1. Dr. John Levan Bernhart, Ph.D.
Cambridge IGCSE History The 20th Century: International Relations since Were the peace treaties of 1919–23 fair?
Dr. John Levan Bernhart, Ph.D.

2. The Great War ( )
Unlike previous wars, The Great War (World War I) was fought as a zero-sum game. It could only be totally won or totally lost, resulting in 9 million dead or missing and millions more wounded.
This was because the war was fought for unlimited ends: economic growth and competition without limits (or at the limits of the capacity to expand).
There was only one war aim of importance, and that was total victory or unconditional surrender.
The need for total victory resulted in the ratification of a penal, dictated peace.

3. The Meaning of Total Victory or Defeat
Germany fought for a global political and maritime position which would relegate Britain to inferior status.
Britain fought to maintain its superior status.
France fought for compensation for its increasing and inevitable demographic and economic inferiority to Germany, for the future of France as a great power.
For Britain and France, compromise meant postponement of a German victory.
The United States fought to replace traditional great power imperialism with a world order of free trade among nations based on its ‘Open Door’ policy, a euphemism for a new kind of imperialism based on US economic and military superiority.

4. The Impact of Total Victory and Defeat
The impact of defeat was an immediate Bolshevik revolution in Russia and an eventual National Socialist (Nazi) revolution in Germany.
Except for the USA, the impact of victory was bankruptcy and physical exhaustion. The economy of Britain was ruined by fighting a war beyond its resources. France nearly bled to death in the war.
British economist John Maynard Keynes warned against total victory, the exclusion of Germany from the European economy, making a stable, liberal, bourgeois Europe impossible.
John Maynard Keynes

5. The Six Peace Treaties
The Treaty of Versailles was signed with Germany on 28 June 1919.
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed with Austria on 10 September 1919.
The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine was signed with Bulgaria on 27 November 1919.
The Treaty of Trianon was signed with Hungary on 4 June 1920.
The Treaty of Sèvres was signed with the Ottoman Empire on 10 August 1920.
The Treaty of Lausanne was signed with Turkey on 24 July 1923.

6. The Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Sir William Orpen

7. The Big Three Clemenceau Lloyd George Wilson
Insert picture of Clemenceau
Clemenceau
Lloyd George
Wilson

8. The Five Considerations of the Big Three
To make a future world war impossible.
To control Germany (most important to France).
To respond to the collapse of regimes in Europe and to the emergence of Bolshevism in Russia, a movement dedicated to universal subversion and a magnet for revolutionary forces.
To address policies within the victor countries and frictions between the victor countries (the US Congress refused to ratify the peace settlement, leading to the withdraw of the USA).

9. To re-divide/re-draw the map of Europe (to weaken Germany, to isolate Bolshevism, and to replace the Russian, Habsburg and Ottoman empires) and the map of the Middle East (to establish British and French colonies and to enlist the assistance of international Judaism by promising Zionists a national home in Palestine).
The victors encouraged anti-Bolshevik nationalist movements in Europe, accepting the punitive territorial terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed by Germany and the Bolsheviks in 1918 and used by the victors to justify their harsh punishment of Germany. The victors surrounded the USSR with anti-communist states carved out of formerly Russian lands naturally hostile to Moscow (Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and an enlarged Rumania). Non-communist but revolutionary Turkey, having no fondness for British and French imperialism, came to terms with the USSR in the Caucasus, signing the Soviet-Turkish Treaty of 1921, denying Britain and France ‘independent’ client states in Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.

10. US President Wilson was passionately committed to the basic principle of replacing multi-ethnic empires with nation-states composed of a single ethnicity in the belief that nations (ethnicities) had a fundamental right to self-determination. A competing (and contradictory) goal was to avoid creating geographically limited states. The idealistic Wilson refused to acknowledge ethnic and linguistic realities were far more mixed than his simplistic principle. There were no historical precedents to follow and logic was not applied in re-drawing the map of Europe. The result was a disaster—continuing to the present day: Transcaucasian nationalism and civil wars and secessionist agitation in Yugoslavia, Slovakia, the Baltic states, Hungary, Rumania, Transylvania, Moldova, and Bessarabia. Contrary to Wilson’s principle of self-determination, the new states of Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Rumania, and Poland remained multiethnic, giving rise to frustrated nationalists denied self-determination. The colonies gained by Britain and France were euphemistically called ‘mandates’ since imperialism officially became an anathema.

