O Level Revision : History - Post-War Peace Treaties and the League of Nations

Wilson’s  14  Points

• No more secret treaties.
• Freedom of navigation on the high seas.
• Free trade between countries.
• Reduction of armaments by all countries.
• To consider the interests of the local people when claims for colonies were made.

• German troops to evacuate Russian territory.
• German troops to move out of Belgium.
• Alsace-Lorraine to be given back to France.
• Restoration of Italian frontiers along nationality lines.

• The people of Austria-Hungary to be given self- government.

• Restoration of Serbia, Montenegro and Romania; and Serbian access to the sea.

• Subject peoples of Turkey to rule themselves.
• The creation of an independent Poland with access to the sea.

• An international organisation to be set up to protect the independence of all states.

The  Paris Peace Conference: January 1919

• At  the  Conference,  the  dominant  powers  were France, Britain, Italy and the USA.

• The dominant  leaders  were  Woodrow  Wilson (USA), Georges Clemenceau (France), Lloyd George (Britain) and Vittorio Orlando (Italy).
• The defeated powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria had no voice.

• France wanted to revenge for the humiliation of 1870 and 1914. She wanted Germany to be reduced and be the weakest nation in Europe so as to avoid further attack.

• The USA wanted a generous treatment for Germany.

The USA had suffered no infrastructural damage.

• The USA wanted to increase its trade in Europe.
• The USA feared that Germany would be too poor, and then turn communist like Russia.

The  peace treaties

A summary of peace treaties signed

• The Versailles Treaty with Germany: 28 June 1919.
• The Treaty  of  St  German  with Austria: August 1919.

• The Treaty of Neuilly with Bulgaria: November 1919.

• The Treaty of Trianon with Hungary: June 1920.
• The  Treaty   of   Sevres/Lausanne   with  Turkey: August 1920.

(a)  The  Treaty  of Versailles: 28  June  1919

• Was signed between the Allies and Germany.
• Punishment imposed on Germany was severe and hurting.

• The Treaty was dictated to Germany. It was not negotiated.

• There were territorial and non-territorial terms.

Non-territorial terms of the  Versailles Treaty

• A league of nations was to be formed
• That Germany accepted that she was to blame and was responsible for the outbreak of the war (the war guilt clause).
• Germany was to pay reparations (compensation for repairing Allied property and losses) amounting to 6,600 million pounds.

• Germany was to pay the Belgian war debt.
• Germany was to pay Belgium, France and Italy an annual tribute of coal for ten years.

• France was to mine coal from the Saar Basin for 15 years.

• Germany was to surrender her navy and merchant vessels to the Allied Powers.

• Germany was allowed a small navy (warships).
• Germany was not allowed to have submarines.
• German army was limited to 100 000 soldiers down from over 4 million.

• German navy was reduced to 15 000 men.
• Germany was to have no tanks or heavy artillery.
• Germany was not allowed to have military aircraft (air force).

• Compulsory  military  service  (conscription)  was banned in Germany.

• The  German  Kaisers  were  to  be  tried  as  war criminals.

• German railway engines and wagons were to be handed over to the Allied Powers.
• Germany was to surrender a quarter of her fishing fleet.

Territorial terms (losses)

• Alsace-Lorraine to be given back to France.
• The Saar Basin was placed under the League of Nations for 15 years, after which a referendum would decide its fate.
• Malmedy,   Memel   and   Eupen   were   given   to Belgium.

