The Versaille Peace Treaty

I. Wilson (American President) proposed a just peace: Wilson’s 14 points:

The main points of Wilson’s 14 points:

- No secret diplomacy, opened peace negotiations

- Freedom of the sea

- Free trade

- Peaceful negotiations about colonial claims

- Reduction of armament

- Evacuation of troops

- Borders along clearly recognizable lines of nationality

- Self-determination to choose the form of government

- Independence of Poland

- Establishment of the League of Nations

The peace conference was opened on January 18, 1919 (the date of the proclamation of the German Empire on Jan 18, 1871).

- 27 state were present at the negotiations – the losers were not invited.

- The important persons were the ’Big Four’:

- Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France

- Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Great Britain

- Wilson, President of the USA

- Orlando, Prime Minister of Italy

- The five important questions were:

- Germany

- Austria-Hungary

- Russia

- The German colonies

- Turkish Empire

Aim of

- England: to get the colonies of Germany, abolish its sea power and to prevent France from gaining too much power.

- France: weak Germany

- Italy: territories from Austria-Hungary, control of the Adriatic Sea.

- USA: interests in East Asia, South America and Siberian lands.

Germany Versailles, July 28, 1919

- Elsace Loraine was given to France

- Saar Basin was put under international control for 15 years

- Rhine Valley was demilitarized

- Danzig (Gdansk) became a free town

- The German army could contain no more than 100,000 people, recruitment was banned

- The navy was taken from Germany

- Germany had to pay reparations

Austria - Saint Germain, September 10, 1919

- Abolishment of the Monarchy

- Austria lost Trieste, South Tirol and Istria

- Restraints on military

- Prohibition of its unification with Germany (Anschluss)

Russia was not considered as a victorious country and the soviet government was not regarded as a democratic government. Russia was not invited to the peace negotiations.

Turkey - Sévres, August 10, 1920

Its land was divided and the straits were put under international control.

New States

- Poland became an independent country. It got territories from the German Empire and Russia, Galicia, parts of Bukovina.

- Czechoslovakia got Upper Hungary, the Sudetenland and Sub-Carpathia.

- Yugoslavia fom 1929.

- Romania got large territories, eg. Transylvania, Bukovina, Bessarabia.

1921-22: Washington Conference – the questions of East Asia. 1919: League of Nations