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The Paris Peace Conference at Versailles: Treaty of Versailles and its Consequences

This article explores the Paris Peace Conference held in Versailles, France, which resulted in the Treaty of Versailles and its lasting effects on nations involved. It examines the representation, U.S. President Wilson's Fourteen Points, opposition to Wilson's proposals, the treaty's terms, territorial changes, creation of new nations, the League of Nations, and the failure of the treaty.

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The Paris Peace Conference at Versailles: Treaty of Versailles and its Consequences

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  1. 1) The Paris Peace conference at Versailles, • France, is dominated by… • - France • - Britain • - U.S. • - Italy (to a lesser degree) • 2) Poorly represented (or absent altogether!): • - Russia (absent)  in the midst of a brutal civil war between Communists and • non-Communists • - Germany (had terms of treaty dictated to them) • - former Central Powers (Austria, Ottomans)

  2. 3) U.S. president Wilson‘s “Fourteen Points”… • …an outline for peace: • 1. An end to secret treaties  ALLIANCES • 2. Freedom of the seas  • INDUSTRIAL COMPETITON • 3. Free trade  INDUSTRIAL COMPETITON • 4. Reduced national armies & navies  • MILITARISM (and arms races) • 5. Adjustment of colonial claims  • IMPERIALISM • 6. - 13. Border adjustments & new nations  • NATIONALISM, IMPERIALISM

  3. 3) (cont.) Wilson's 14th Point: • A “general association of nations” • deals with ALLIANCES, MILITARISM • Establish a League of Nations for peaceful negotiation and cooperation among nations, to strive for peace instead of war. • (similar to what the United Nations is today)

  4. 4) “self-determination”: • National groups get to choose their own government, in their own sovereign nation. • (supposed to address problem of imperialism) • 5) Opposed to Wilson’s ‘14 Points’: • France & Britain • WHY? • Each was more concerned w/ long-term national security (from Germany)… • … goals were to neuter German militarism, and punish German for its aggression in contributing to the start of WWI.

  5. 6) The Treaty of Versailles: • 1. League of Nations is formed, to foster peace. • 2. Germany loses territory (to France, Poland, Denmark, Czechoslovakia). Also loses all imperial possessions in Africa & the Pacific. • 3. Military restrictions are imposed on Germany • (size of army, size of navy, no air force, no tanks, no submarines, no weapons trade) • 4. Germany forced to admit to “war guilt”, take full blame for WWI • 5. Germany forced to pay reparations to Allied Powers for costs of war (punishing blow to an already destroyed German economy) • 6. Germany becomes a [weak] democratic republic

  6. 7) Austria-Hungary is broken up… • … into Austria and Hungary, with territory given to create: • Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland • (Poland re-established – had been dissolved after Congress of Vienna, now a buffer-state between Germany and Russia) • Also lost territory to Italy, Romania

  7. 8) Mandate: Territory (aspiring to sovereign nationhood) administered by the League of Nations (i.e. France & Britain).

  8. 9) New nations & mandates of former Ottoman Empire: Turkey + mandates of Iraq, Transjordan (Jordan), Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine(later Israel); Arabian independence (later Saudi Arabia) recognized

  9. 10) Territorial effects of WWI on Russia: Loses land to: - Finland - Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (Baltic States) - Poland - Romania Also suffers massive casualties and political revolution (rise of communism)!

  10. 11) U.S. Senate refuses to ratify Treaty of Versailles: • Wishes to stay out of European affairs • (adopts a policy of isolationism) • Also wishes to stay out of the League of Nations, (ironically)… does not wish to give over any power to an international body. • 12) League of Nations is weak… • Key nations are absent: • - Germany (will later be admitted) • - Russia (communist) • - U.S. • Also lacks enforcement power for any decisions!

  11. 13) Treaty of Versailles was a FAILURE: • - Left Germany with “bitterness and hatred” • - “Self-determination” was not genuine; the mandate • system was simply a new, thinly veiled form or British • & French imperialism (in Asia & Africa) • - Even some Allied powers were bitter about not getting • as much land as they had expected (Italy, Japan) • - Incompetent monarchies were replaced by weak • democratic republics • - Dealt poorly with ruined economies all across Europe • (esp. Germany!) • - League of Nations seen as a tool of France & Britain

  12. 13) Failure of the Treaty of Versailles (continued): • - a “treaty of vengeance”, imposed upon Germany by France & Britain • - resulted in no lasting • peace (“a treaty built • on quicksand”) • - angers & humiliates • Germany, destroys • their economy... • paves the way for the • rise of Hitler, Nazism, • World War II

  13. 14) World War I = the destruction of powerful monarchies in Europe (Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Italy). Leads to weak democratic republics that cannot adequately address the lasting problems of WWI, nor withstand the coming Great Depression. Weak democracies will be replaced with communist and fascist dictators, setting the stage for World War II.

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