Improve France’s economy - colonies in the Middle East (the Middle East is economically valuable due to large deposits of crude oil). |
The United States:
President: Woodrow Wilson
Wilson believed that Germany should not be treated harshly so that it wouldn’t seek revenge one day after recovering. He was also concerned that extremist groups, especially communists, might exploit the Germans' resentment and try to seize power in Germany.
Wilson was an idealist whose aim was to build a better and more peaceful world from the ruins of the Great War. He wanted to achieve world peace and foster international cooperation through a League of Nations.
He wanted to strengthen democracy in the defeated countries.
He believed in self-determination for the people of Eastern Europe such as the Poles, Slovaks, and Czechs - Self-determination is the process by which a group of people, usually possessing a certain degree of national consciousness, form their state and choose their government.
Wilson published his Fourteen Points which were a statement of principles for peace that was to be used for peace negotiations to end World War. The principles were outlined on 8 January 1918.
There were some objections to these points:
Point 2 suggested that all nations should have access to the sea in peacetime and wartime, which made Lloyd George unhappy because it seemed to threaten Britain’s naval supremacy.
Points 10 and 12 laid emphasis on self-determination for the peoples in Eastern Europe and the Turkish Empire even though Lloyd George was in favour of it, the whole concept of self-determination was somewhat threatening to the British Empire since it ruled millions of people across the world from London.
Wilson’s overall generous attitude towards Germany was resented by Clemenceau.
Wilson and Clemenceau also disagreed over what to do about Germany’s Rhineland and coalfields in the Saar but Wilson gave way on these issues and in return, Clemenceau and Lloyd George gave up upon Wilson’s aim for self-determination in Eastern Europe despite their reservations.
Wilson was, however, able to limit reparation to losses caused to civilians and their property instead of the ‘whole cost of war.’ Only Belgium was to be compensated wholly for the war damage because he argued that the invasion of a neutral country, Belgium, was illegal.
Treaty of Versailles:
It was the most important of the five peace treaties that brought World War 1 to an end.
The terms of the treaty were announced to a horrified German nation on 7 May 1919.
It was signed on 28 June 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Terms:
The War Guilt or Article 231 of the Treaty fixed the blame for the outbreak of the war solely on Germany and its allies. This laid the legal and moral basis for imposing reparations on Germany.
This term removed the blame for the outbreak of the war from the Allies and it was added to get the French and the Belgians to agree to reduce reparations.
Germany also had to hand over to the Allies most of its merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives and rolling stock, patents, and overseas investments.
Clemenceau even wanted the Kaiser (German Emperor) Wilhelm II to be tried as a war criminal, but he had already abdicated the German throne and fled to the Netherlands where he was granted political asylum.
Objection 1: Germans hated this clause because they felt that the blame for the war should be at least shared. Also since Germany was forced to accept the blame, it was expected to pay for all the damage caused even though after the war, the German economy was severely weakened.
Moreover, later research indicated Germany’s guilt, it was hardly possible to arrive at that conclusion in a matter of six weeks in 1919 therefore, it can be assumed that the Allies wanted Germany to accept the blame so that it would be liable to pay the reparations.
Reparations:
Germany and her allies would be charged with reparations, the total of which would be declared by a ‘Reparations Commission.’
Objection 2: Germany was forced to sign the Treaty without knowing the amount and feared it was signing a ‘blank cheque’ for an ‘unlimited indemnity.’ In the meantime, Germany had to pay 20 billion gold marks while the final amount was decided.
The final amount was set without consultation with Germany in 1921 at 132 billion gold marks (or £6,600 million) which had to be paid in the form of gold or other goods. Most of the reparations went to France.
The amount was later reduced to £2,200 million under the Young Plan 1929.
Objection 3: Reparations were humiliating for the Germans and the amount was far too high. The German economy was already in tatters after the war and the people feared that the reparation payments would cripple them.
The amount led to many Germans protesting that it was impossible to pay and soon they began to default on their annual instalments. This caused resentment among the Allies who were relying on German cash to repay their war debt to the USA and later in 1923, it would lead to the Ruhr Crisis.
