CAMBRIDGE IGCSE HISTORY: DEBATING THE EFFECTS OF THE TREATY. It contains: quick recap, main complaints from outside, conflicting interpretations, main problems, justifying the treaty, historical significance.

1. 15. TREATY OF VERSAILLES
DEBATING THE EFFECTS

2. QUICK RECAP FROM FRIDAY
 The Germans were horrified at what they saw as a
_______and _______treaty.
 They hoped for milder terms – something in line
withWilson’s _______ _________.
 Germans had been proud of their _____ and were
surprised at its _______.
 Some said that people inside Germany – ______,
_______and ________ – had deliberately organised
the surrender.
 They talked of a ‘_______ __ ___ _______ theory’.
 The politicians that signed theTreaty were known as
the ‘___________ __________’.

3. QUICK RECAP FROM FRIDAY
 The ____ _______ clause(231) angered the
German people the most.
 The payment of _________ was also deeply
resented.
 The Big ______ did not allow Germany to
attend theTreaty talks. Germans were simply
given the treaty and ________ to sign it.
 This lack of discussion angered Germans who
would later call it a ________ or dictated
peace.

4. QUICK RECAP FROM FRIDAY
 The loss of German land was also a severe
blow.The fact that ______ Prussia was now
separated by the _______Corridor seemed
unfair.
 Germans also resented bitterly the loss of
their _______ in Africa and the Pacific.

5. MAIN COMPLAINTS FROM OUTSIDE
CRITICS
 Negative effects on the global economy (esp.
the large reparations)
 German revenge mentality (based on
previous wars and German military
traditions)
 TheTreaty was seen as an excuse to take
German territory
 Allies only looking after their own interests
(esp. France and Great Britain)

6. CONFLICTING INTERPRETATIONS
 Some on the winning side thought theTreaty
was unfair.
 The famous British economist, John Maynard
Keynes was one critic of the Treaty ofVersailles.
 In 1920 he wrote a book, The Economic
Consequences of the Peace, which gained much
support in Britain, Germany and the USA.
 Stated that the cancellation of debts was the
only way to avoid a global economic disaster
 Reparations clauses: “foolish, idle words having
no relation to real facts”

7. CONFLICTING INTERPRETATIONS
 John Dulles (U.S. Legal counsel atVersailles) –
said that theTreaty destroyed the world
economy and created a desire for revenge
from Germans
 Harold Nicolson (British diplomat and writer)
– “history will judge us as very stupid men”
and “the treaties imposed were neither just
nor wise”

8. CONFLICTING INTERPRETATIONS
 Nicolson accused theTreaty of disguising the
imperialist aims of theAllies by calling it
‘Wilsonianism’
 He said that the terms would never be
accepted by the Allies themselves
 The Allies had signed a compromiseTreaty, in
the hope that it would be changed in the
future

9. MAIN PROBLEMS
 TheTreaty signatories faced 2 main
problems:
- No solution could have pleased everyone
- No benefit of hindsight. Could not foresee the
future problems that had their roots in the
Treaty e.g. German hyper-inflation of 1923,
the Great Depression, rise of the Nazis
(NSDAP) and World War II

10. MAIN PROBLEMS
 Germany’s economy was destroyed and the
world economy was weakened (reparations
hurt the ordinary people who were not guilty)
 The German people were left with a sense of
grievance
 The Allies were divided
 TheTreaty was unfair because it punished the
German people, not the rulers.

11. JUSTIFYING THE TREATY?
 Some historians provide evidence that could
justify the terms of theTreaty:
- France had lost more land at the Congress of
Vienna in 1815 (after Napoleonic Wars) than
Germany afterVersailles
- Germany demanded more land off Russia in their
settlement in 1917 (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
- Germany did not manage her war debs as well as
they could have
- After some crises, the German economy
recovered after 1925 and was successful

12. JUSTIFYING THE TREATY?
 The German army was reduced, but the
leadership remained the same and were still an
influential force in Germany (The generals were
ready and able to re-build German armed forces
when the time was right)
 Some of the disarmament terms were not met
 TheTreaty removed only limited amounts of
land from Germany. In places like Alsace –
Lorraine and the Polish Corridor most people
were not ethnic Germans – they saw themselves
as Polish or French.

13. JUSTIFYING THE TREATY?
 When the Germans were winning they
ignored the idea of fairness, and when they
were losing they demanded fairness

14. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
 Goes beyond the debate over theTreaty’s
fairness
 Important point aboutTreaty impact on the
newly createdWeimar Republic and if it acted as
a handicap on long-lasting political stability in
Germany
 Linked to the ‘stab in the back’ myth
 Ironically the Imperial German govt. (i.e. Kaiser)
pursued the war but theWeimar govt. took the
responsibility and blame for it = weakened by
Versailles

15. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
 Even moderate democrats like Hugo Preuss
noticed the effects: “the German republic was
born of its terrible defeat…the criminal
madness of theVersailles diktat was a
shameless blow in the face of such hopes
based on international law and political
common sense”
 Therefore, theTreaty ofVersailles contributed
to the internal political and economic
hardships that evolved Germany after 1919.