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

Why were Lloyd George and Clemenceau suspicious of Wilson’s Fourteen Points?

The Treaty of Versailles left deep political scars in Germany.

Why did many Germans call the politicians who signed the Treaty of Versailles the 'November Criminals'?

Was the Treaty of Versailles fair?

Study Sources A and B.

SOURCE A

Gentlemen,

This can be neither the time nor the place for superfluous words. You see before you the accredited Representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers, both small and great, which have waged without intermission for more than four years the pitiless war which was imposed on them. The hour has struck for the weighty settlement of our accounts. You asked us for peace. We are disposed to grant it to you. This volume, which the Secretary-General of the Conference will shortly hand to you, will tell you the conditions which we have fixed. Every facility which you may require for examining its text will be granted to you, including of course the usages of courtesy commonly practised among all civilized peoples.

In order to acquaint you with another aspect of my thought, I am compelled to add that this Second Peace of Versailles, which is about to become the subject of our discussion, has been too dearly bought by the peoples represented here for us not to be unanimously resolved to secure by every means in our power all the legitimate satisfactions which are our due.

From Georges Clemenceau's speech presenting the peace terms to the German delegation, Versailles, 7 May 1919.

SOURCE B

Gentlemen,

We are deeply impressed with the lofty character of the task which has brought us together with you, namely, to give the world a speedy and enduring peace. We cherish no illusions as to the extent of our defeat—the degree of our impotence. We know that the might of German arms is broken. We know the force of the hatred which confronts us here, and we have heard the passionate demand that the victors should both make us pay as vanquished and punish us as guilty.

We are required to admit that we alone are war-guilty; such an admission on my lips would be a lie. We are far from seeking to exonerate Germany from all responsibility for the fact that this world war broke out and was waged as it was. The attitude of the former German Government at the Hague Peace Conferences, their actions and omissions in the tragic twelve days of July, may have contributed to the calamity, but we emphatically combat the idea that Germany, whose people were convinced that they were waging a defensive war, should alone be laden with the guilt.

… During the last fifty years the imperialism of all European States has chronically poisoned the international situation. The policy of retaliation and that of expansion as well as disregard of the rights of peoples to self-determination, contributed to the disease of Europe, which reached its crisis in the world war.

From Count Brockdorff-Rantzau's reply to the Allied powers on receiving the peace terms, Versailles, 7 May 1919.

How far do these two sources agree? Explain your answer using details of the sources.

Study Source C.

SOURCE C

The programme of the world's peace, therefore, is our programme; and that programme, the only possible programme, as we see it, is this:

I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

From President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, address to the United States Congress, 8 January 1918.

Why did President Wilson set out these points in January 1918? Explain your answer using details of the source and your knowledge.

Study Sources B and D.

SOURCE B

Gentlemen,

We are deeply impressed with the lofty character of the task which has brought us together with you, namely, to give the world a speedy and enduring peace. We cherish no illusions as to the extent of our defeat—the degree of our impotence. We know that the might of German arms is broken. We know the force of the hatred which confronts us here, and we have heard the passionate demand that the victors should both make us pay as vanquished and punish us as guilty.

We are required to admit that we alone are war-guilty; such an admission on my lips would be a lie. We are far from seeking to exonerate Germany from all responsibility for the fact that this world war broke out and was waged as it was. The attitude of the former German Government at the Hague Peace Conferences, their actions and omissions in the tragic twelve days of July, may have contributed to the calamity, but we emphatically combat the idea that Germany, whose people were convinced that they were waging a defensive war, should alone be laden with the guilt.

… During the last fifty years the imperialism of all European States has chronically poisoned the international situation. The policy of retaliation and that of expansion as well as disregard of the rights of peoples to self-determination, contributed to the disease of Europe, which reached its crisis in the world war.

From Count Brockdorff-Rantzau's reply to the Allied powers on receiving the peace terms, Versailles, 7 May 1919.

SOURCE D

ARTICLE 1

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey on the one hand and Russia on the other declare that the condition of war between them has ceased. They have decided to live in peace and accord in the future.

ARTICLE 2

The contracting parties will refrain from all agitation or propaganda against the governments or all state and military institutions of the other side. Inasmuch as this obligation affects Russia, it affects also the territories occupied by the powers of the Quadruple Alliance.

ARTICLE 3

The territories lying to the west of the line determined by the contracting powers and which formerly belonged to Russia will no longer be under her sovereignty. … The precise location of this line will be worked out by a German-Russian commission.

In respect to the mentioned territories no obligations towards Russia are to be considered as issuing from their formerly having belonged to that country.

Russia gives up all interference in the internal affairs of the said territories.

