WW1 Peace Settlements

1.) The Versailles Treaty. This dealt with Germany. It was neither too harsh (to cripple Germany so they couldn't attack France in the future) for Clemenceau's liking or too lenient (and so not create angry feelings by Germans) For Lloyd George or Woodrow Wilson. Possibly the biggest criticism is that Germany had to accept the "War Guilt Clause" which meant they had to accept the blame for starting the war (even though it was Austria and Serbia). One other major problem were the reperations of 6.6million gold roubles (that were never payed). It put a strain on the German economy and when they couldn't pay, the French army invaded the Rhur, an industrial area. The Weimer government supported the population to go on strike. Germany was no longer producing any goods and the government just printed money, causing hyperinflation (you might want to look at the extend of it if you havn't before, it was truly spectacular). However, Stresseman resolved this problem later on.

2.) The Treaty of Sevres. This dealt with the former Ottoman Empire. It was reducing in size to (basically) what it is today. However, one major problem was that it gave Eastern Thrace and Smyrna to Greece (although they were Turkish areas). This angered the Turkish population and resultantly, the Turks rebelled against the Treaty under the command of Ataturk. A new treaty was made, the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
(one must question why a treaty is imposed on a nation if when that nation brakes it, nobody inforces it?)

3.) The Treaty of Neuilly. This dealt with Bulgaria. Bulgaria lost a bit of land and gained a bit of land. It was relatively small in the war and thus the treaty was not too harsh. However, they imposed reparations which damaged the Bulgarian economy for years to come.

4.) The Treaty of St Germain and Trianon that delt with Austria-Hungary. Land was lost to form the new state of Czechoslovakia with 3million German and 2.5 million Slovak minority (although i'm not exactly sure on the figures, i am confident they are correct). Also, the new state of Yugoslavia was formed. A country with MANY different nationalities (it's amazing they didn't think conflict would occur?). Also, Italy had won the war. They expected land as a reward, especially from the old Austria-Hungarian empire. They got small areas on the North of Italy such as Trentino, but wanted the Dalmation Coast of Croatia. This was never given to them, but lead to the idea that it should be theirs in the future *Ahem, Corfu incident in 1923*.

Overall, what are your opinions on the WW1 Peace Settlements? Comments are welcome

However, the league of nations must also be commented apon if we start the name the causes for a second world war, not just the peace treaties.

"What land did Bulgaria gain?"
I'm not sure of the specifics, but they gained part of the old Ottoman Empire (on the side facing Turkey) and lost some land to greece.

"effective enough to cause another world war". That (in part) could be contained within just the Treaty of Versailles. After all, that's what spurred Hitler's ambitions.

 

Set on punishing the losers (no good or bad, just the ones that won and set the rules and the ones that lost and had to swallow), the treaties completely ignored the consequenses of damaging a couple of large economies in an age in which the worlds economies had become increasingly bound up with each other, as well as the consequenses of ignoring the increase in the beliefs of nation and people that had been rising since the past century.

 

It was a complete failure.

Great cycle...