Disarmament:
The army was limited to 100,000 men.
The navy could build only 15,000 men, 12 destroyers, 6 light cruisers, 12 torpedo boats, and 6 battleships (36 boats in total).
No chemical weapons.
No submarines, tanks, armoured cars, and military aircraft.
The German army was forbidden to use tanks or gas.
Conscription was banned - Compulsory enlistment of state service, typically into the armed forces therefore now soldiers had to be volunteers.
The Rhineland had to be completely demilitarized; all fortifications there had to be dismantled and even on the island of Heligoland. This meant that German troops were not allowed in that area.
The Rhineland was important because it was the border area between France, Belgium, and Germany.
The Allies were also allowed to keep an army of occupation on the West Bank of the Rhine for 15 years.
An Inter-Allied Commission was set up to monitor German disarmament.
Objection 4: The Germans were upset because an army of 100,000 men was very small for a country of Germany’s size as it was not enough to keep even law and order at a time of political unrest. The army was a symbol of German pride hence they felt more humiliated.
Moreover, although Wilson’s Fourteen Points called for all countries to disarm, none of the Allies disarmed to the extent to which Germany was disarmed in the 1920s.
Territorial Settlement:
In Europe
Alsace-Lorraine was given to France.
Eupen, Moresnet, and Malmedy were given to Belgium.
North Schleswig through a plebiscite was given to Denmark.
Hultschin was given to Czechoslovakia.
West Prussia and Posen were given to Poland, forming Poland’s corridor to the sea and Danzig (the main port city of West Prussia). The Polish Corridor (part of Pomerania) was made a League Protectorate since its population was mostly German but Poland still needed a port for access to the sea to allow external trade.
Danzig would be in a customs union with Poland and Poland could control its foreign affairs.
Memel was given to Lithuania.
Upper Silesia, a coal-rich region was given to Poland. It was an industrial region with a mixed population of Poles and Germans given to Poland, but this was the concession made to the German written objections; after a vote among the population, Germany was allowed to keep two-thirds of the area (Objection 5).
The Saar was administered by the League of Nations for 15 years, after which the population would be allowed to vote on whether it should belong to France or Germany. In the meantime, France was to have the use of its coal mines.
If the Saar plebiscite would be in favour of Germany, then France would receive compensation for the loss of the mines.
Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania which had been handed over to Germany by Russia at Brest-Litovsk were taken from Germany and set up as independent states.
The political union between Austria and Germany (Anschluss) was prohibited.
Loss of Colonies
I. African Colonies:
German East Africa (Tanganyika, now part of Tanzania) became a British mandate.
Togoland and Cameroon were mostly French mandates with small parts given to Britain,
German Southwest Africa (now known as Namibia) was made South Africa’s mandate.
II. Pacific Islands:
New Guinea was given to Australia.
Samoa was given to New Zealand.
Marshall, Mariana, Palau, and the Caroline Islands were given to Japan.
Qingdao went to Japan despite Chinese protests.
Objection 6: The Germans could object to their African Colonies, which was hardly an impartial adjustment. Hence Germany could argue that the mandate system was a device by which the Allies seized the colonies without actually admitting that they were being annexed.
League of Nations:
Previous methods of keeping peace had failed and so a League of Nations was set up as an international ‘police force.’
Its aims and organization were set out in the League’s Covenant.
Objection 7: Germany felt further insulted by not being invited to join the League of Nations.
OTHER GERMAN OBJECTIONS:
Objection 8: The treaty was a diktat (dictated peace).
The Germans were not allowed into the discussions at Versailles; they were simply presented with the terms and told to sign.
They could criticize only by writing down their objections but all their objections were ignored except for the concessions made on the matter of Upper Silesia.
Since the Germans were not allowed in the discussions, it gave them the argument, much used later by Hitler that since the peace was a ‘diktat,’ it had no moral binding.
Objection 9: Many provisions were not based on The Fourteen Points.
Although self-determination was applied elsewhere in Europe, many German-speaking people areas were divided by the terms such as prohibiting Anschluss or they were moved into new countries to be ruled by non-Germans such as the Sudetenland in the state of Czechoslovakia, the latter being a German majority area.