11. The New Map of Germany

12. The New Map of Northeastern Europe
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918
Treaty of Versailles, 1919

13. The New Map of Southeastern Europe
The nations of Austria and Hungary were reduced in size, losing their minority populations.
Yugoslavia, a nation for the Southern Slavs, was created by combining Serbia and Slovenia (taken from Austria), Croatia (taken from Hungary), and Montenegro (the angered Montenegrins immediately became reactionary communists.)
Czechoslovakia, a nation for Western Slavs, was created by combing the Czech (from Austria) and the Slovak and Ruthenian (from Hungary) nations.
Rumania was an enlarged multiethnic nation-state.
The nation of Poland regained its independence.
The nation of Italy was enlarged.

14. The Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye & Trianon
(1) South Tyrol and Trentino to Italy.
(2) Istria and Trieste to Italy.
(3) Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the new state of Yugoslavia.
(4) Transylvania to Rumania.
(5) Galacia to a Poland (which regained its independence).
(6) The creation of the new state of Czechoslovakia.

15. The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine2 1 2
Bulgaria 2 4 2 3
The Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine
(1) Southern Dobruja returned to Rumania.
(2) Areas in Western Bulgaria to Yugoslavia.
(3) Western Thrace to Greece.
(4) From Turkey to Bulgaria.

16. The Treaties of Sèvres & Lausanne
(1) Turkey lost the Ottoman lands in the Middle East, which became ‘mandates’ (colonies) of Britain and France.
(2) A new state, Armenia, was created in Western Turkey.
(3) Greece and Syria were given Turkish territory in Anatolia.
(1) Armenia was returned to Turkey.
(2) Turkish territory in Anatolia was returned from Greece and Syria.
(3) Former Ottoman lands in the Middle East remained British and French ‘mandates’ (colonies).

17. Justification of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was justified by the argument that Germany was uniquely responsible for the war and its consequences.
The treaty’s ‘war guilt’ clause attempted to permanently enfeeble Germany:
by imposing indefinite reparations (payments for the costs of the war incurred by the victors);
by enacting territorial losses (Alsace-Lorraine returned to France and the Polish Corridor restored to Poland);
by depriving Germany of overseas colonies (given to Britain, France, and Japan);
by limiting the army to 100,000 men and by prohibiting both a navy and air force;
by militarily occupying part of Western Germany.

18. The Failure of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was doomed from the start, making another world war practically certain. By the mid 1930s, except for the territorial clauses, the Treaty of Versailles had ceased to function.
Only Britain and France were satisfied by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Italy, an Allied Power, was dissatisfied.
The US opted out of the treaty, and in a world no longer Euro-centered or Euro-determined, no economic or political settlement not underwritten by the USA (now a major world power) could hold.
Germany and the USSR were assumed to no longer exist as independent powers but would inevitably reappear.

19. The Treaty of Versailles failed because the victors refused to reintegrate the losers.
The total repression of Germany was not possible; the total outlawing of the USSR, which the Allied Powers hoped did not exist, was impossible. This reality was only slowly and reluctantly accepted. The French, haunted by defeat and invasion, remained unyielding.
The victors backed the armies of counter-revolution in the Russian Civil War, sending military forces to support them. This forced the USSR to develop in isolation and to draw closer to Germany in the 1920s.
The global economic crisis of the late 1920s brought to power in Germany (and in Japan) extreme rightwing militarists committed to breaking the status quo by confrontation instead of by negotiation.
By the 1930s, the outbreak of a second world war became expected.

