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   Versailles Treaty Revision

       

 

 

 If you click on the points in blue, you will reveal all the facts that you ought to remember.   

 Try to remember BEFORE you click!
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  1. AIMS OF THE BIG THREE

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    Georges Clemenceau, President of France (5 things)
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    blamed Germany = punishment/ ‘hard justice’

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    angry = revenge.

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    wanted to ’make Germany pay’ for the Damage/

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    threatened = wanted independent Rhineland/ get Alsace-Lorraine/

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    peace = wanted Germany weak and crippled .

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    Woodrow Wilson, President of America (5 things):
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    14 Points

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    a better world ‘safe for democracy’

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    fair peace

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    self-determination

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    International Co-operation (League of Nations)

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    David Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain (5 things)
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    compromise

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    punish & make Germany pay, but not revenge like France

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    protect British Empire

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    trade

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    peace: did not want to create anger in Germany which would lead to war in the future.

  1. Six Terms of the Treaty of Versailles [memory word: GARGLE]

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    Guilt
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    clause 231- Germany accepted blame ‘for causing all the loss and damage’ of the war.

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    Army (5 things)
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    army: 100,000

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    no submarines

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    no aeroplanes

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    6 battleships

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    Rhineland de-militarised

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    Reparations
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    £6,600 million – in instalments, until 1984).

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    Germany lost land (8 things)
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    Alsace-Lorraine to France

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    Saar to France (15 years)

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    Malmedy to Belgium

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    North Schleswig to Denmark

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    West Prussia and Upper Silesia to Poland

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    Danzig a ‘free city’

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    Memel to Lithuania

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    German colonies became ‘mandates’ of the League of Nations.

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    League of Nations
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    set up.

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    Extra points (2 things)
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    forbade Anschluss

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    Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania independent states.

  1. How the Germans Felt [memory word: U GARGLER]

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    Unfairly treated (3 things)
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    no part in the Conference talks

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    forced to sign

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    few of 14 Points in the Treaty.

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    Guilt
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    ‘Such a confession in my mouth would be a lie’, said Count Brockdorff-Rantzau.

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    Armed forces
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    meant Germany could not defend itself against even small countries (the Dungervolker - Dung people).

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    Reparations
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    starved German children.

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    Germany lost territory (3 things)
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    a humiliation

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    contrary to self-determination

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    made Germany poorer - took farm land (W Prussia) and industrial land (Saar).

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    League of Nations (2 things)
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    an insult

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    meant that Germany could not defend itself in the League of Nations.

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    Extra
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    forbidding Anschluss was against the principle of self-determination.

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    Results (2 things)
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    riots in Berlin/the Deutsche Zeitung attacked ‘the disgraceful treaty’

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    Kapp Putsch (1920) to try to overturn the Treaty.

  1. What THE ALLIES thought about the Treaty of Versailles

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    Clemenceau
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    LIKED  5 things
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    Clause 231

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    disarmament

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    Reparations

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    Getting back Alsace-Lorraine

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    getting mandates

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    DISLIKED 2 things
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    Saar (only getting for 15 years)

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    wanted an independent Rhineland, not just demilitarised.

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    Wilson
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    GOT 2 things
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    League of Nations

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    self-determination for Poland, Czechoslovakia etc,

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    DISLIKED 5 things
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    many of his 14 points were ignored

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    Britain opposed freedom of seas

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    only defeated powers were made to disarm

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    colonies were given no say in their future

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    American Senate refused to sign Treaty or join League of Nations.

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    Lloyd George
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    LIKED 2 things
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    reducing German navy

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    getting german colonies as British mandates

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    DISLIKED 2 things
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    Wilson’s ideas about colonies and freedom of the seas

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    Clemenceau’s harshness

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    JM Keynes said that reparations would cause another war

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    Harold Nicolson thought the Treaty ‘neither just nor wise'.

  1. Why was the Treaty of Versailles more important? [memory word: BOLMA].

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    Big Three negotiated Versailles - other treaties designed by officials.

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    Outlined principles (self-determination/Guilt/Army reduced/Reparations/loss of land) - other treaties simply applied them.

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    League of Nations was set up by Versailles.

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    Major Powers were involved: how Britain and France dealt with Germany; not scared of Austria or Turkey.

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    Afterwards, Versailles led to Hitler and World War II

  1. The Four Other Treaties of 1919–20 [memory word: SaiNTS]

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    Saint Germain (with Austria, 1919), in which Austria (4 things):
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    had to give land to Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Romania, and Italy

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    was allowed only a volunteer force of 30,000 men and no navy

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    was forbidden to unite with Germany (Article 88).

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    had to pay reparations.

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    Neuilly (with Bulgaria, 1919), in which Bulgaria (3 things):
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    had to give land to Yugoslavia and Greece

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    was allowed an army of only 20,000 men

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    had to pay reparations.

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    Trianon (with Hungary, 1920), in which Hungary (3 things):
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    had to give land to Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia

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    was allowed an army of only 35,000

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    had to pay reparations.

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    Sèvres (with Turkey, 1920) dismantled the Turkish Empire (7 things):
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    Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco became independent

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    Syria became a French mandate

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    Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Suez canal became British mandates

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    Turkey lost Smyrna to Greece

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    Turkey lost control of the Straits into the Black Sea.

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    Turkey had to disarm

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    Turkey had to pay reparations.

  1. Self-determination (= the right to rule yourself)

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    Problems [memory word: APES]
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    Areas are sometimes very mixed racially

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    Physical frontiers are not the same as racial areas

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    Economic areas are not the same as racial areas

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    Suspicion: Germans not allowed self-determination

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    Successes [memory word: NAME]
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    Nine nations set up:
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    (Poland, Finland, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania)

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    Alsace-Lorraine given to France

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    Minorities: countries had treat minorities fairly

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    Elections (plebiscites) in 3 places:
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    Schleswig, Upper Silesia and the Saar.

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    Failures [memory word: GAMES]
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    Germans in Sudetenland to Czechoslovakia

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    Anschluss forbidden

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    Minorities existed

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    Empires stayed

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    Specific violations:
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    1919 d’Annunzio captured Fiume,

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    1920: Poland conquered land from Russia and Lithuania

  1. After 1919: Dates List

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    28 Jun 1919
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    Treaty of Versailles signed.

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    19 Feb 1920
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    US Senate refuses to sign the Treaty of Versailles.

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    17 Mar 1920
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    Kapp Putsch (rebellion) in Germany, against the peace treaty, fails.

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    6 Apr 1920
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    French troops invade Ruhr in Germany after the German govt had sent troops into the Rhineland to stop rioting.

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    8 Mar 1921
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    French, British and Belgian troops invade the Ruhr to force Germany to agree to reparations.

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    11 Jan 1923
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     French and Belgian troops invade the Ruhr to force Germany to pay reparations.

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    9 Apr 1924
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    Dawes Plan: gives Germany longer to pay reparations, and grants huge loans to get the German economy going.

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    16 Oct 1925
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    Locarno Pact: peace agreement between Fr., Br., Belgium, Italy & Germany.

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    8 Sep 1926
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    Germany admitted to the League of Nations.

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    27 Aug 1928
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    Kellogg-Briand Pact: 65 nations (inc. Fr/Br/USA/Ger) promise to abolish war.

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    7 Jun 1929
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    The Young Plan reduces reparations.

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    9 Jul 1932
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    Lausanne Agreement: USA, France and Britain suspend reparations payments.