Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

David Lloyd-George

Georges Clemenceau

Vittorio Orlando

Woodrow Wilson

-Signing of the Blank Cheque
-Schlieffen Plan
-Building Dreadnoughts

-Mobilisation early (threatening the Germans)

-Ultimatum to Serbia
-Invading Serbia

-Declining one term in the ultimatum

Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (and his wife)

June 28, 1914

Gavrilo Princip

Treaty in which Russia lost substantial territory to the Germans. This ended Russian participation in the war

3rd March 1918

-Didn't want to be harsh on Germany
-Wanted to strengthen democracy in defeated countries
-Wanted people of Eastern Europe to rule independently
-Give self-determination to small countries

Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves

-Balance of power in Europe (Not one country to dominate)
-Remove German navy
-Germany to lose colonies
-Larger British Empire
-Trade with the Germans in the future
-Contain spread of Communism

-Wants to weaken Germany (Split them up, economically, militarily)
-Regain lost land (Alsace-Lorraine)
-Avoid another invasion
-Isolate Germany
-Get revenge on them (Public opinion)

1-5 - prevent future conflict
6-13 - Self-determination
14 - Set up League of Nations (Collective security)

-Joined April 1917
-Economically profited - supplying allies
-100,000 deaths
-No fighting inside of the USA

-Invaded by Germany (3/8/1914

-Joined war in support of Belgium
-no fighting inside of Britain
-950,000 killed (Empire)
-Naval superiority over Germany

28th June 1919

Article 231 - Germany was expected to accept guilt for starting the war. Germans thought it was extremely harsh

-Germany had to a reparation bill to the allies for the damaged caused by the war.
-The figure wasn't accepted until 1921
-The bill was £6.6B
-Reparation bill changed until Young Plan in 1929

Germany joining with Austria forbidden (Anschluss)
Overseas territories taken away

North Schleswig to Denmark
Danzig to Poland
Alsace-Lorraine to France
West Prussia and Posen to Poland
Tanzania to Britain
Samoa to NZ
Saarland to League of Nations
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (Baltic States) given independence

Army limited to 100,000 men
Conscription banned
Not allowed armoured vehicles, submarines or aircraft
Navy could have 6 battleships
Rhineland demilitarised

League of Nations set up as an international "police force"
Germany not allowed to join initially

Didn't feel they started the war and blame should be shared
Bitter about paying for ALL the damage

Massive blow to German pride and economy
Meanwhile France and Britain took control of their old colonies

Felt these terms were unfair
Army of 100,000 was too small for a country their size
Army was a symbol of German pride
None of the allies disarmed in the same way

Treaty didn't follow Wilson's points
Felt insulted by not being invited to join the League of Nations

Angry that they were not represented at the Peace talks
Angry that they were forced into accepting a harsh treaty with choice or comment
Didn't think they had lost the war - didn't like being treated like a defeated nation

-France happy with Germany losing her colonies (Can expand empire)
-Unhappy with Germany. It being split into smaller states

-Happy that Britain got naval superiority
-Disagree with weakening Germany as much as they did (Wanted to maintain balance of power)

-USA would be happy with the League of Nations being installed (part of Wilson's points)
-USA would be unhappy with the terms that didn't follow Wilson's points (eg Only Germany disarmed, no one else)

-They didn't start the war
-Unfair that a country who didn't start the war had to pay reparations
-The sum of money was too high for a country that lost much of its industry to the Treaty of Versailles (Saarland)

-Germany accepted the war guilt clause and should be accepting of any punishment
-They deserve punishment after invading Belgium and France (Schlieffen Plan)
-They gave Russia harsh terms at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk so they should too

-Not based on Wilson's points
-Germany didn't initially start the war
-Treaty punished ordinary Germans rather than the leaders (Saarland for eg)

-The treaty dealt with current issues
-Germany also treated Russia harshly at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
-The Germans were guilty
-Public opinion wanted them to punish Germany severely
-The treaty could've been even harsher

-Took place in 1919
-Treaty with Austria
-Territory divisions (Divisions on the next flashcard)
-Army restricted to 30,000
-Forbidden to unite with Germany
-About sorting out territories instead of punishing Austria
-Giving Eastern-Europe self determination and freedom to rule themselves
-Italy unhappy - Wanted more land

Bohemia to Czechoslovakia
Bosnia and Herzegovina + Croatia to Yugoslavia
Galicia to Poland
Trieste to Italy

-Took place in 1919
-Treaty with Bulgaria
-Lost land to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia
-Lost access to the Mediterranean Sea
-Armed forces limited to 20,000
-£100m in reparations

-Signed in 1920
-Treaty with Hungary
-Transfer territories to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania
-3 million Hungarians ended up in other states
-Industries suffered from the loss of population and materials
-Due to preparations but it never did because it's economy was so weak

-Signed in 1920
-Treaty with Turkey
-Empire broken up
-Parts of Turkey split into zones of influence between UK, France and Italy
-Kurdistan and Armenia became independent regions
-Turkey's tax system, finances and budget controlled by the allies
-Army restricted to 50,000, no airforce allowed

-Allies controlled their finances
-Didn't like Britain, France and Italy setting up their regions of influence

-Mustafa Kamal Pasha (a nationalist) set up a new Grand Assembly
-Began to reverse the treaty by Force
-Drove Turks out of Symra
-Forced the French to withdraw from Turkish soil
-Reach3d terms with Britain over the straits

-Signed in 1923
-Treaty with Turkey
-Changes that the Turks had brought about were recognised
-Symra, Anatolia and parts of Thrace became part of Turkey
- Turkey's borders were fixed more or less as they are today

-Couldn't negotiate (diktat)
-Harsher military restrictions
-Reparations
-Zones of allied control

-They were treated harshly initially and had to force the allies to rethink the treaty
-Their finances were in ally control
-Multiple countries had zones of influence
-Lost more land (eg Iraq, Syria)
-Dardanelles in international control

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

Germany gives Austria the Blank Cheque

Germany's decision to give Austria unconditional support

Austria-Hungary gives Serbia an ultimatum

Austria declares war on Serbia

Russia fully mobilises

Germany begins mobilising and declares war on Russia, France also mobilises

Germany invades Luxembourg and presents Belgium with an ultimatum

German troops declares war on France and German troops enter Belgium

UK declares war on Germany (in support of Belgium)

Italy joined the war on side of the Triple Entente

US enters WWI

Bolshevik Revolution - Russia becomes a communist nation

Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed

Start of the allied offensive on the Western Front

Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates

Armistice - World War One ends

Treaty of Versailles signed