HSC Core Study: Power and Authority in the Modern World

The Impact of the Treaty of Versailles

Note Taking

Create two mind maps-

The impact of the Treaty of Versailles on Germany
The other treaties created as a result of WWI

Discussion Question: What did President Woodrow Wilson mean by 'Peace without Victory'? Create a definition

They imply, first of all, that it must be a peace without victory. It is not pleasant to say this.... Victory would mean peace forced upon the loser, a victor's terms imposed upon the vanquished. It would be accepted in humiliation, under duress, at an intolerable sacrifice, and would leave a sting, a resentment, a bitter memory upon which terms of peace would rest, not permanently but only as upon quicksand. Only a peace between equals can last.

An extract from President Wilson's 'Peace without Victory' speech

Source 3

Handout

Treaty of Versailles Handout

As mentioned earlier, the terms of the Treaty of Versailles would have a lasting impact on Germany, and lead to another world war. Much of the impact of the treaty would be immediate and cause short term damage, but much of the impact would shape Germany’s economy, society, and politics for decades. One major impact was the loss of faith in the democratic leaders of Germany after WW1. As the war came oa close, the Kaiser was forced to abdicate and a new democratic government was imposed upon Germany. These democratic leaders were the ones who signed the treaty, and became known as the “November Criminals” and a myth that the Army and Germany was “stabbed in the back” by these criminals arose in the inter war years.

The Treaty of Versailles is the most famous of the WW1 treaties and its focus on the blaming of Germany would have long-term repercussions, but other treaties were necessary to carve up the other old empires of Europe and create new countries.

The table below shows treaties made with the Allies:

Source 4

What do historians think of the consequences of the Post World war i treaties?

1. John Terraine: The Mighty Continent

Terraine describes the territorial arrangements in Eastern Europe and makes the point that minority issues were ever present. He describes the new Czechoslovakia as a Hapsburg Empire in miniature, containing as it did Hungarians, Ruthenes, Poles, Romanians, and three million Germans. As for the Polish corridor that now separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany:

" .. . A monument facing the Corridor on the German side bore the inscription: 'Never forget Germans of what blind hatred robbed you!' The great French soldier, Marshal Foch, said of the Corridor: 'There lies the root of the next war' ... "

2. Eric Hobsbawm: Age of Extremes

Hobsbawm argues that the peace settlement could not last. America's decision to pursue isolationism, and the assumption that Germany and the Soviet Union did not exist as independent players, meant that any international system based on Britain and France could simply not last.

" ... the Versailles settlement could not possibly be the basis of a stable peace. It was doomed from the start, and another war was therefore practically certain ... "

3. Richard Overy: The Inter-War Crisis

Overy outlines the disillusionment felt after the peace treaties. Millions of Europeans were not happy about where they now lived. However, it was not only the defeated nations and national minorities who were unhappy with the peace treaties.

" ... Italy complained that it was not rewarded sufficiently for participating on the allied side, and Japan was deeply offended by the western states' refusal to include a clause on racial discrimination. . . It was a treaty that almost no one liked except Britain and France ... "

activity

Question 3

Using source 3 and any other knowledge describe the impact upon Germany of the Treaty of Versailles.

(150 words)

Extension: Complete Analyzing Sources 1.3 in Modern History Transformed

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