• Northern Schleswig was given to Denmark.
• The Rhineland was demilitarised.
• Upper Silesia, Posen and West Prussia were given to Poland.
• Danzig became a free city controlled by Poland.
• Former German colonies became mandates under
• The peace  terms  were  harsh  and  ‘dictated’  to Germany. The German nationalists complained. Later people outside Germany were convinced that she was treated harshly.
• Germany resented the ‘war-guilt’ clause.
• The Germans  claimed  that  the  transfer  of  their colonies and turning some as mandates was inconsistent with Wilson’s point 5.
• The Germans wanted to undo the injustices of the Versailles Treaty and this threatened peace.
• However, the Germans had had an intention for war because they had a plan for war: the Schlieffen Plan; started the arms and naval race; started the alliance system; supported the aggressive Austria- Hungary.
• The Germans should not have expected a generous treatment after they had dictated a harsh peace to Russia at the Brest-Litovsk Treaty in 1918.
• If Germany had won the war in 1918 she would have imposed a harsh settlement on the Allies.

(b)   The  Treaty  of St Germain, August  1919

• Signed between Austria and the Allied Powers.
• Austria lost Trieste, Istria, South Tyrol, Bohemia, Moravia, part of Silesia, Bukovina, Bessarabia, Galicia, Herzegovina,       Montenegro       and Transylvania.
• Austrian  army  was  reduced  to  30  000  from  3 million soldiers.
• She had to pay reparations.
• Austrian union with Germany was banned.
• Austria became separated and independent from Hungary.

(c)  The  Treaty  of Neuilly,  November 1919

• Signed with Bulgaria.
• Bulgaria was made to pay reparations.
• Her army was reduced to 20 000.
• She lost Western Thrace to Greece and her border areas to Yugoslavia.

(e)  The  Treaty  of Sevres (Lausanne), August  1920

• Signed between Turkey and the victorious powers.
• Turkey   lost   Syria,   Lebanon,   Palestine,   Iraq, Armenia, the Straits, Smyrna and Eastern Thrace.
• It was revised to become the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923; Italy regained some of the territories she had lost under the Sevres Treaty.

The  Structure of the  League

• It had five permanent organs: (a) The General Assembly (b)  The Council

(c)  The Secretariat

(d)  The Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ)

(e)  The International Labour Organisation (ILO)

•  It set up several special Commissions.

To get full marks on territorial terms, be able to link a territory lost and its recipient. The formation of the League of Nations was a clause in all the treaties.

The  League of Nations

• Was a union against war.
• Was formed in 1920.
• It was  the  implementation  of  the  14th  point of Woodrow Wilson – “the formation of an international organisation”.
• Its headquarters was in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Its major task was to promote and preserve world peace by preventing wars.
• It was headed by a Secretary General.

The  aims of the  League of Nations

• To create a brotherhood of nations dedicated to work together for the good of all mankind.

• To outlaw war and encourage the settlement of disputes through peaceful negotiations and not on battlefields.
• To reduce armaments.
• To settle disputes by arbitration.
• To guarantee national frontiers.
• If a nation went to war, the other League members would impose sanctions on the aggressor (cutting off trade links and financial relations).
• The League would ask the other members to supply troops to restrain the quarrelling countries.
• To stop drug trafficking.
• To stop the selling of girls into prostitution.
• To regulate labour
• To administer mandates.
• To repatriate refugees.

(a)  The  General  Assembly

• Was the central body of the League
• Was the debating chamber where representatives of member nations met once a year in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Each member had one vote.
• Discussed international issues.
• Voted on the annual budget of the League.
• Discussed and agreed on the admission of new members
• Elected non-permanent Council members.

(b)  The  Council

• Had four permanent members who were the great powers: Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
• It  initially   had   four   non-permanent   members elected every three years, but by 1936 it had eleven non-permanent members.
• Met three times a year and could be called quickly for emergencies.

• It was an inner committee of major decisions – submitted recommendations to the Assembly.
• Made the final decision on punitive action.
• Promoted disarmament issues that were overlooked during the Paris Peace Settlement.

(c)  The  Secretariat

• Was based in Geneva
• Was drawn from all member states.
• Was headed by a Secretary-General appointed by the Assembly and the Council.
• It carried out decisions of the Council.
• Did the day to day work of the League.
• Its duties included:

-     keeping records;

-     preparing reports;

-     translating reports into various languages;

-     preparing agendas for meetings;

-     organising meetings;

-     being in charge of the documents and offices of the League.