20. The Treaty on Balance Just Germany caused the war.
Germany’s economic and military power needed to be curtailed.
France suffered greatly during the war and deserved compensation.
Unjust
Germany did not cause the war.
The arbitrary national borders created by the treaty and the encouragement of nationalism created long-term crises.
The economic terms of the treaty were disastrous.
The treaty led to another world war.

21. What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles?

22. Summary of Motives and Aims
Head of State
Motives and Aims
Clemenceau
(FR)
He wanted revenge and to punish the Germans for what they had done. He wanted to make Germany pay for the damage done during the war and wanted to weaken Germany so France would never be invaded again. He wanted to expand the French empire, and he knew the French people wanted Germany dismembered.
Lloyd George
(UK)
He promised to make Germany pay because that was what the British people wanted to hear, but personally, he thought a harsh peace would cause another war. He wanted to re-establish trade with Germany and to prevent Germany from allying with Soviet Russia. He wanted to expand the British empire.
Wilson
(USA)
He wanted to replace the European empires with a community of nations based on self-determination. He wanted a peaceful world without restrictions to US trade, which would benefit the US ruling class. He wanted disagreements resolved by a League of Nations. He wanted to eradicate Soviet Russia.

23. Wilson’s ‘Fourteen Points’
No secret treaties.
Freedom of the seas.
An end to customs duties.
A reduction of armaments.
Freedom for colonies.
The German army must leave Russia.
An independent Belgium.
France should be fully liberated and should get back Alsace-Lorraine.
Self-determination for Italians.
Self-determination for all peoples in the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Self-determination and independence for the Balkan nations.
Self-determination for Turkey and all the peoples in the Ottoman empire.
An independent Poland with access to the sea.
A League of Nations.

24. Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?

25. The Inevitability of Compromise
Leaders from more than 30 states and national groups attended the peace conference. Soviet Russia and the defeated states, however, were not permitted to attend. With so many delegations in attendance, compromise was inevitable.
Even among the Big Three, compromise was inevitable. France sought the destruction of Germany while Britain and the US hoped to rehabilitate Germany. Britain and France wished to maintain their empires while the US sought independence for imperial colonies.
National groups did not correspond to distinct geographic areas and some national groups were considered too small to make viable nation states, so the principle of self-determination could not be applied without compromise.

26. Competing Interests
Public anger in response to the horrors of the war (9 million dead and millions injured) was manipulated toward a desire for revenge. The diplomats at Versailles had to be seen to act in accordance with public opinion even if that meant compromising their principles.
President Wilson, a Democrat, faced Republican political opposition in Congress, resulting in Wilson’s failure to bring the USA into the League of Nations.
Nationalist movements inspired by the principle of self-determination were frustrated by European imperialism.
Ho Chi Minh
at Versailles

27. The US Senate’s Refusal to Ratify
In this political cartoon, Uncle Sam (the USA) is about to be married by the League of Nations to ‘foreign entanglements’ when the US Senate breaks in to stop the wedding. According to the US Constitution, the treaty signed by Wilson at the peace conference had to be ratified by the Senate; thus, the USA did not join Wilson’s League of Nations.

28. Lloyd George, Orlando, Clemenceau, and Wilson
The Mutilated Victory
Britain and Italy signed the secret London Pact in 1915 in which Italy agreed to enter the war on the side of the Allied Powers in exchange for territory after the war was won.
Italy expected to be treated as a fourth great power at the peace conference, but the Big Three broke the London Pact, refusing to grant the promised territory to Italy.
Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando resigned in failure, not signing the peace treaty. Benito Mussolini rallied fascists by denouncing this ‘mutilated victory’.
Lloyd George, Orlando, Clemenceau, and Wilson

29. A modern version of “Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp.”
Conflicting Promises
In the secret Asia Minor Agreement of 1916, Britain, France, and Czarist Russia agreed to divide the Middle East after the war.
In the Hussein-McMahon Correspondence of , Britain promised an independent Arab state.
In the Balfour Declaration of 1917, Britain committed to the establishment of a national homeland for the Jews in Palestine.
In the secret Anglo-French settlement of 1918, Britain and France agreed to colonize the Middle East.
“New Lamps for Old!”
A modern version of “Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp.”
(1922)

30. The Dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire
The conflicts in the Middle East today date from the peace treaties after World War I and from the creation of the League of Nations.

