The Legacy of Versailles

THE INTERWAR PERIOD HIST 1301 | History The Treaty of Versailles To negotiate the treaty that officially ended the war, the leaders of the main Allied powers— aside from Russia—met outside of Paris at Versailles in January 1919. Committees were tasked with resolving the numerous problems pertaining to Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. About a year passed during the meeting. When the Treaty of Versailles was all said and done, it was a "massive document that ran to 436 pages containing 433 articles organised into fifteen parts." In other words, it was a collection of treaties. When President Woodrow Wilson arrived in Paris in 1919, he was greeted with heroism and large parades. He had previously issued the Fourteen Points in January 1918, which he hoped would serve as the treaty's foundation and expressed his desire to avert future wars by resolving the problems he thought had caused the most recent one. These included the freedom of the seas, the rights of neutral states, and the necessity of dismantling the empires that had started the conflict in order to establish new, independent governments in Europe. Wilson's last suggestion was to create a League of Nations wherein participating countries might cooperate for mutual security and find peaceful solutions to issues without using force. Wilson was a fervent supporter of the notion that every ethnic group ought to have its own government, or self-determination. A significant redrawing of Europe was brought about by the treaty, and new nations quickly appeared on the map. But diplomats in Paris drew their borders, which often did not correspond to the locations of different nations' residences. They also couldn't. Drawing a boundary was a difficult task since individuals from different backgrounds coexisted in an already diversified kingdom like Austria-Hungary. In several instances, the treaty placed individuals in groups that would not have made sense to them. For instance, the majority of the people that made up the new nation of Czechoslovakia were Slovaks and Czechs, who did not consider themselves to be of comparable nationality. After being destroyed by division in the late 1700s, Poland reappeared. A new nation, Poland, was created out of area that Russia had given up in 1918 when it signed the Treaty of BrestLitovsk, ending its involvement in the war, and from territory on the eastern border of the German Empire. Austria, a country speaking German, and Hungary both gained independence. The Balkan region, which had experienced such unpredictability and nationalism before the war, was given a particularly unfavourable ruling on selfdetermination. Although the Slavic populations there, including the Serbs, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrins, and others, saw themselves as distinct ethnicities, they were united in a single entity known as Yugoslavia, or the "land of the Southern Slavs." It was only a diplomatic construct, and Yugoslavia did not last a century. There were other measures in the pact aimed at weakening Germany. Invading Belgium and France, Great Britain and France intended to exact revenge on Germany for its support of Austria-Hungary in 1914 and for escalating the war. They started a meticulous financial accounting because they didn't want Germany to only be held accountable for the war; they wanted Germany to really pay for it. Each demolished home or structure has a monetary value given to it. Each deceased individual, whether in the military or not, had a value assigned to them based on their potential earnings in the future. In 1919 values, these reparations came to a sum of almost $30 billion. (A loaf of bread at the time cost around nine cents.) Wilson tried to talk the other leaders of the Allies out of this route, but he was not successful, and their desire for vengeance was reflected in the pact. Restrictions on Germany's military capability were among the most obvious penalties the treaty imposed on the country. The draft was abolished, the German Army was reduced to 100,000 soldiers, and the quantity of ships, aircraft, tanks, and submarines was also reduced. The expectation of the Allied powers was that by reducing the German Army's strength, its aggression would be curbed. But the means of implementing these restrictions remained unresolved in Paris, and the situation became serious in the 1930s. Germany also had its size reduced; prior to the war, it possessed 13% of the continent of Europe. The League of Nations planned to oversee the Saar territory. A demilitarised zone was established in the Rhineland, or Rhine River Valley, in the west. Additionally, Germany lost land in the west to Belgium and France (which had previously controlled Germany's Alsace-Lorraine). Poland was granted German territory in the east, along with the port of Danzig (now GdaŅ„sk). Additional territory was given to Lithuania and the newly formed Czechoslovakia. Germany lost over 6.5 million people, or one-tenth of its total population, as a result. It was also forced to cede its colonies in Africa and Asia. A specific clause of the pact dealt specifically with China and Japan. After the war, Japan remained to control Shandong Province in China, which had been a German concession and included the port of Qingdao (Tsingtao). Japan was permitted to keep this land by the treaty makers, who did not consider the millions of Chinese residing there at the time. Japan did so until 1922. What the treaty did not mention was blatant evidence of the racism of the time. Japan has asked for a statement stating that all countries are equal, regardless of ethnicity. This clause would have paved the way for more unrestricted immigration and more equitable treatment of foreigners (including Japanese immigrants living in the US). A number of countries backed its inclusion, but the United States and Australia—which did not permit immigration from non-White countries— spoke against it. Wilson asserted that it required a unanimous majority to be included, even though this was not the case for any other provision. Ultimately, the treaty's final draft lacked the racial equality language. As another instance, when France and Britain totaled the war's devastation, they excluded the lives of Africans who died in combat there. The only people who paid for the destruction there were Africans. As the peoples of the new areas and their nascent governments established themselves, it became evident that a major time of adjustment was required after the treaty was signed. Disappointment was another. For example, Wilson's resistance prompted Italy to give up land in Dalmatia, which it had been promised in exchange for joining the Allied cause in 1915. This led to protests against Americans and a surge of resentment in Italy. France was displeased that Britain had acquired the majority of Germany's African possessions, Cameroon and Togo, leaving it with only a portion. In addition to being incensed at the racial equality clause's rejection, Japan was upset that Germany had not awarded it all of its colonial possessions in Asia and the Pacific. Only a small portion was given to it; the remainder went to Australia and New Zealand. Internal ethnic conflicts might readily return given the opportunity because they had not been entirely resolved by the treaty (as shown in the founding of Czechoslovakia, for example). The treaty's "war guilt" clause, which held Germany accountable for the war, caused the nation a great deal of trouble during the next decades. Germany was unstable for several years because to the heavy monetary reparations, and its diplomats felt dishonoured by having to agree to it. In order to pay off these obligations, the government decided to create additional money, which led to hyperinflation and gave its officials a bad reputation. Conspiracy theories spread quickly, especially among veterans of the battle. For example, the "stab-in-the-back" idea maintained that the 1918 cease-fire agreement was a betrayal of the troops by German democratic leaders. (In actuality, 1918 marked the breaking point for the German military, which was unable to sustain the war given the steady influx of new American soldiers.) The primary concern of the U.S. Senate about the Treaty of Versailles was that if the country joined the League of Nations, its forces may be dispatched to any part of the globe, potentially entangling the country in international conflicts that the Republican-dominated Senate at the time wished to stay out of. Senators believed that by signing the pact, they would forfeit their constitutional right to wage war. They also disagreed with France's and Britain's ambition to rule the League. The United States declined to ratify the treaty and join the League of Nations due to these reasons. The absence of U.S. involvement diminished the organization's capacity to negotiate and settle international issues. Other Allies felt more strongly about the deal. In general, Britain believed that Germany had been justly punished and that it was fair. The prospect of joining the League excited the British people. The French likewise approved of the punishments meted out to Germany, but some said they ought to have been more severe since France had endured more suffering than Britain. China was angry because the treaty permitted Japan to keep Shandong, but its objections were ignored. The May Fourth Movement started as a student demonstration in Beijing in 1919 and was sparked by anger about China's treatment. It spread to include demands for a boycott of goods manufactured in Japan, labour strikes, and the resignation of government officials with ties to Japan.