Was the Treaty of Versailles Fair? (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE History): Flashcards

Germany launched their Spring Offensive in March 1918, but it failed to defeat the Allies.

False.

The German army retreated in November 1918 but was not defeated on the battlefield, which is why some Germans opposed signing the armistice.

The Big Three were the three leaders who negotiated the Treaty of Versailles: Georges Clemenceau, Woodrow Wilson and David Lloyd George.

Self-determination was Wilson's idea that all national groups should have their own country.

The 14 Points were Woodrow Wilson's plan for a lasting peace, including self-determination, disarmament and a League of Nations.

The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting that began in January 1919 at the Palace of Versailles to agree the peace treaties ending the First World War.

Georges Clemenceau was the Prime Minister of France.

Woodrow Wilson was the President of the USA.

Clemenceau wanted a harsh treaty that severely punished Germany with high reparations and lost land.

Wilson believed a strong, economically secure Germany would help rebuild Europe and could trade with other nations after the war.

Lloyd George had won an election on the promise that he would 'make Germany pay'.

Clemenceau wanted the return of the region of Alsace-Lorraine to France.

Wilson pictured a new organisation called the League of Nations to help keep peace.

True.

Lloyd George was realistic and wanted a fair treaty somewhere between Wilson's soft vision and Clemenceau's harsh vision.

Self-determination was Wilson's principle that national groups should govern themselves, which led to the independence of Eastern European nations.

A compromise was an agreement where each of the Big Three gave up some of their aims because they could not all achieve everything they wanted.

Demilitarisation of the Rhineland meant Germany was not allowed to station soldiers there, agreed as a compromise instead of giving the area to France.

Instead of being given to France, the Rhineland was demilitarised by the Allies.

Wilson abandoned the idea of free navigation of the seas because of Britain's naval supremacy.

Wilson allowed Britain and France to take Germany's overseas colonies and expand their empires.

The USA did not want revenge because it joined the war late in 1917, had no fighting on its soil and suffered fewer casualties.

France wanted severe punishment because over two-thirds of the French Army died or were wounded in the First World War.

Clemenceau did not believe the treaty restricted Germany's army enough.

Lloyd George had won the 1918 election on the campaign to make Germany pay.

True.

The leaders had different aims and motives and faced different public pressures, which is why they all had to compromise.

False.

Clemenceau did not gain the Rhineland for France; it was demilitarised instead, so he had to compromise.

A 'diktat' was a dictated peace, so called by Germans because their representatives were not allowed to attend the peace talks and had to accept the terms.

'Dolchstoss' meant a 'stab in the back', the belief that German politicians had betrayed Germany by signing the Treaty of Versailles.

Hyperinflation is when prices rise rapidly and become out of control, causing a country's currency to lose its monetary value.

The Freikorps were a right-wing group of armed ex-soldiers who became unemployed after the Treaty of Versailles restricted the German Army.

The Kapp Putsch was led by Wolfgang Kapp, along with around 5,000 Freikorps members.

The workers called a general strike, cutting off Berlin's gas, electricity, water and public transport until Kapp left after four days.

French and Belgian troops entered the Ruhr in January 1923.

The Treaty of Versailles had restricted Germany's army to 100,000 men, while the French had 750,000 soldiers, and the terms legalised France's actions.

The Weimar government decided to print more money, which caused the hyperinflation crisis.

The politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles were called the November Criminals.

In November 1923, Hitler and the Nazi Party attempted to seize power in the Munich Putsch.

False.

The Munich Putsch failed and Hitler was arrested for high treason and later sentenced to prison.

The Versailles Settlement was the group of five peace treaties made after the First World War, including the Treaty of Versailles and four others.

The Treaty of St Germain was the Allies' dictated peace treaty with Austria in September 1919, which ended the Austro-Hungarian empire.

The Treaty of Lausanne was the new 1923 treaty with Türkiye that replaced the Treaty of Sevres, giving Türkiye land back with no reparations or army restrictions.

The Treaty of Trianon was the Allies' dictated peace treaty with Hungary.

The Treaty of Neuilly was the Allies' dictated peace treaty with Bulgaria.

The Treaty of Sevres brought an end to the Ottoman Empire.

The French claimed Germany's diktat on Russia, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, was much harsher than the Treaty of Versailles.

Some people in Britain and France thought that, as long as Germany existed as a country, it was still a threat to world peace.

The British economist John Maynard Keynes criticised the treaty in The Economic Consequences of the Peace.

Every one of the five post-war treaties forced the defeated country to accept a War Guilt Clause.

True.

Marshal Foch, the French commander of the Allied forces, stated that the treaty did not protect France from invasion.

True.

Forcing Germans to live under foreign rule and excluding Germany from the League of Nations isolated Germany and increased support for extremist groups.