Lecture #24-- Versailles Treaty

I. Administration

            A. All Extra Credit should be in by next Thursday

            B. Hand back Papers

            C. Book Reviews due Tuesday

            D. Disc #7 -- Thursday

II. Introduction

            A. When we ended last time we were discussing the affects of total war on the European countries.

            B. Today we want to continue looking at that, and discuss the peace settlement reached, and the effects of that peace.

III. The Armistice & the Fourteen Points

            A. The AMerican entry in the war had provided a decisive infusion of men and material to the Western Front. By October of 1918, the German general staff was in serious trouble. The German generals begged for an armistice, which came on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. It was proceeded by the largest artillery barrage of the war in an attempt to get rid of artillery shells.

                        1. The circumstances of the armistice would prove essential to understanding the German perspective on the peace and WW I itself. In November of 1918, Germany underwent a revolution and threw out the Kaiser. So, Germany ended the ar with a government which ahd nothing to do with the fighting of the war, and it was this government which arranged the armistice.

                        2. This armistice prevented the Allies from a full invasion of GErmany. In fact, it allowed the German people to think that the mighty German army had never really been defeated. The German high command encouraged this idea, and would very soon begin to blame the peace that they begged for on the Socialists and the Jews. This was the beggining of the "Stabbed in the Back" theory, meaning of course that this new democracy had betryaed German military by asking for peace too soon. IT said that the German army was ready to carry on, despite the fact that it couldn't have given the numbers of the Allied troops.

            B. Regardless, now there was an armistice. They just had to figure out the peace and what to do now. As the Allies approached the peace process, it must be understood what their state of mind was.

                        1. The War had drained the European countries of many things. The young men, the bright generation of hope was gone -- forever lost. The Europeans assumed faith in God and his hand was gone as well for many. The trenches and destruction seemed far away from the ideas of God being on their side. Along with these, the Europeans had also lost other beliefs as well.

                        2. The ideas of the Enlightenment -- laissez-faire, sacredness of property, of human life itself seemed very far away now. Show slide -- Otto DIx. The comfortable, rational world of the 19th century -- where progress was inevitable and anything was possible -- had just been drowned in blood. Destruction was throughout Europe, but particularly in France. The landscape was barren where the trenches and no man's land had been. The total involvement of all facets of life and economy in the war also mean that governments had all engaged in heavy propaganda campaigns. The GErmans may have hated the British, but the British were just as convinced that war was the GErman's fault -- and the French, well, their contryside bore witness to their sufferings because of GErmany.

            C. The only voice of hope in this sea of despair and disillusionment came from the American president-- Woodrow Wilson(1856-1924),(pres.1913-21)

                        1. Wilson was a scholarly Southern gentleman, with liberal views that had gained him an international reputation. What is interesting to note is that shortly after he took office he noted his own lack of understanding and knowledge of foreign affairs. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Wilson was a heroic figure to most of Europe and in the U.S. because of his plan for a better world.

                        2. The armistice that the Germans signed was based on his inaugral address in March 1917, and other speeches. It was Wilson's version and vision of post-War World and became known as The Fourteen Points. The Fourteen Points were really the application of 19th century liberal principles applied across the board to Europe to solve what Wilson saw as the problems which had led to World War. The first of these was then obvious -- 1) Open Treaties and Diplomacies to counter the problems of the alliance system prior to the war. The rest of the points followed primarily the ideas of achieving civility, justic and peace in a post-war world. They included: 2) Freedom of the Seas, 3) General Disarmament, 4) Settlememt of Colonial Claims, 5) Self-determination to areas of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 6) Ruusian territory evacuated 7) REstoration of the Baltic States, 8) Independent Poland, 9) REstoration of French territory, 10) Readjustment of Italian borders, 11) Restorian of Belgian territory, 12) Self-determination for former Ottoman Empire, 13) Free Trade, and most importantly 14) A League of NAtions where problems could be solved and discussed without resorting to war.

IV. The PAris Peace Conference

            A. With these ideas in the air, the representatives of the European powers, except Russia, gathered to settle a peace, as they had over a years earlier.

                        1. In 1815, they had gathered in Vienna, now they gathered in Paris. There were differences -- significant ones -- between 1919 and 1815. The major factor was that Metternich and those at Vienna did not have to deal with Public Opinion.

                        2. The statesman who gathered at Versailles outside of Paris did. The major leaders were all elected by mass electorates and were answerable to them. Furthermore, all of these mass electorates had been given an image of the enemy they were fighting that made them seem like devils. Propaganda of atrocities had been used by both sides -- the Germans were baby-killers -- how could mercy be shown?

            B. So who were those who gathered at Versailles to hammer out a peace and what were their motives and goals. For these were just as important as public opinion.

                        1. There were four dominant men at the conference representing the four great Allied Powers, and they were called The Big Four. They were David Lloyd-George, Prime Minister of GReat Britain, Primister Vittorio Orlando of Italy, Premier Georges Clemenceau of France, and Wilson for the United States. These for in council would make most of the decisions about the major treaty, though all of the states who fought for the allies were there. Germany, Austria, the Ottomans, and Bulgaria were not at the negotiating table, unlike in Vienna.

                        2. The Big Four all wanted a lasting peace, but unlike Wilson, the others also believed that they must exact vengenance from Germany to satisfy the public mood. The British elections just prior to the peace conference had been frought with the slogan "HAng the Kaiser!" The GErmans were not well-liked. Furthermore, even though these powers had all fought on the same side, there was still a very acrimonious realtionship between the countries, and the men involved.