31. Paradoxical Motives
Lloyd George claimed to be seeking ‘justice’; Wilson claimed to be seeking ‘democracy’; Clemenceau claimed to be seeking ‘peace’; yet, none of the Big Three addressed the role capitalism played in causing the Great War, making justice, peace, and democracy unattainable.
On 15 October 1920, Lenin delivered a speech exposing the Treaty of Versailles:
Vladimir Lenin

32. “What then is the Treaty of Versailles
“What then is the Treaty of Versailles? It is an unparalleled and predatory peace, which has made slaves of tens of millions of people…. This is no peace, but terms dictated to a defenseless victim by armed robbers. Through the Treaty of Versailles, Germany’s enemies have deprived her of all her colonies. Turkey, Persia and China have been enslaved. A situation has arisen wherein seven-tenths of the world’s population are in a condition of servitude.
These slaves are to be found throughout the world and are at the mercy of a handful of countries—Britain, France and Japan…. [H]undreds of millions of people are condemned to repay loans for many years to come and have their grandchildren and great-grandchildren do the same in order that the French, British and other imperialists may be enriched.”
—Lenin, 1920

33. What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany up to 1923?

34. The Impact of the Treaty on Germany
Germany had to accept blame for starting the war.
Germany’s army was limited to an all-volunteer force of 100,000 men. Conscription, military aircraft, armored vehicles, and submarines were prohibited.
Germany had to pay billions of marks in reparations to Belgium, France, and Britain.
Germany lost all its overseas colonies.
Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar.
Union between Germany and Austria’s 6.5 million Germans was prohibited.
West Prussia and Eastern Upper Silesia went to Poland.
Danzig became a free city governed by the League of Nations.
Germany was excluded from the League of Nations until it established itself as a peaceful country.

35. “Through the door at the end appear officers of France, Great Britain, America and Italy. And then, isolated and pitiable, come the two German delegates. Dr. Muller, Dr. Bell. The silence is terrifying. They keep their eyes fixed away from those two thousand staring eyes, fixed upon the ceiling. They are deathly pale. They are conducted to their chairs. There is general tension. They sign. There is a general relaxation. We kept our seats while the Germans were conducted like prisoners from the dock, their eyes still fixed upon some distant point of the horizon.”—Sir Harold Nicolson, member of the British delegation to the Treaty of Versailles, Peacemaking, 1919 (1933)
Sir Harold Nicolson

36. German Objections to the Treaty
The treaty was diktat.
Germany was not uniquely responsible for starting the war.
The treaty did not apply Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” to Germany.
The terms of the treaty would impoverish Germany.
“When we have paid one hundred billion marks then I can give you something to eat.”
(German Cartoon, 1919)

37. In this German political cartoon, Germany is represented as a sleeping woman. Next to her bed, lies the discarded helmet and arms of a soldier. The Allied Powers, represented by a vampire, suck the blood (life) out of Germany.

38. Diktat—An Imposed Settlement
“After this diminution of her products, after the economic depression resulting from the loss of her colonies, her merchant fleet and her foreign investments, Germany will not be in a position to import from abroad an adequate quantity of raw material. An enormous part of German industry will, therefore, be condemned inevitably to destruction. The need of importing foodstuffs will increase considerably at the same time that the possibility of satisfying this demand is as greatly diminished. In a very short time, therefore, Germany will not be in a position to give bread and work to her numerous millions of inhabitants, who are prevented from earning their livelihood by navigation and trade. To put the Peace conditions into execution would logically involve, therefore, the loss of several millions of persons in Germany. This catastrophe would not be long in coming about,…

39. Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau
…seeing that the health of the population has been broken down during the War by the Blockade, and during the Armistice by the aggravation of famine. No help however great, or over however long a period it were continued, could prevent these deaths en masse. Those who sign this treaty, will sign the death sentence of many millions of German men, women and children.”—Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, leader of the German delegation to Versailles (13 May 1919).
Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau

40. “We were aghast when we read in documents the demands made upon us, the victorious violence of our enemies. The more deeply we penetrate into the spirit of this treaty, the more convinced we become of the impossibility of carrying it out. The exactions of this treaty are more than the German people can bear.”
—Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, May 1919
In this German political cartoon, Clemenceau executes Germany, while Lloyd George holds the Treaty of Versailles and Wilson apologizes, suggesting that the purpose of the treaty was to legalize revenge on Germany.
Simplissimus, 3 June 1919

41. Germans Protest the Treaty of Versailles, May 1919

42. What was the impact of the treaties on the other defeated countries?

43. The Impact on Austria and Hungary
Austria and Hungary accepted the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian empire, losing considerable territory.
Splitting up the empire created economic problems. Existing roads and railways did not serve the needs of the new nations, and the new nations taxed trade, where previously trade had been free.
Several small, weak states existed where there had previously been one large state.
It was impossible to give each national group self-determination and to create a nation state for each national group. Most of the new states contained dissatisfied minorities, and national groups were split by arbitrary borders.

44. Austria was defined as a small independent nation state.
Austria was forbidden from forming alliances.
The Austrian army was limited to 30,000 men.
Austria was made to sign a war guilt clause, accepting the blame for its part in starting the war.
Austria was assessed reparations, but the collapse of the Bank of Vienna in 1922 meant nothing was paid.
Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory and more than two-fifths of its population. Three million Magyars (Hungarians) were placed under foreign rule.
The Hungarian army was limited to 35,000 men.
Hungary was assessed reparations, but the collapse of the economy prevented payment.
In 1919, Hungary’s communist government was replaced by a military dictatorship.

45. The Impact on Bulgaria
Bulgaria was seen as a dangerous force in the Balkans as it was relatively large and militaristic.
Rumanian territory conquered by Bulgaria was returned to Rumania.
Western Thrace was given to Greece.
Bulgaria lost territory to Yugoslavia but gained territory from Turkey.
The Bulgarian army was limited to 20,000 men.
Bulgaria was made to pay reparations of £100 million.
The Peace Queue
Austria (to Germany): “Get a move on!”
Bulgaria: “It’s no good haggling; we’ve all got to have it.”
Turkey:“Well, I’m last, and I don’t care how long anybody takes.”

46. The Impact on Turkey
Turkey lost territory to Greece, Bulgaria, and Syria.
Turkey lost its lands in North Africa and the Middle East, which became British and French ‘mandates’ (colonies). Arabia became an ‘independent’ state.
Armenia became an independent nation.
Turkey’s army was limited and Turkey was assessed reparations.
Turkey lost control of the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus.
The Allies reserved the right to keep troops in Turkey.
The Turkish people were so outraged by the treaty that Mustapha Kemal led an uprising to overthrew their government. Rather than go to war with Turkey, the Allied Powers agreed to renegotiate the treaty.

47. All foreign troops left Turkey.
Turkey did not have to pay reparations.
No limitations were placed on Turkey’s army.
Turkey regained control of the Dardanelles and the Bosporus.
Turkey regained the land lost to Greece, Bulgaria, and Syria.
Turkey, however, had to relinquish its territories in North Africa and the Middle East.
Mustapha Kemal
The Piece of Europe

48. Could the treaties be justified at the time?

49. Brest-Litovsk and Versailles
The Germans imposed the punishing Treaty of Brest-Litovsk on Soviet Russia; the Treaty of Versailles imposed a punishing treaty on Germany.
If Germany had won the war, it would have imposed a dictated peace.
The Reckoning
Pan-German: “Monstrous, I call it. Why, it’s fully a quarter of what we should have made them pay if we’d won.”
Punch, 1919

50. Armistice Terms
A French and a British police officer tie a German criminal in ropes bearing the phrase “Armistice Terms.” The criminal’s speech suggests that Germany sought to avoid a just punishment.
German Criminal to Allied Police
“Here, I say, stop! You're hurting me!”
(Aside: “If I only whine enough I may be able to wriggle out of this yet.”)
—Punch, 19 February 1919

