Were the Peace Treaties of 1919-23 fair?

• What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at TOV
• Why did the victors not get evreything they wanted
• What were the immediate reactions to the peace settlement with Germany
• Can the treaties be justified at the time
• The peace treaties of 1919-1923
• The roles of individuals in the peacemaking process
• The impact of the treaties
• The different opinions about the treaties

• It ended in November 1918
• 20 million people had been killed, 8 million in combat
• 21 million people suffered serious injuries
• The war cost 26 billion pounds
• Towns and cities lay in ruins
• It was called for a time 'The War to End All Wars'
• Flu epidemic spread in Europe from 1918-1919 killing 20 million people

• France suffered the most as Northern France had been the battlefield
• 1,250,000 Frenchmen had been killed in the fighting
• The government spent 8.5 billion pounds and borrowed 3 billion from the USA
• It was the second time Germany had attacked them since 1871
• 90% of coal mines and iron industries had been seized by Germany in 1914
• The Germany Army at the end of the war deliberately destroyed many of the mines and factories
• Over 48,000km of French roads and 23,000 factories had been destroyed during the fighting
• In total an area the size of Wales had been completely devastated
• The French wanted revenge on Germany

• Britain had lost 750,000 men
• Spent just under 9 billion pounds on the war
• 1 billion pound was borrowed from the USA
• A further 2.5 million men had been killed from the British Empire
• Many of the citizens blamed Germany and wanted revenge
• In 1918, Prime Minister David Lloyd George promised to punish Germany severely
• David Lloyd George however thouht that if they were treated too harshly, they would become bitter and one day may try to get revenge by starting another war

• USA had joined the war in April 1917
• They had lost 113,000 men in the fighting
• No battles were fought on her soil yet she spent 5 billion pounds
• Her businessman had lent vast sums of money to Britain and France
• She had captured many foreign markets
• The President of USA at the time was Woodrow Wilson
• The President had his 14 points
• At the end of the war many American's felt that they had come to the rescue of Britain and France
• They wanted to turn their back on Europe
• Wanted to start collecting the money they had lent out

• Germany spent over 40 billion pounds on fighting
• 1.7 million German men were killed
• Over 4.3 million were wounded
• Many Germans were shocked that they had lost the war
• Thei r government had only printed successes
• In 1917, the German Army defeated the massive Russian Army and almost won Paris in one last push called the Kaiser's Battle
• At the start of 1918 they believed they were still winnig the war but food shortages caused by the Royal Navy's blockade led to massive food shortages
• 300,000 Germans died of malnutrition between 1914 and 1918
• Theses shortages lowered morale
• The government asked for a cease fire 'armistice' in Novemeber 1918
• The Big Three refused to negotiate with the leader of Germany
• The Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm ll abdicated and went to live in Belgium 

• No secret treaties
• Free access to the sea for all
• Free trade between all countries
• Disarnment by all countries
• Colonies to have a say in their own future
• Russia to be free of German troops
• Belgium to be independent
• Alsace-Lorraine to go to France
• New frontier between Austria and Italy
• Self determination for people of Eastern Europe
• Serbia to have access to the sea
• Self determination for people in the Turkish Empire
• Poland to be independent with access to the sea
• League of Nations to settle disputes

• On November 8 1918 the Kaiser abdicated and fled to Holland
• A Provisional Government was set up
• In Paris 1919, the leaders of the victorious countries met to discuss the peace settlement
• The Big Three- George Clemenceau of France, Woodrow Wilson of USA, David Lloyd George of Britain
• The peace conference at Versailles it was clear each leader had different views on how to deal with Germany
• Woodrow Wilson wanted a fair settlement based on his 14 points
• George Clemenceau wanted revenge, security and reperations. He wanted Germany to be split up and completely disarmed, also to withdraw troops from the Rhineland.
• Lloyd George did not want Germany to be totally ruined as she was Britain's number one trading partner. He was forced by the public and his electon promises to punish Germany and reperations. He also wanted to protect the British Empire by limiting the size of the Germany Navy
• Under TOV the Germany army was reduced to 100,000 men. No tanks, no air force, no capital ships and no submarines
• Alsace Lorraine was returned to France, all German colonies taken away. Poland was given German territory and the Rhineland was demilitarized
• Germany had to pay 6.6 billion pounds in compensation
• Germany was not allowed to take part of the discussions, they were bitter and the Allies were not satisfied

• Germany was bankrupt at the end of WW1 and could not afford reperations
• Self determination was not applied to German people
• 6 million Germans were forced to live in other countries
• Article 231 stated that Germany started the war
• Germany lost 13% of its land, 15% of agricultural, 48% iron, 16% coal
• Before the war Germany was proud of its military, now they felt bitter and humiliated
• Germanies colonies in Africa was given to Britain and france for compensation
• Britain and France needed the reperations to pay their loans and damaged caused
• The demilitarized Rhineland left Geramy's border with France undefended
• The Geramany army was reduced by 100% which was still bigger than Austria, Hungary and Bulgaria
• The 6.6 billion was less than Germany was going to make Britain and France pay
• In 1871 Germany made France pay 5 million Francs in reperations
• Germany was not allowed an air force or any armoured vehicles and a small navy

Findland- Russian Empire- Helsinki

Estonia- Russian Empire- Tallinn

Latvia- Russian Empire- Riga

Lithuania- Russian Empire, German Empire- Vilna later Kaunas

Poland- Russian Empire, German Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire- Warsaw

Czecho-slovakia- Austro- Hungarian Empire- Prague

Yugoslavia- Austro-Hungarian Empire, Serbia, Montenegro

Treaty of St.Germain 1919- broke up Austrian-Hungarian Empire-Austria was an independent nation-was forbidden to make alliances- limited to 30,000 men- made to sign a guilt clause- made to pay reperations- later cancelled when its economy was utterly ruined

Treaty of Trianon 1920- Hungary- the population of Hungary was very mixed- was treated very harshly it lost two thirds of its territory and over 40% of its population

Treaty of Neuilly 1919- Bulgaria- dangerous force in the Balkans as it was large and militaristic- the British and French rewarded their Roman and Greek allies with Bulgarian territory- limited to 20,000 men- made to pay reperations