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The Interwar Years
Stage I
1918 – 1929
World War I
The Peace
1. The peace was a compromise between the idealism of Wilson
and the security and territorial concerns of the other powers
a. collective security v. concrete declarations
b. there was a belief that the old practices caused the war
2. The war robbed Europe of it optimism, stability, and faith in
the future
Background to the Inter-War Years
Two Periods
1. Stage I (1918 -1929)
a. no real challenge to international security
* powers were exhausted by war
* populations repulsed by the possibility of another conflict
* powers were too weak to try to change the outcome
* basis for idealism during the period was the League of
Nations & 14 Points
aa. Only Britain and France interested in maintaining
the status quo in Europe
Background to the Inter-War Years
2. Stage II (1929 – 1936)
a. The Great Depression
* Exposed the weakness of the Treaty of Versailles
* Exposed the inability of the League of Nations to make
peace
* Allowed for other powers to change the international
order
The Treaty of Versailles
Conflict in the treaty centered around how to create lasting peace
1. A wish to develop a new international order
a. peace based on respect and compromise
2. A need to punish those who were blamed for the war and gain
compensation
The Treaty of Versailles
The United States
1. Wilsonian Idealism (at least abroad)
2. 14 Points
a. create peace by removing what Wilson thought had caused war
* establish democracy and self determination
* represented the belief in a good, rational human nature
* Establishment of the League of Nations
aa. A forum for the reasonable and rational to settle disputes
* for Germany a period of punishment and probation before they
could get back to great power status
3. No real specifics
The Treaty of Versailles
The United Kingdom
1. Represented traditional British foreign policy
a. eliminate the German naval fleet
b. end the German Empire a a possible point of conflict
c. build trade to strengthen Britain’s economy and fight
against Bolshevism
2. Did not want to get involved in a continental alliance
a. saw the French as getting more than enough
b. wanted to maintain a balance of power and its own freedom
3. Wanted to punish Germany
a. pay reparations far beyond the physical damage it received in the
war
b. population wanted punishment
The Treaty of Versailles
France
1. Based off fear of a returning German threat
a. Germany still had the population and industrial potential to
be a great power
b. did not want to see Germany return to pre-war strength
2. Wanted economic compensation
a. Rhine & Saar Region / Alsace –Lorraine
3. Wanted a firm US & GB alliance
The Treaty of Versailles
Italy
1. Wanted what was promised in the Treaty of London
a. annexation of Trieste, South Tyrol, Dalmatian Coast
* all had been promised for entry in the war
* none of the areas not populated by Italians
2. Wilson fought hard to deny these territories
a. self determination
b. Orlando walks out but has to come
back
The Treaty of Versailles
Japan
1. Wanted
a. recognition for dominance in China
b. German territories in the Pacific
2. Felt it needed a large empire
3. Wanted statements of racial equality in
peace statements
The Treaty of Versailles
Germany
1. Wanted an armistice based on the terms of Wilson’s 14 Points
a. “Peace Without Victory” and that there needed to be
reconciliation between the two sides
2. Germany had not been invaded or defeated
* thought they could bargain
aa. There was a bit of precedence for this
* Expected to attend the peace conference
* Kaiser abdicated and they established a republic
aa. Thought they could get sympathy from
Wilson
Problems with the Conference
1. None of the defeated countries went including Russia
2. All major decisions were made by the Council of Four
3. Treaties were compromises between the very different aims
of the powers
a. the result was treaties that were contradictory in nature
The League of Nations
Augment
1. The old system of rivalry was what caused the war, therefore,
a “crisis management” organization was needed for peace
a. Generally accepted
b. Split
* Radicals wanted a strong world government
* Conservatives wanted the Great Power system
tweaked a bit
* Wilson champions radicals
aa. Loved the role
The League of Nations
2. Differences on the Purpose
a. Wilson
* Strong international organization
aa. Enforce peace
b. Clemenceau
* Society of Nations
aa. Help reinforce the treaties against
Germany and protect France
c. George
* Supported Wilson
aa. Hope that the league would take
pressure away from “freedom of the seas”
The League becomes a compromise between internationalism and
State Sovereignty
The German Settlement
Germany was not dismembered
1. Could be a great power again
What Germany Lost
1.
27,000 square miles
2.
6.5-7 million people
3.
13.5%of economic output
4.
Alsace-Loraine (France)
5.
Schleswig (Denmark)
6.
Eupen-Malmedy (Belgium)
7.
Saar coal region owned by the French
8.
Rhineland demilitarized
9.
West Prussia goes to Poland
10. Danzig becomes and international city
11. Lithuania seizes the German port of Memel
12. Gives up colonies
13. Military limited to 100,000
German Settlement
Reparations
1. Questions of how much & how long?
a. all recognized the gap between the cost and what Germany
could pay.
2. Articles 231 & 232
a. Article 231
* Germany accepts responsibility for aggression
b. Article 232
* Protect Germany from ruin from war costs
* No final payment was asked just a check point of 20
billion marks by 1921
Faults of Versailles
Faults cannot be blamed on any one leader
1.