From the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, imposed by Germany on Russia, 3 March 1918. Translation transmitted by the American Consul General at Moscow.

Does Source D make Source B surprising? Explain your answer using details of the sources and your knowledge.

Study Source E.

SOURCE E

THIS chapter must be one of pessimism. The Treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe,—nothing to make the defeated Central Empires into good neighbors, nothing to stabilize the new States of Europe, nothing to reclaim Russia; nor does it promote in any way a compact of economic solidarity amongst the Allies themselves; no arrangement was reached at Paris for restoring the disordered finances of France and Italy, or to adjust the systems of the Old World and the New.

The Council of Four paid no attention to these issues, being preoccupied with others,—Clemenceau to crush the economic life of his enemy, Lloyd George to do a deal and bring home something which would pass muster for a week, the President to do nothing that was not just and right. It is an extraordinary fact that the fundamental economic problems of a Europe starving and disintegrating before their eyes, was the one question in which it was impossible to arouse the interest of the Four. Reparation was their main excursion into the economic field, and they settled it as a problem of theology, of politics, of electoral chicane, from every point of view except that of the economic future of the States whose destiny they were handling.

From John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, published in 1919. Keynes was the British Treasury's official representative at the Paris Peace Conference until 7 June 1919, when he resigned because he no longer believed the draft terms would be substantially modified.

Can Keynes's account be trusted? Explain your answer using details of the source and your knowledge.

Study all the sources.

SOURCE A

Gentlemen,

This can be neither the time nor the place for superfluous words. You see before you the accredited Representatives of the Allied and Associated Powers, both small and great, which have waged without intermission for more than four years the pitiless war which was imposed on them. The hour has struck for the weighty settlement of our accounts. You asked us for peace. We are disposed to grant it to you. This volume, which the Secretary-General of the Conference will shortly hand to you, will tell you the conditions which we have fixed.

In order to acquaint you with another aspect of my thought, I am compelled to add that this Second Peace of Versailles, which is about to become the subject of our discussion, has been too dearly bought by the peoples represented here for us not to be unanimously resolved to secure by every means in our power all the legitimate satisfactions which are our due.

From Georges Clemenceau's speech presenting the peace terms to the German delegation, Versailles, 7 May 1919.

SOURCE B

We cherish no illusions as to the extent of our defeat—the degree of our impotence. We know that the might of German arms is broken. We know the force of the hatred which confronts us here, and we have heard the passionate demand that the victors should both make us pay as vanquished and punish us as guilty.

We are required to admit that we alone are war-guilty; such an admission on my lips would be a lie. … During the last fifty years the imperialism of all European States has chronically poisoned the international situation. The policy of retaliation and that of expansion as well as disregard of the rights of peoples to self-determination, contributed to the disease of Europe, which reached its crisis in the world war.

From Count Brockdorff-Rantzau's reply to the Allied powers on receiving the peace terms, Versailles, 7 May 1919.

SOURCE C

I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

From President Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points, address to the United States Congress, 8 January 1918.

SOURCE D

ARTICLE 3

The territories lying to the west of the line determined by the contracting powers and which formerly belonged to Russia will no longer be under her sovereignty. … In respect to the mentioned territories no obligations towards Russia are to be considered as issuing from their formerly having belonged to that country.

Russia gives up all interference in the internal affairs of the said territories.

From the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, imposed by Germany on Russia, 3 March 1918.

SOURCE E

THIS chapter must be one of pessimism. The Treaty includes no provisions for the economic rehabilitation of Europe,—nothing to make the defeated Central Empires into good neighbors, nothing to stabilize the new States of Europe, nothing to reclaim Russia … Reparation was their main excursion into the economic field, and they settled it as a problem of theology, of politics, of electoral chicane, from every point of view except that of the economic future of the States whose destiny they were handling.

From John Maynard Keynes, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, 1919. Keynes was the British Treasury's official representative at the Paris Peace Conference until he resigned on 7 June 1919.

SOURCE F

ARTICLE 231.

The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.

ARTICLE 232.

The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that the resources of Germany are not adequate … to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage.

From the Treaty of Versailles, Part VIII (Reparation), Articles 231 and 232, signed 28 June 1919.

How far do these sources provide convincing evidence that the Treaty of Versailles was a fair settlement? Use the sources to explain your answer.

'Up to 1923, the economic consequences of the Treaty of Versailles were more important for Germany than the political consequences.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer.

The Big Three wanted different things from the peace settlement.

Which was more important in shaping the Treaty of Versailles: Clemenceau's demand for French security or Lloyd George's wish to protect British trade? Explain your answer.