Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

The Peace Treaties

Treaty of Versailles signed by Germany, 28th June 1919 took away 13% land, 12.5% population, 16%
coalfields, nearly 50% iron and steel industry, ¾ iron ore.
 Terms: GARGLE
o Guilt: Article 231 appointed blame, called ‘diktat’.
o Arms restrictions: Army (100,000 soldiers), Navy (6 battleships, 15,000 sailors & no
submarines), Airforce is forbidden, demilitarized Rhineland, conscription ban, restrictions on
the development of modern weaponry such as Tanks.
o Reparations: 6.6 billion pounds,
o German Territory: Alsace Lorraine to France, Danzig to Poland, West Prussia & Posen form
the Polish corridor, East Prussia separated from rest of Germany, Colonies: Togoland,
Cameroon, German Southwest Africa, and German East Africa given to victors.
o LE: League of the Nations established.
 Treaty of St. Germaine with Austria, 1919:
o Established Anschluss ban.
o Imposed reparations.
o Reduced army to 30,000 men
o Ended dual monarchy.
o Gave Galicia to Poland, Bohemia & Moravia to Czechoslovakia & Bosnia & Herzegovina to
Yugoslavia
o Severe economic problems as a result as industrial land gone to Czechoslovakia.
o Displacement of people
 Treaty of Trianon with Hungary, 1920:
o Induced economic crisis in Hungary.
o Transylvania to Romania, Slovakia & Ruthenia to Czechoslovakia; Slovenia, Croatia
Yugoslavia
o 3 million Hungarians displaced.
 Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria, 1919: because it was a minor player in the war, it gained territory
from Turkey. Reduced army to 20,000 men armed force, 100 million-pound reparations, lost lands to
Greece, Romania, Yugoslavia, and access to the Mediterranean Sea.
 Treaty of Sevres with Ottoman Empire, 1920: Negation on territorial terms led by Mustafa Kemal,
which led to war between Greeks and Turks - unsuccessful treaty, Arabs were promised Arab state
for siding with Britain & France to defeat Germany, Palestine problem till date.
 Treaty of Lausanne with Ottoman Empire, 1923: gave disputed region of Smyrna back to Turkey
after Young Turk revolution.
The Outcome:
 Czechoslovakia (carved out of the old Austrian empire and Germany - Bosnia & Herzegovina,
Bohemia, & Moravia)
 Yugoslavia (Kingdom of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes then named ‘land of the South Slavs’)
 Poland renewed, via Danzig, granted access to the sea (Polish Corridor made = West Prussia and
Posen) page 96 - they wanted it to be a watchdog on Germany, and buffer against communism,
although 30% not ethnically Polish, so some demographic problems, an unfair amount of territory
taken from Russia immediately led to war with Russia in 1921
 Syria and Lebanon=French Mandate; Palestine, Transjordan & Iraq=British Mandate. Article 119
TOV: All of Germany’s colonies were taken and given to France and Britain as mandates.
What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles?
Why was (any of the three leaders) dissatisfied with TOV?
 French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau was a realist, wanted punitive peace and
compensation, aimed to punish Germany without crushing them completely, wanted reparations
(compensations for infrastructural damage - France had been invaded twice since 1870), wanted
military restrictions - Germany broken into smaller confederations + independent Rhineland +
permanent control of Saarland.
 American President Woodrow Wilson was an idealist who wanted to punish Germany but not too
harshly, worried about the spread of communism if too weak and revenge from Germans and
wanted to strengthen democracy based on ’14 points’ = disarmament, League of Nations, and self-
determination. wanted to build a more peaceful world but
There were problems with some of the main ideas:
 Problems with self-determination: people of Eastern Europe scattered across many countries e.g.:
25% of the people who lived in Czechoslovakia were not Czechs or Slovaks. 30% of Poland is not
polish. Foreigners are ruling 3 million Hungarians. Some people were bound to be ruled by another
group with different customs and languages because borders were artificially imposed.
 Problems with LON: ‘toothless’ without the military, structurally insufficient & confusing, unanimous
vote required, ’mandates’ seen as colonialist, membership problems: US, Germany, USSR absent,
org seemed euro-centric and imperialist, supported TOV = seen as unfair
 British Prime Minister Lloyd George was a mediator, wanted a punitive but just peace, wanted
Germany to lose colonies and navy as they threatened the hegemony of the British Empire but did
not want Germany to seek revenge under pressure to ‘make Germany pay’, wanted to recover as
trade partners as it created British jobs.

Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?
They all made compromises.
 Clemenceau wanted harsh peace: a broken-up Germany and an independent Rhineland and
disarmed German along with compensation. He got limited compensation and military restrictions, a
unified Germany and demilitarized Rhineland. He felt this was not harsh enough, didn’t get
independent Rhineland or control of Saarland,
 Wilson wanted a just peace based on 14 points: he did not want Germany blamed (article 231 &
reparations) in TOV but they were. He successfully established self-determination in Eastern
Europe and League of the Nations. Demilitarization was not achieved except by force in Germany
and TOV/LON ultimately not ratified.
 Britain wanted a compromise peace; was happy that German armed and naval forces were
restricted, Lloyd received hero’s welcome, although the spread of communism still worrying him.
 There were disagreements over self-determination & ‘access to sea’ clause, the harshness of the treaty
and LON (Wilson wanted world parliament, Lloyd wanted to get together in emergencies only.)
Clemenceau resented Wilson’s generosity wanted strong League with army.
 Clemenceau felt that Britain was happy to treat Germany fairly in Europe which threatened France yet
were less happy to treat them fairly when it came to concessions of colonies and military which
threatened Britain.

What was the impact of peace treaties on Germany up to 1923?

Reactions:
 Horror & outrage, war guilt clause was particularly hated.
 Betrayed, blamed ‘November Criminals’, Jews, Communists, Germans did not feel that they had lost
the war as most of war went well for Germany.
 Angry because government not represented at Versailles conference (diktat).
 German army limited but disarmament not practiced by other countries.
 Reparations pushed country deeper into state of near starvation, feared it would cripple economy
 Colonies taken double standards for self-determination: Germans displaced, not allowed to rule
themselves.
Impact:
 New government had many enemies: Communists, Nationalists, Army Internal scapegoats - Jews,
Communists, November Criminals (‘Stab in back theory’)
 Political violence- Spartacists 1919, Kapp Putsch 1920, Munich Putsch, Ruhr Invasion 1923 (French
killed 100 German workers and expelled 100,000)
 Economic problems &eventually, hyperinflation
 Rise of Hitler- Hitler used unpopularity of TOV to his advantage by luring people to nationalist ideas
of restoring homeland’s former glory
Was it fair?
 No: Too harsh, blamed the wrong people as Germany had a new democratic government (forming it
was one of conditions of peace agreement), German economy crippled and people in near-
starvation state, Germans not fairly represented at the conference, ‘diktat’, other countries were not
blameless, expected treaty based on 14 points, war had devastating physical effects:
o farmers were recruited in army>disruptive
o by 1918 only 50% milk production, 60% meat and butter production of pre-war levels
o potato supply run out 1916-1917 winter
o combined effects of hunger and disease kill ¾ million Germans
 Yes: economic troubles were self-inflicted as other countries raised taxes and practiced more
Rigorous fiscal policy to pay for reparations (Britain had greater debt and paid off more than
Germany by introducing high taxes, too), Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was much harsher – 32% land,
34% population, 54% industry, 300 million gold Ruble, nearly ¾ of its iron ore & half of its industry

Could the Treaties be justified at the time?

o No: TOV led to rise of Hitler as army crippled = cruel, genocidal regime, defeated nation’s
disadvantage was exploited so vengeance was probable, treaty ignored it, bound to fail. Some were
ineffective such as Treaty of Sevres which were re-drawn after 3 years failed to maintain peace.
o Yes: Mood of post-war urgency, state of near-starvation and infrastructural ruin, public pressure to
punish defeated parties, some people thought it was not harsh enough, and that German problems
were self-inflicted by bad fiscal policy and Brest-Litovsk hypocrisy.