IB MWH Notes - Unit 3 PDF

The Paris Peace Conference 1. The Treaty of Versailles 2. Other treaties 11/18/2024 The Paris Peace Conference was dominated by the leaders of the three “Great Powers”: US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. Tec...

The Paris Peace Conference 1. The Treaty of Versailles 2. Other treaties 11/18/2024 The Paris Peace Conference was dominated by the leaders of the three “Great Powers”: US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau. Technically, Italy rounded out the “Big Four,” but it had very little say in final negotiations. Russia and Germany were not allowed to attend. Georges Clemenceau, France’s Prime Minister Goal - security via severely weakened Germany Sought US/British guarantee of French security in the event of another German attack Skeptical of Wilson’s 14 Points Liked Treaty of Versailles reparations (help repair damage to France) Liked Rhineland demilitarization and limit of German army size Liked that France got back Alsace-Lorraine and German colonies Disliked that reparations weren’t higher, wanted the treaty to be more severe and disliked the fact that Germany wasn’t split up into smaller countries David Lloyd George, Britain’s Prime Minister Many British wanted to “make Germany pay,” the Liked Treaty of Versailles expansion of British Empire in the form of “mandates” Liked limitation of German navy to ensure Britain's naval supremacy Disliked that the Treaty of Versailles was far too harsh and thought it would ruin Germany and cause another war in 25 years ○ He was off by about 4 years, WWII started in 1939 ○ Wasn’t the only reason for WWII though Woodrow Wilson, US President 14 Points 1. Open covenants of peace 2. Absolutely free navigation upon the seas 3. Remove all economic barriers, free trade 4. Reduce armaments (weapons) 5. Adjust all colonial claims, based on popular sovereignty (representative government) 6. 6-13. Specific territorial adjustments  14. Create a general association of nations (League of Nations) for mutual guarantees _____of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike Liked the creation of the League of Nations Liked that at least East European people gained self-determination (popular sovereignty) Disliked that some of his 14 Points did not get into the Treaty of Versailles Disliked that the US senate refused to join the League of Nations or even sign the Treaty of Versailles ○ Couldn't even get his own country to agree to the LoN Vittorio Orlando, Italy’s Prime Minister Loss of 700,000 italians and war budget deficit of 12 billion lire made the Italian gov’t and people feel entitled to many territories, not just a few DIsliked that italy did not get expected territories such as Dalmatia, Fiume, any of Albania, or any African or Asian colonial territories Nationalists consequently argued that Italy had been robbed of its rightful gains Treaty of Versailles failures Forcing Gernay to sign the War Guilt clause, pay gigantic reparations to the Entente powers, disarm*, and make substantial territorial concessions* = German bitterness ○ * Germany had forced Russia to agree to these two actions in the treaty of Brest-Litovsk For Germany to complain about this it was hypocritical b/c they had no problem doing it to the Russians The league of nations created by the treaty was weak (no army to enforce its agreements), a unanimous vote was needed to pass anything, and the US never joined it Treaty of Versailles - Impact on Germany All Germans denounced it - particularly the provision that blamed Germany for starting the war - as an insult to the nation's honor. They referred to the treaty as “the Diktat” since it's terms were presented to Germany on a take-it-or-leave-it basis The German economy was so weak that only a small percentage of reparations was paid in hard currency. Nonetheless, even the payment of this small percentages of the original reparations (132 billion Gold Reich marks) still strained Germany so much that it simply stopped paying them 11/19/2024 WARMUP: Explain, “I was seated between Jesus Christ and Napoleon.” (David Lloyd George) Jesus Christ - Woodrow Wilson Napoleon - Lenin Lloyd was mocking them, not a good sign for how it was going to go Disgust with the Treaty of Versailles in France and the US Clemenceau voted out of office in January 1920 because the French viewed the treaty as too lenient  After Wilson's successor President Harding continued American opposition to the League of Nations, Congress passed the Knox-Porter Resolution bringing a formal end to hostilities between the United States and the Central Powers British disappointment was fueled by Keynes, British Treasury Secretary, who left the conference in protest Keynes Book had a massive effect on the educated people of Britain. It created the belief that Germany had been badly treated, and this in turn led to British preparedness to “appease” Hitler in the 1930s. British public sympathetic to Germany, made them willing to be lenient to Germany to a dangerous extent ○ Didn’t hold Germany accountable Economic Disaster Because the US insisted Britain repay her war debts, Britain was forced to insist on the huge reparations payments from Germany, so…Germany suffered hyperinflation 11/20/2024 WARMUP: How did allied anxiety about Russia's new communist government curb the Treaty of Versailles from being more severe toward Germany? They didn't want a communist revolution spreading to germany if it got too weak Also wanted Germany to be a check to Communist russia, could be a potential ally in the future if Russia became an issue Versailles Explain each of the three topics in approximately two sentences based on info from the corresponding reading section. Determining German reparations was far from simple (and took until 1921 for a Special Commission to “finalize”) The big three were unable to agree upon a specific amount (p. 184) ○ The Commission on the Reparation Damage was deadlocked as the United States wanted to force Germany to pay much less in reparations than France and Britain did. France wanted Germany to pay 220 billion USD, Britain wanted them to pay 120 billion USD, and America only wanted them to pay 22 billion USD Entiritly Germany could only afford to pay so much (p. 185) ○ After the war, Germany’s economy and government was suffering and their finances were a mess as taxes had been kept low and foreign trade had evaporated. The war was funded through war bonds and special notes and their deficit accounted for two thirds of the German budget. The expanded definition of damages owed by Germany (p. 186)  ○ Originally, Wilson argued that Germany only owed for damages done by unlawful acts of war and not warcosts themselves, which would have excluded paying for the money the Allies spent (ex: food, munitions, etc). Britain was unhappy with this and Smuts expanded the definition to include all damage done to civilians by its aggression, which included costs like separation allowances or pensions for widows and orphans. This was based on the wording of the armistice and doubled the costs of the bill. Wilson - “no annexations, no contributions, no punitive damages” Britain thought that France would get more money {and wase it from poor financial planning) under Wilsons definition 11/21/2024 WARMUP: What is a way that the Allies treated the other defeated Central Powers worse than how they treated Germany? Germany was allotted the highest number of troops (100,000) ○ Austria - 30,000 volunteers ○ Hungary - 35,000 volunteers ○ Bulgara - 20,000 volunteers ○ Turkey - 50,000 soldiers Germany lost less land ○ Other countries like Austria and Hungary were broken up into smaller countries Conflicting claims in Central and Eastern europe Not easy to finalize new country borders, particularly where ethnic groups were spread out rather than concentrated Some regions were claimed by multiple countries - Poland v Czechoslovakia (over Teschem) and Poland v Lithuania (over Vilna) Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Austria, and Hungary were newly created states