(d)  The  Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ)

• Was set up at The Hague, the Netherlands in 1921.
• Had fifteen judges whose major task was to settle disputes such as breaches of treaties, frontier conflicts between countries, etc.
• Member nations  were  supposed  to  bring  their international disputes to the court, (but only a few did.)
• Dealt only with cases referred to it and it was voluntary.

• Governments  did  not  want  judgements  givenaga inst them, whether right or wrong.
• Only twenty-two cases were handled in 22 years.

(e)  The  International Labour  Organisation (ILO)

• Set up in 1919.
• Its major task was to promote the framing and applying of international rules that governed conditions of labour.
• Was  independent  of  the  League  but  paid  from League funds.

• It was established after the realisation that economic problems and social injustice threatened world peace.
• Four representatives from each nation: two from the government, one employer and one worker met to discuss the working conditions and wages of workers to improve them.
• It dealt with issues of child labour, women labour, workers’ rights, etc.

• It  only  had  persuasive  powers  but  was  very successful.
• It managed to bring about co-operation between workers and employers in improving working conditions.
• In 1946, when the League was abolished, the ILO and the CIJ were incorporated into the United Nations.

The  Special Commissions (Committees) of the League

• The Mandates Commission
• The Minorities Commission
• The Disarmament Commission
• The Drugs Commission
• The Labour Commission
• The Military Affairs Commission
• The Slavery Commission
• The Undeveloped Countries Commission
• The Financial Organisation Commission
• The Women and Children Commission
• The Transport and Communication Commission
• The Health Commission
• Refugees Commission
• Drug Trafficking Commission

You should be able to describe the aims and work of these commissions.

International disputes dealt with by the  League

• 1921, dispute between Sweden and Finland over the Aaland Islands.

• 1921, dispute between Albania and Yugoslavia.
• 1922, dispute between Peru and Columbia over borders.

• 1923, dispute between Poland and Lithuania over Vilna.

• 1923, dispute between Italy and Greece over Corfu.
• 1925, dispute between Greece and Bulgaria over a border.

• 1926, dispute between Germany and Poland over Upper Silesia.

• Dispute between Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
• 1926, dispute between Turkey and Iraq over Mosul.
• 1933, dispute between Bolivia and Paraguay over the Gran Chaco region.

• 1931 and 1937, dispute between Japan and China over Manchuria.

• 1935, dispute between Italy and Ethiopia.

You should be able to describe these disputes in detail and establish how the League resolved them.

Successes of the  League

• Set up a health service which did valuable work during the epidemics in the post-war years.
• Provided famine relief.
• Helped with the resettlement of prisoners of war and refugees, e.g. for white Russians, Greeks and Turks.
• Established international control over opium and other dangerous drugs.

• Worked to abolish all forms of slavery and forced labour.

• Managed to settle disputes between small states.

Weaknesses of the  League

• The USA brought the idea of the league, but did not join it.
• At no given time did all the major powers of the League belong to it together. Russia joined in 1934 and was expelled in 1939. Germany joined in 1926 and left in 1933. Japan left in 1933, while Italy left in 1936, after criticism over invasions of China and Ethiopa, respectively.
• Britain and France constantly quarrelled and were divided on major issues.
• Constitutional defects: Many nations were against the constitution which gave one vote each to every state, big or small. It was very difficult to get a unanimous vote.
• The League was dominated by Britain and France, making other states look like second class members.
• The League had no police and army. It relied on the goodwill of its members. Collective security did not work. So the League had no coercive powers to make members comply.
• The League had no funds. It depended on voluntary contributions which were also not forthcoming.

• It was associated with the Versailles Treaty, so each time the treaty was condemned, the League was also condemned.
• The League failed to stop the outbreak of World

War II and was dissolved in 1946.

The  weaknesses  of  the  League  were  both constitutional and non-constitutional.