The League and Other Treaties
General
Wilson really wanted the League
French wanted League to form a military alliance
British succeeded in pushing it to be a flexible association of all nations
not just a League of democracies as Wilson envisaged
League's covenant was included in all 5 treaties signed 1919-1920
Germany and its allies were excluded membership from the League
until they demonstrated commitment to international peace
made many of them hate the League
made League appear to be a victor's club of WWI
US never joined as the Senate refused to join (unfortunately for Wilson)
Treaty of St Germain: Austria September 1919
after the collapse of Austria-Hungary, Austria had been declared its own state
Austria was to
accept war guilt
pay reparations
limit its armed forces to 30,000 men
lose territory
majority was given to Italy
who still wanted Fiume and Dalmatia - so stormed out
lost other territory to other nations
population decreased from 22 million to 6.5 million
had lost industrial areas
Treaty of Neuilly: Bulgaria November 1919
Bulgaria had to:
Pay reparations
reduced its armed forces to 20,000 men (limited)
lose territories
Treaty of Trianon: Hungary June 1920
took a bit longer due to fighting between Hungary and Romania in 1919
Hungary lost territory to smaller areas
much of this was the resource heavy areas
population reduced from 21 million to 7.5 million
Hungary's foreign policy in the 1930s was dominated by a desire to revise Trianon
e.g. friendship with Mussolini
Treaty of Sevres: Turkey 1920
Dardanelles were made an international shipping port
Territory lost to Greece, small states and mandates
Geopolitical Impact of the Treaties
Treaty of Lausanne: Turkey 1923
following a nationalist revolt and war against Greece
Treaty of Sevres revised to be fairer - concessions to the Turks
overall an uneasy compromise with which no country was happy - neither those forming treaties nor those subjected to the treaties
Weimar Republic was Tarnished by Versailles
Versailles Treaty helped form the nationalist movement in Germany - that would later support Hitler
people blamed the Weimar for singing the armistice and treaty
Many historians conclude that Versailles was a dangerous half-way between helping Germany and being harsh against the nation
she was angry, but also in a decent position to enact revenge
even before Hitler, in the 1920s, German politicians were committed to recovering land lost to Poland
e.g. Stresemann recognised Germany's western borders in the 1925 Locarno Pact, but would not do her Eastern borders
Economic Impact of the Treaties
the reparations payments destabilised Germany
it was only this bad because of her response
could have raised money instead of printing more money
Keynes pointed out that weakening the German economy would weaken Europe's economy as a whole
all countries were in debt to each other - mostly to the US
saw their ability to pay back the US to be dependent on Germany paying her reparations to the allies
US lent Germany money to support her after the Ruhr crisis
Germany became dangerously dependant on US loans
therefore, the Wall Street Crash in 1929 hit them hard
on Central and Eastern Europe
the collapse of Austria-Hungary and Turkey
many nationalities broke away and became an independent state
Impact of the Peace Settlements
Ottoman Empire
provoked a nationalist uprising
a Republic was set up - replacing the Sultan
1920-19223: Turkey went to war with Greece - Turkey won
their allies didn't strike back
suggesting that they were not prepared to use force to defend the peace treaties
concessions were made to the Turkish Republic in the Treaty of Lausanne
Italy
Italy angry that they had a "mutilated victory" - D'Annunzio's words
September 1919: D'Annunzio occupied Fiume
before Italy recognised Fiume's independence in the November 1920 Treaty of Rapallo
nationalist anger at the mutilated treaty helped Benito Mussolini come to power
Soviet Union
British intervention in the Russian Civil War helped some states remain independent from Russian rule
worldwide revolution had failed - Stalin promoted 'Socialism in One Country'
international revolution would be postponed until the USSR had been modernised
remained diplomatically isolated
Treaty of Rapallo: 1922
USSR and Germany both outcasts
therefore both clung to one another
under the Treaty they agreed to:
trade and financial co operation
secret military agreements
provision for Germany to test military equipment on Russian soil - evading TOV
co operation against Poland - both had lost land to