51. What were contemporary opinions about the treaties?

52. German Views
“Today in the Hall of Mirrors the disgraceful Treaty is being signed. Do not forget it! The German people will, with unceasing labor, press forward to re-conquer the place among the nations to which it is entitled.”
—Deutsche Zeitung, 28 June 1919
“What a use could be made of the Treaty of Versailles. How each one of the points of that Treaty could be branded in the minds and hearts of the German people until sixty million men and women find their souls aflame with a feeling of range and shame.”
—Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1925

53. On the Failure to Prevent War
The cartoon suggests that the Treaty of Versailles did not create the conditions necessary for peace. A subsequent war was inevitable.
The Gaol Bird
Clemenceau, Lloyd George, and Wilson: “Madam, you are free!”
Daily Herald, 30 June 1919

54. In this political cartoon, Australian artist Will Dyson suggests that students graduating from school in 1940 will have to fight another global war because of the Treaty of Versailles. Clemenceau, known as ‘The Tiger’, voices confusion, unable to see the faults of the treaty.
“Peace and Future Cannon Fodder,”
The Tiger: “Curious! I seem to hear a child weeping!”
Daily Herald (13 May 1919)

55. On Wilson’s Idealism
“I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles,’ a popular American song from 1918, equated ‘blowing bubbles’ with dreams that fade and die. This cartoon suggests that Wilson’s idealism caused him to act fruitlessly. Stronger critics of Wilson suggest that his idealism created intractable problems.
“Self-determination is simply loaded with dynamite. It will raise hopes which can never be realized. It will cost thousands of lives. What a calamity that the phrase was ever uttered! What misery it will cause!”
—US Secretary of State Robert Lansing, 1921

56. “It’s the only way out, Wilhelm!”
“I do not agree with those who hastily and inconsiderately adjudge the President’s work at the Peace Conference a failure. Whatever may be the imperfections of the Treaty from a political or economic standpoint, Woodrow Wilson did not fail. The outstanding thing for which he fought, the thing that transcends political and economic considerations, is the permanent peace of the world. Unless this is secured all else is failure; without this the most sublime hope of humanity…
…is sunk in the black abyss; without this all political and economic adjustments are unstable and sooner or later will disappear.”
—William Gibbs McAdoo, US Secretary of the Treasury and Wilson’s Son-in-Law (1921)
The Way to Peace
“It’s the only way out, Wilhelm!”

57. Contemporary and Hindsight Views
“A fair judgment upon the settlement…cannot leave the authors of the new map of Europe under serious reproach. To an overwhelming extent the wishes of the various populations prevailed.”—Winston Churchill, 1919 “To stop another war was the supreme object and duty of the statesmen who met as friends and allies around the Peace Table. They made great errors. The doctrine of self-determination was not the remedy for Europe, which needed then above all things, unity and larger groupings. The idea that the vanquished could pay the expenses of the victors was a destructive and crazy delusion. The failure to strangle Bolshevism at its birth and to bring Russia, then prostrate, by one means or another, into the general democratic system lies heavy upon us today.”—Winston Churchill, 1949

58. “The Treaty of Versailles…has had a bad reputation ever since
“The Treaty of Versailles…has had a bad reputation ever since. John Maynard Keynes, the great economist, thought it was stupid, vindictive and short-sighted and most writers of history and the public have followed his lead ever since. Many people have blamed the treaty for driving Germany into misery, for creating the circumstances which led to the rise of Hitler, and ultimately for producing another World War in But historians must keep on looking at the evidence and re-evaluating the past and the time has come to take another look at that treaty. It is my own view—and a number of historians who have been working in this area for some years—that the treaty was not all that bad. Germany did lose the war after all. Reparations apparently imposed a heavy burden but Germany only paid a portion of what it owed. Perhaps the real problem was that the treaty was never really properly enforced so that Germany was able to rebuild its military and challenge the security of Europe all over again.”
—Margaret MacMillan, Historian and Great-Granddaughter of Lloyd George (2004)