Clemenceau
a. Security was most important
b. Needed on of the following three
* Permanent weakening of Germany
* Seeking a lasting mutually beneficial FrancoGerman Peace
* Security alliance with the US and great
Britain
aa. Failed at all three
c. not chance of a Franco-German pact in 1919
d. French feared the Treaty would only weaken Germany for the
short-term
e. Was given the Rhineland as a buffer zone
f. Given British and American grantees against German aggression
** America does not ratify the treaty
** Britain's participation was conditional on America
Faults of Versailles
2. Lloyd George
a. Opportunist
* was double dealing
b. Balance of Power Strategy
* did not allow them to sympathize with France
* wanted to restore an equilibrium on the continent
c. unable to see the benefits of a Franco-German Treaty or the
need for French security
d. Little actual civilian damage
* wanted Germany to pay for soldier’s pensions
e. British not the French who delayed reparation payments
* French originally called for very moderate payments
* George afraid of parliamentary backlash
Faults of Versailles
Wilson
1. American government refused to combine inter-allied war
debts into on lump sum
a. anti-Marshall Plan approach
* policy put the other powers in a position where they
needed harsh reparations from Germany
2. Wilsonian moralistic approach to war
a. Germany should be punished
b. Should be treated as a moral inferior and barred from the
league
* US unwilling to enforce this stance
c. France needed US and Britain to provide security for a
lasting peace
*was terrified of an inherently stronger neighbor whose
hostility was compounded by “war guilt”
Germany’s Reaction
Germany’s Reaction Was Based Off Expectations
1. Was too optimistic
a. thought they were a great power and
would be able to negotiate
b. wanted “peace without victory”
2. Resented what they got
a. saw it as an unfair and not a genuine
agreement
3. Germany was at the end of the war
a. occupying Belgium and France
b. Defeated Russia
c. Had not been invaded
Allied Reaction
Debate Between Whether the Peace Was Too Harsh or Too Light
1. John Maynard Keynes
a. Carthaginian Peace
* ignored the economic consequences of the actions
* many in Britain and the United States agreed
2. Reaction in the United States
a. Rejection of the treaty based on Article 10
* League of Nations
Actual Effect of the Treaty on Germany
1. Need to separate the economic destruction by the war and the Treaty
a. many of the horrible economic problems in the short-term would
have happened anyway
2. Germany was actually strong after the war then before it
a. Temporary collapse of Russia
b. no more Austro-Hungarian Empire
c. New small states were no match for Germany
3. Was economically effected by reparations
4. Was an outcast politically
Economic Problems with the Conference
1. Versailles did not deal with economics outside of reparations
a. created bad relations between the US and debtor nations
b. Ruhr Crisis
2. United States refused to cancel the debts of the allies
a. weakened the recovery
b. forced them to keep demanding reparations from Germany
3. U.S. had to offer and through the Dawes Plan
a. could have been avoided if the allies addressed it earlier
4. Keynes and the economic repercussions
a. high reparations were foolish
b. It would hurt all of Europe
* Prevent the economic recovery of its powerhouse
* In punishing Germany they were punishing
themselves
Geopolitical Impacts of the Treaties
The Treaty of Rapallo(1922)
1. Secret treaty between Russia and Germany
a. Allowed Germany to develop weapons in the USSR
violating the treaty
Geopolitical Impacts of the Treaties
St. Germaine
1. Austro-Hungarian Empire
a. Czechoslovakia set up
b. Slovenia, Bosnia, Dalmatia go to Yugoslavia
c. Trieste and S. Tyrol to Italy
d. No Austrian union with Germany
Trianon
1. Hungarian Territory
a. 2/3 of Hungary taken away for Austria, Czechoslovakia, Romania
Neuilly
1. Bulgaria
Sevres
1. Turkey
a. cede middle east empire & Constantinople
b. Greeks gain territory
2. Renegotiated at Lausanne (1923) when the Greeks were repelled
Geopolitical Impacts of the Treaties
The Ten Successor States
1. Based on self determination
a. the nationalities did not live in well defined areas
* the multi-national empires gave people the freedom to move
around
2. Economic concerns
a. states had to be viable in terms of economics, communication,
security
* Access to trade, natural resources, rivers, oceans
b. incorporating economic necessity the wrong ethnic groups in
certain countries
3. Minority concerns
a. Nations were asked to protect minorities
b. League of Nations had a minority commission
c. new states did not like to be told to honor minorities
4. New states did not improve stability
5. Lose of the empire meant the lose of the free trade in it
Geopolitical Impacts of the Treaties
The Little Entente (1921)
1. Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Romania
a. made because of their weaknesses
b. Afraid of Hungarian desire to regain lost territory
2. Was a model of economic and military co-operation
3. If extended would have increased
stability in the region
4. Poland and other states refused
to join over territory disputes
Geopolitical Impacts of the Treaties
The Mandate System
1. Many thought that colonial disputes had been a major cause of the
First World War
a. Liberals in the US and Britain did not want the powers to annex
Germany’s Colonies & the Ottoman Empire
2. Mandate System
a. under article 22
b. League was also charged with stopping
slavery
c. Open up the territories for trade
d. develop the well being of the people
e. three classes of mandates
* A Mandates
* B Mandates
* C Mandates