                        3. Wilson's view was one way of approaching the peace, and his most vital points were self-determination and The League of Nations. The other major view was that of Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), "The Tiger" who had become Premier once again during the war. Clemenceau, like his people, was concerned with his nation's security after her suffering and wanted revenge on the Germans. "Twice in my lifetime I have heard Prussian boots on French soil. Never again." He wanted a demilitarized and crushed GErmany, which could never again attack France. He was impatient with Wilson's emphasis on self-determination, and thought Wilson was a naive, silly professor. Lloyd-George, the Welsch wizard, as he was known, was between these two positions, and Orlando, well ..., the Italians wanted territory and to be counted in.

            C. By June 1919, a peace settlement, after much debate, and Wilson giving in on much to Clemenceau to get the League of Nations, was achieved and presented to the GErman delegation, who had not been part of the negotiations. The Germans were really only at VErsailles to accept the terms -- not debate them. The problem was that these men had nothing to do with starting the war -- they had kicked out that government. The Germans were incredulous at the terms, and said that you can't possibly mean this. The Allies replied that the terms were non-negotiable. It was this or war. THe blockade of German ports by the British navy was still in effect, and the allies threatened to bring the war home to the German people. The Germans knew they had no choice but to sign, but they also knew that as they did their political careers were over because they were signing Germany's death warrant.

            D. So what were the final terms of The Treaty of Versailles (1919)? It had over 400 articles to deal with a variety of points, and this was just the treaty with the GErmans, separte ones were made with the other Central Powers. So, let's look at from the standpoint of what the Germans had expected based on the Fourteen Pts.

                        1. It was definitely not the Fourteen Pts. though some were present, in a highly modified form. Point #3 of Disarmament was there, but only for GErmany. Germany's army was cut to 100,000, and she was to have no navy and no heavy armament. Territorial restitutions were made to France and Belgium, fulfilling pts 9 & 11. Aspart of this, to pacify Clemenceau, the GErmans had demilitarize the Rhineland, which was also to occupied by the Allies for a time, and ALscae and lorraine were returned to France, and a plebiscite was to be held in the Saar Basin to determine if it was to be German or French.

                        2. An indpendent Poland (#8) was created, as Wilson had wanted, which made the Poles happy. In the process, Germany was divided to give Poland a seaport -- so the Polish Corridor and the port of Danzig were Poland's. Self-determination (#12, 5) was given to the Czechs, Slovaks, and the former Ottoman EMpire. The colonial claims (#4) were settled by re-distributing GErmany's colonies to the Allies. And, most importantly of all (#14) -- Wilson did get his League of Nations.

                        3. There were other clauses to the treaty as well that had nothing to do with the Fourteen Points. Article 231 was also known as The War Guilt Clause, and in it GErmany accepting full responsibility for causing the War. Along with this was the nect clause -- Article 232, which said that GErmany was to pay for the damage caused by the war, as well as repartations, but no amount was stated. Allies said it would be determined later. Needless to say none of this set really well with the GErmans.

                        4. Aside from this the treaty neglected to provide for Russia at all, and created a new map of Europe. Show slide The break-up of the Empires of Austria, the Ottomans, and the Russians, as well created several new countries -- Estonia, Lativia, Lithuania --the BAltic states. Poland was restored. Two new states -- one for slovaks, the other for the slavs -- Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Austria and Hungary were now autonomous independent entities, as well. The problem with this was that these states were based on Wilson's vision, and ideals. The problem was that while they were based on ethnic divisions, Wilson had no real understanding of the ethnic diversity that existed in Central Europe. Show map There were GErmans in Czech, and Hungarians in Rumania.

            E. There were other problems and controversies that arose over the Treaty.

                        1. The first to rear its head was the accusation that it was TOO HARSH on the GErmans, and unreasonable. This quickly became tied with the Stabbed in the back idea of the German military. Well, the question is was it really? Well, in reality, it wasn't. Germany was the losing power, and she had issued the BLank Check to Austria. France had to pay reparations after Napoleon, after all, and this was nothing compared to the separate peace that the GErmans had extracted from the Russians in November 1917.

                        2. The other question was did it achieve what it meant to? Was Germany less of a threat? Well, Germany was left intact -- Not so harsh, leaving her population and industrial might alone. Clemenceau had in fact wanted to divide her up and have a separate French-controlled German state, but Lloyd George and WIlson had vetoed the matter, instead promising to guarantee France's borders. The Treaty was ineffective because it made Germany mad, but id didn't take away GErmany's power to take revenge.

                        3. Furthermore, there were no enforcement clauses in the treaty. GErmany agreed to abide the treaty, but there were no provision to make them. Plus, there was no attempt to bring Germany back into the family of nations -- no reconciliation. The GErmany government, feeling abused, immediately set up an entire department whose sole purpose was to demonstrate how she was wronged and the she was not responsible for the war at all.

            F. So, in the end, there were five basic problems of the Versailles Treaty, which began to have an impact almost immediately after it went into effect.

                        1. The first was its inconsistency in dealing with GErmany. Tha Allies were also inconsistent in enforcing the terms, as well. Only once after the war, did the Allies take action when the Treaty was broached.

                        2. The Second Problem was the United STates. WIlson gave the impression that he could make and ratify a treaty, as the others could, but the Senate would not ratify Versailles -- primarily for partisan reasons. THe U.S. never joined the League, and reneged on the commitment given to FRance. The U.S. retreated into isolationism, and Britain had no choice to back out of her commitment to FRance. SO GErmany is mad, not subdued, and France feels alone.

                        3. Plus the TReaty did not solve the problems that existed before the war over arms races, or diplomacy or the tension. Fourth, the Treaty not only didn't solve those problems, it created new ones in Eastern Europe, by people who felt cheated of their own state, and actually made some ethnic tensions worse. FInally it left the question of Russia completely unanswered or even addressed, which is what we will explore next time.