1. Treaty of Versailles and the League of nations

2. The Paris Peace Conference The Paris Peace Conference opened on 12th January 1919, meetings were held at various locations in and around Paris until 20th January, 1920. Leaders of 32 states representing about 75% of the world's population, attended. However, negotiations were dominated by the five major powers responsible for defeating the Central Powers: the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan. Important figures in these negotiations included Georges Clemenceau (France) David Lloyd George (Britain), Vittorio Orlando (Italy), and Woodrow Wilson (United States).

4. The Treaty was a Diktat A diktat is: –A harsh, unilaterally imposed settlement with a defeated party (www.dictionary.com)www.dictionary.com) –The Treaty of Versailles was a diktat in that Germany was not allowed to negotiate on its own behalf at the Paris Peace Conference and it was forced to accept the Treaty and could not refuse to honor its terms.

5. Punitive in Nature – The Treaty “Punished” Germany Six Terms of the Treaty of Versailles [Memory Word: GARGLE] G uilt for the War –By clause 231 of the treaty, Germany had to accept the blame ‘for causing all the loss and damage’ of the war.

6. A rmed forces The Treaty restricted German armed forces to: -only 100,000 men in the army -conscription was banned – soldiers had to be volunteers -no submarines or aeroplanes -only six battleships -the Rhineland had to be de-militarised

8. R eparations Germany had to pay for all the damage of the war in installments, until 1984. To make these payments, the Weimar Government printed extra money and created a condition of hyper inflation and extreme economic hardship in Germany.

9. G ermany lost territory Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France The Saar coalfields were given to France for 15 years Malmedy was given to Belgium North Schleswig was given to Denmark (after a plebiscite) West Prussia (including the ‘Polish corridor’) and Upper Silesia were given to Poland. Danzig was made a ‘free city’. Memel was given to Lithuania. German colonies were made ‘mandates’ of the League of Nations, to be looked after by France (Cameroons), Britain (Tanganyika), Japan (islands in the Pacific), Australia (New Guinea) and New Zealand (Samoa)

11. L eague of Nations set up as an international forum to settle disputes by discussion, not war. Germany is not allowed to join initially (until 1926) and the USA eventually refuses to join.

12. E xtra points In addition, the Treaty: forbade Anschluss (union) between Germany and Austria. made Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania independent states (in the Balkans).

13. In all, Germany lost: 10% of its land all its colonies 12% of its population 16% of its coalfields half its iron and steel industry most of its army and navy all its airforce.

14. The League of Nations The first item on the agenda at the Paris Peace Conference was the creation of a League (council) which was to serve as a means of guaranteeing collective security to all its members. –Collective security means that you rely on the might of the combined group (not one or two individual countries) to ensure and maintain world peace.

15. A First … There had been many international organizations before the League of Nations. However, the League was the first attempt at getting all of the world’s countries to gather in a council to discuss and deal with issues. –The League was the world’s first attempt at universal membership in a collective security organization.

16. United We Stand … Membership in the League was voluntary and members were required to respect and protect each other’s territories through collective action (working together). –The League would rely on the combined strength of all of its members to make countries think twice about starting a war. –The threat of overwhelming power would prevent any single nation or small group of nations from starting a war that could not possibly be won. –The League hoped that this threat of collective response would make war obsolete.

17. A Council of the Great … The League’s most important body was a council of the :great powers” - the USA, Britain, France, Italy, Japan and Russia (were supposed to be permanent members) – as well as non-permanent members elected to fixed terms. (The USA never took its place and Russia was not admitted until 1934) Germany was kept out of the League until 1926 but eventually joined as a permanent member of the “power” council.

18. The Trouble With … There were several major flaws with the structure of the League of Nations which limited its effectiveness as an agent of collective security: 1.The USA became isolationist in nature (again) and did not join – the world’s most powerful nation was not a member (no BIG STICK). 2.Membership in the League was voluntary. Several countries just “quit” when the League made a decision they didn’t like. 3.The League’s decisions were not “binding” (countries could not be forced to do what the League wanted) since the power on the League rested on “respect” and “agreements” between nation.