COUNTER ARGUMENTS:
Germans first had no grounds for arguing that the settlement was not following Wilson's 14 Points because they had never been accepted officially by any state involved in the peacemaking process.
By November 1918, when the German defeat was inevitable and while they were retreating from France and Belgium, the German troops destroyed mines, factories, and public properties which hardened the attitude of the Allies and led Wilson to add two further points: Germany should pay for the damage to civilian population and property whilst being reduced to ‘virtual impotence’; in other words, Germany should be disarmed. The Germans were aware of this when they accepted the armistice hence, most of the terms did comply with the 14 Points and the additions.
Germans themselves were operating double standards;
i) Germany wanted fair treatment and for it to comply with the 14 Points when they imposed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on Russia which was much harsher than Versailles and they ignored the 14 Points because at that time there was a chance of Germany victory.
ii) The Kaiser’s government also planned to pay for war debts by extracting reparations from the Allies; therefore, the government did not raise taxes like others did to finance the war. Thus Germany’s economic problems were not only partly self-inflicted but they were hoping for the Allies not to decide on a settlement even though they would have done the same themselves, maybe even worse, if only Germany had won the war.
Principle German Losses:
i. 100% of her pre-war colonies
ii. 80% of her pre-war fleet
iii. 26% of all coal production
iv. 48% of all iron production
v. 75% of its iron ore
vi. 68% of its zinc ore
vii. 15% of its arable land
viii. 12.5% of its population
ix. 13% of her land - 70,000 Kilometres Square
Treaty of St.Germain:
When Austria was on the verge of defeat in the war in 1918, the Habsburg Empire disintegrated as the various nationalities declared themselves independent.
Austria and Hungary were separated and declared themselves republics.
This treaty aimed to sort out a chaotic jumble of territories into new states while formalizing and recognizing decisions that had already taken place, rather than punishing Austria.
It was signed on 10 September 1919.
Terms:
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up.
The Republic of Austria was set up.
Bohemia and Moravia were given to the new state of Czechoslovakia. Both were wealthy industrial provinces with a population of 10 million.
Bukovina was given to Romania.
Galicia to the reconstituted state of Poland.
South Tyrol (as far as the Brenner Pass), Trentino, Istria, and Trieste to Italy.
Dalmatia, Bosnia, and Herzegovina to Serbia, which with Montenegro, now became known as The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia). Initially known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, the state’s name was later changed to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929 which means ‘Land of the South Slavs.’
Austria’s overseas possession of Tianjin was handed to China.
The union between Austria and Germany (Anschluss) was forbidden.
Austria, being Germany’s ally, had to accept guilt for starting the war; the War Guilt Clause.
Austria had to pay reparations to the Allies.
Austria’s army was limited to 30,000 men.
The Austrian navy was broken and redistributed amongst the Allies.
Austria was not allowed an aircraft.
Austria’s airports were demolished.
Conscription was banned.
Arms factories in Austria were banned.
Austria became a landlocked country,
Austria had to recognize the independence of Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Yugoslavia.
The Covenant of the League of Nations was included in the Treaty.
Impact:
Austria became a small republic with its population reduced from 22 million to 6.5 million.
It had lost most of its industrial wealth given to Czechoslovakia and Poland.
Vienna, the new Austrian capital and the former capital of the Habsburg Empire, was left high and dry, surrounded by farming land which could hardly support it.
Austria was soon facing a severe economic crisis and was constantly having to be helped out by loans from the League of Nations. The severity of the economic crisis can be proven by the fact that she was never able to even pay the reparations.
New states quickly introduced tariffs (import and export duties). These hampered the flow of trade through the whole Danube area and made the industrial recovery of Austria particularly difficult.
Treaty of Neuilly:
This treaty dealt with Bulgaria, which was treated less harshly due to her relatively small part in the war
It was signed on 27 November 1919.
Terms:
Bulgaria lost Western Thrace to Greece.
It lost Dobruja to Romania.
It lost land to Yugoslavia.
It lost access to the Mediterranean Sea,
It had to recognize the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (Yugoslavia).