59. Very Stupid Men
“The historian, with every justification, will come to the conclusion that we were very stupid men. I think we were. We came to Paris, confident that the new order was about to be established; we left it convinced that the new order had merely fouled the old. We arrived determined that a Peace of justice and wisdom should be negotiated; we left it, conscious that the treaties imposed upon our enemies…
…were neither just nor wise.”
—Sir Harold Nicolson, Peacemaking, 1919 (1933)

60. Paper 1 Specimen Paper

61. The Versailles Treaty created disagreement and hostility.
(a) What did Wilson hope to achieve from the peace settlement of ? [4]
(b) Why did Clemenceau and Lloyd George disagree over how to treat Germany? [6]
(c) ‘The Treaty of Versailles was a fair settlement.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. [10]
(a) Recall, Description
4 points and supporting details
(b) Recall, Explanation
Full explanation of 2 reasons
(c) Recall, Explanation, Analysis
Balanced explanation of agreement and disagreement and explanation of ‘how far’

62. What did Wilson hope to achieve from the peace settlement of 1919-20?
No evidence submitted or response does not address the question. [0]
One mark for each relevant point; additional mark for supporting detail. [1-4]
Wilson did not want Germany treated harshly because he thought that if Germany was punished severely then, in the future, Germany would want revenge.
Wilson wanted to strengthen democracy in the defeated nations so that its people would not let its leaders cause another war.
Wilson hoped that nations would co-operate to achieve world peace, and in his Fourteen Points he proposed the setting up of an international body called the League of Nations.
Wilson believed in ‘self-determination’ and wanted the different peoples of Eastern Europe to rule themselves rather than be part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Wilson wanted to isolate and to stamp out Bolshevism, so he hoped to surround Russia with anti-Bolshevist nations and to trade with Germany to prevent Germany from allying itself with Russia.
Wilson wanted all nations to trade freely, extending the US Open Door policy, so he hoped to achieve independence for European colonies, replacing the empires of the Great Powers and their secret treaties with a community of nations governed openly by a League of Nations.

63. Why did Clemenceau and Lloyd George disagree over how to treat Germany?
No evidence submitted or response does not address the question. [0]
General answer lacking specific contextual knowledge. [1]
Both wanted to protect their own country’s interests.
Identifies and/or describes reasons; one mark for each. [2-3]
Clemenceau wanted France secure in the future but Lloyd George did not want France to become too powerful.
Clemenceau wanted to cripple Germany but Lloyd George wanted to protect Britain’s trade.
Explains one reason; one mark for explanation; additional mark for full explanation. [4-5]
Clemenceau wanted to secure France from future German attacks by reducing German military strength and taking back Alsace-Lorraine and taking the Saar and the Rhineland. Lloyd George wanted to reduce German strength but he did not want to make France too powerful and therefore he would resist the taking of German territory to aid France.
Explains two reasons. [6]

64. ‘The Treaty of Versailles was a fair settlement
‘The Treaty of Versailles was a fair settlement.’ How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.
No evidence submitted or response does not address the question. [0]
General answer lacking specific contextual knowledge. [1]
It was fairer than it might have been.
It was not fair because it was too harsh.
Identifies and/or describes; one mark for each point. [2-3]
It was not fair because it was dictated.
It was unfair on the German people.
It was fair because Germany had agreed to an armistice agreement.
Germany should not have been blamed.
It was not fair because of reparations.
It was harsh as it took away German armed forces.

65. Explains with an evaluation of ‘how far’. [10]
Explanation of agreement or disagreement; developed explanation to be given two marks. [4-6]
The German view was it was not fair. They thought it was harsh and, as they had not been invited to the talks, they considered the terms a diktat. OR
Many thought the peacemakers did a reasonable job. It was a complex matter and, given the demand for revenge, they could have been harsher as was the German peace treaty with Russia.
Explanation of agreement and disagreement; developed explanation to be given two marks; one mark deducted for unbalanced answer. [7-9]
It was fairer than it might have been.
It was not fair because it was too harsh.
Explains with an evaluation of ‘how far’. [10]