Download Other Allied countries making territorial claims

Paris Peace Treaties
Treaty of Versailles - between Germany and the Allies. Signed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on June 18, 1919.
By the terms of the treaty,
1. Germany lost 13% of its land, where nearly 10% of its people lived.
2. Germany had to relinquish Alsace and Lorraine to France
3. Germany had to allow the French to work the rich coalmines of the Saar valley for 15 years. After 15 years a
plebiscite would be held to allow the people of the Saar to vote on whether or not they wished to return to Germany.
4. Germany could not fortify the Rhineland, which Allied troops would occupy for an unspecified number of years.
5. Germany had to abolish conscription and could not maintain a reserve army.
6. Germany was not allowed to manufacture heavy artillery, tanks, military airplanes, or poison gas. It could have no
submarines, and no battleships larger than 10,000 tons. These measures were to ensure that German would be a
peacekeeping nation, not a warring nation.
7. The Germans most objected to the two features of the treaty. The first feature included the war guilt clause in which
Germany had to admit it alone was guilty of starting the war and therefore must pay reparations. The second feature
was that the treaty did not specify the amount of reparations -- another- blank check.
 The treaty also called for the formation of a League of Nations and for numerous territorial adjustments.
 Poland once again became an independent nation receiving a large portion of German land. This recreated Poland
included the Polish Corridor, which cut off East Prussia from the rest of Germany and gave Poland an outlet to the
sea. Danzig became a free city administered by the League of Nations.
 Sudentenland which included 3 million ethnic Germans was made a part of Czechoslovakia
 Anschluss or the union of new, smaller Austria and Germany was forbidden
Treaty between Austria and the Allies Signed in September 1919
1. Austria lost the southern Tirol and the city of Trieste to Italy.
2. Austria also lost territory to the newly reformed Poland.
Treaty between Hungary and the Allies - Signed in June 1920
Hungary lost a great deal of territory to the newly formed nations of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
Treaty between Bulgaria and the Allies - Signed in 1919.
Bulgaria lost land to Romania, Yugoslavia, and Greece.
Treaty between the Ottoman Turks and the Allies - Signed 1920
1. Turks retained control of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus, they had to be defortified and controlled by an
international commission.
2. Additionally, the Turks lost a great deal of land.
 From Ottoman territory came the new territories of Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Transjordan, and Syria.
 These areas became League of Nation mandates with Britain assuming control of Palestine, Iraq, and
Transjordan; and France assuming control of Syria and Lebanon.
 Some Turkish territory went to Greece. The treaty also recognized the independence of Arabia.
Russian loses –
1. Even before the Versailles treaty was signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was cancelled.
2. Wanting to protect the western European nations from Russia's new revolutionary government, Russia ended up
losing more land than Germany. Russia lost Bessarabia to Romania. Poland gained much Russian territory.
3. Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all declared their independence from Russia.
After a bitter debate in Congress and in the press, the United States Senate refused to join the League of Nations or
accept the Treaty of Versailles. The U.S. negotiated a separate treaty with Germany.
League of Nations
 Held its first meeting in 1920 at Geneva, Switzerland. The organization consisted of three main agencies:

General Assembly in which all member nations, regardless of size, received one vote.

Security Council: included the permanent members of Britain, U.S., France, Italy, and Japan, and a numberof smaller nations who occupied non-permanent seats on a rotating basis. The council decided all-important
issues.

Secretariat: staffed by civil employees that handled the league's day-to-day administrative affairs.
The League of Nations' two major goals were to promote global cooperation and to settle international disputes
peacefully by bringing all nations together. However, because it had no way to enforce sanctions against
aggressor nations, the League proved to be very ineffective.
Results of the Great War and the Treaty of Versailles
The Great War had many consequences. Those that follow should be considered among the most important.

The US. became one of the economic leaders of the world and for the first time challenged Europe as a major force in
international trade and finances.

People in colonies of European countries had a strong taste of nationalism and began to desire independence.

Four great empires of Europe and the Middle East perished forever.

One empire, Russia, replaced an autocracy with a totalitarian leadership that committed acts of terror, suppression,
and violence over the next 70 years.

The European balance of power collapsed such that forces outside the European nations were needed to help one
set of nations defeat the other.

The first Marxist seizure of power took place (in Russia), creating circumstances that allowed the Bolsheviks to solidify
their power in spite of widespread opposition in Russia itself

Numerous ethnic groups in Eastern Europe and the Middle East that had demanded and had, more or less, been
promised the right of nationalistic self-determination were prevented from determining their own government and
territories.

New nations were established within which particular ethnic groups had the authority to oppress other groups.

New nations were established with national boundaries and national groupings of peoples that ran counter to
historical patterns, contributing to political, social and economic instability within and among those nations.

Conditions were established that, within a few years, enabled Germany to achieve an economic and military position
stronger than its neighbors.

The League of Nations was established with very little support from the major European powers and none from the
US; thus, no organization had the power and authority to resolve international disputes and issues.

The U.S. became a world power even if it did not want to be involved in world politics.

The U.S. became the leading naval power in the world, even though it immediately withdrew most of its military
vessels from the world seas.
Throughout Europe, except in Great Britain, power and public respect for the aristocracy diminished
significantly, as the people rejected the notion that a natural, inherited ruling class, should run the government.