Bulgaria had to accept war guilt.
It had to pay reparations of £100 million.
Bulgaria had to reduce its army to 20,000 men.
Conscription was banned.
No airforce and warships; only 4 torpedo boats were allowed.
The Bulgarians could not possess any armoured vehicles.
Bulgaria was not accepted into the League of Nations.
Bulgaria could claim with some justification that as a result of the Treaty of Neuilly, at least a million Bulgars were living under foreign rule.
Treaty of Trianon:
This treaty dealt with Hungary and was signed late because the Communists led by Bela Kun had seized power and were then overthrown.
It was signed on 4 June 1920.
Terms:
Hungary had to accept the break up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Slovakia and Ruthenia were given to Czechoslovakia.
Croatia and Slovenia were given to Yugoslavia.
Hungary had to cede Transylvania and the Banat of Temesvar to Romania.
Fiume was given to Italy.
Hungary was now a landlocked country.
Hungary lost 70% of its land area.
It lost ⅓ of its population.
Three million Hungarians ended up in other states.
Hungary had to recognize the independence of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
Reparations were set at 200 million gold crowns.
Hungary had to reduce its armed forces to 35,000 men.
Only 3 patrol boats were allowed.
The treaty included the League of Nations Covenant.
Impact:
Hungary’s population was reduced from 22 million to 7.5 million, so its industries suffered from a loss of labour.
Some of her richest cornlands were given to Romania.
Hungarian industries suffered from a loss of raw materials.
Hungary was due to pay reparations but its economy was so weak that it never did.
Treaty of Sevres:
The last of the treaties to be arranged was the Treaty of Sevres dealt with Turkey.
It was signed on 10 August 1920.
Terms:
The treaty abolished the Ottoman Empire.
Turkey lost Adalia and Rhodes to Italy.
Turkey lost Adrianople, Eastern Thrace, and Smyrna to Greece.
Smyrna was the Turkish mainland hence it went against self-determination.
Syria and Lebanon became mandates under French control.
Palestine, Iraq, and Jordan became British mandates.
The Straits of Dardanelles and Bosphorus became an international waterway. The Straits provided an exit from the Black Sea.
The Straits from the Dardanelles to the Sea of Marmara were demilitarized.
The Straits were put under the League of Nations' control.
Turkey had to recognise the independence of the Kingdom of Hejaz.
Armenia and Kurdistan would be autonomous regions.
The Turks had to accept the countries of their former empire such as Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco who were now independent or under British or French protection.
The army was reduced to 50,000 men.
The Turkish navy could only have seven sloops and six torpedo boats.
Turkey was banned from having an air force.
Conscription was banned.
The Allies would keep troops in Turkey.
The Allies were to control Turkey's finances, tax system, and budget.
Those responsible for the Armenian Genocide were to be put to trial.
The Turks had to pay reparations.
The Covenant of the League of Nations was included in the Treaty.
Impact/Outcome:
The Turks claimed that the treaty was much harsher than the other peace treaties. They thought that Britain and France in particular were using it as an excuse to destroy the Turkish Empire and take as much as they could from themselves. They had started to partition the Empire as early as 1915.
Giving Smyrna and Thrace to Greece would lead to lasting resentment.
This sparked a national movement led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The Turks were so outraged that they overthrew Sultan’s government.
Kemal saw the Dardanelles as being Turkish and could not see why the ports should be ‘free zones.’
Kemal set up a new Grand Assembly and forcefully began to reverse the terms of the treaty.
There was a Turkish War of Independence led by Turkish nationalists. When they set up the Republic of Turkey, they rejected the Treaty of Sevres and drove out the Greeks from Smyrna due to which the Allies had to re-negotiate.
The new Treaty of Lausanne was signed on 24 July 1924.
This treaty superseded the Treaty of Sevres and the new Republic of Turkey gained international recognition as the successor state of the Ottoman Empire - Successor states were new states set up under the Paris Peace Settlement that were established from the old European Empires such as Germany and Austria-Hungary.
Smyrna, Anatolia, and parts of Thrace became Turkish lands.
*Notes are taken from the class of Sir Iftikhar Zaidi (2020)
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