Were the peace treaties of 1919 – 1923 fair?
Introduction
After World War I various peace treaties were made, the most important
and well known being the Treaty of Versailles. At the Treaty of Versailles
there was disagreement, France wanted Germany to be punished as
severely as possible whereas Britain and the USA realized that punishing
Germany too harshly would only cause far worse problems later on.
Britain and France both wanted to capitalize on World War I and gain
German and Turkish colonies, the USA was against this and considered this
kind of behaviour imperialistic however a compromise was reached and
the colonies were divided among the winning powers and ran on behalf of
the League of Nations.
Meanwhile in Eastern Europe various other treaties were being signed –
The Treaty of Neuilly, The Treaty of Trianon, The Treaty of Saint-Germain,
The Treaty of Sèvres and finally the Treaty of Lausanne. Although none of
these treaties were as important as Versailles they would all affect peace
in Europe in the years following the First World War.
Were the peace treaties of 1919 – 1923 fair?
Argument agreeing with the fairness of the Treaties of 1919 – 1923:
I think that the peace treaties of 1919 – 1923 were fair. The Treaty of
Versailles made Germany pay for the terrible damage it had caused.
France had suffered devastating losses due to Germany’s actions in
World War I – millions of pounds worth of damage had been caused,
much of France was in ruins. Millions of innocent French and British
young men lost their lives in World War I, understandably France
wanted to weaken Germany and stop it from ever being powerful and in
a position to hurt and damage France again.
Three Baltic states – Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were given
independence from German control. This was the fairest possible thing
to do considering that there no German speaking people in these areas
and that Germany had annexed the three Baltic states from Russia a
year before.
Alsace and Lorraine were rightly returned to France, the land did justly
belong to France. The Treaty of Versailles demilitarised the Rhineland for
German soldiers, to protect France it was agreed that the Rhineland
should be occupied by Allied troops for a period of 15 years.
The Treaty of Versailles fairly and rightly put strict controls on the German
armed forces. Germany was banned from using tanks and armoured cars,
there was to be no German airforce, the German navy was limited to six
battleships and there were to be no German submarines. The army was
also limited to just 100,000 men. These restrictions were a good idea;
they will have vastly reduced the chance of German aggression against
their neighbours.
Germany was ordered to leave Belgium, this was just – Belgium was
aggressively invaded by Germany and was unfairly treated by Germany.
Germany had absolutely no right to Belgium.
Argument stating that the peace treaties of 1919 – 1923 were unfair:
The Treaty of Versailles was extremely unfair. Germany was used as a
scapegoat and made to take almost entire blame for a war, which was only
partially Germany’s fault. Germany suffered huge losses herself in the war
and had suffered hugely; Germany was forced to pay ridiculously high
reparations – basically for just losing the war. The reparations Germany
was forced to pay were enormously high, the German economy had
suffered hugely during the war. The huge reparations would only worsen
the German economy and cause extreme poverty throughout Germany.
Argument stating that the peace treaties of 1919 – 1923 were fair:
The Treaty of Saint-Germain was fair and just, Austria was forbidden from
ever seeking unification with Germany and her army was limited to
30,000 men. Austria-Hungry was a danger to future peace in Europe and
quite rightly a large chunk of Austria was divided into 3 new states –
Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia. The Treaty of Neuilly took land
away from Bulgaria and gave it to Greece, Yugoslavia and Romania. The
Treaty of Sèvres gave much of Turkey’s land to its enemy – Greece.
Colonies in the Turkish Empire were confiscated; France took charge of
Syria whilst Britain took control in Israel (Palestine), Jordan and Iraq.
Turkey was also made to pay reparations. This was fair, Non-Turkish
people in the Turkish Empire had the right to be free and have their own
governments. The Treaty of Sèvres angered Turkey and the Treaty was
revised in 1923 and Turkey regained the land that it lost to Greece and no
longer had to pay reparations. The Treaty of Trianon weakened Hungry;
whilst Hungry were united with Austria it was a country that posed a
danger to Britain and France. The Treaty of Trianon weakened Hungry
giving two thirds of its territory to Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Romania.
Her army was also limited to 35,000. This was fair and justified action, the
territory Hungry was forced to give away was a good decision, the majority
of people in that territory did not want to remain part of Hungry.
Argument stating that the peace treaties of 1919 – 1923 were unfair:
The Treaty of Saint-Germain was incredibly unfair on Austria, Austria was
forced to give up some of her wealthiest territory – over 6 million German
speakers were placed in a new state. Austria was reduced to a small,
mountainous country – the Treaty of Saint-Germain humiliated a proud
country and was bound to cause discontent. The Treaty of Sèvres was very
unfair on Turkey; nearly all of her land was given away to her enemy
Greece. Turkey will have been incredibly upset at losing much of its land
and they will have been especially annoyed that it would have went under
Greek control. Turkey was also forced to pay large reparations, which it
could not afford. Whilst Turkey had lost much of her empire Britain and
France were adding to theirs by taking Syria, Israel, Jordan and Iraq –
Turkey will have been annoyed at this too. The Treaty of Sèvres gave
Turkey a very bad deal. The Treaty of Trianon was unfair on Hungry, two
thirds of Hungary’s territory was lost – this reduced Hungary’s population
to just 7 million from 18 million.
Conclusion
Some of the treaties made after WWI probably were unfair however the
Treaty of Versailles was not unfair. Germany lost little territory and any
punishment that they did receive was probably deserved. Millions of allied
soldiers – British and French as well as American soldiers lost their lives
fighting a bloody battle that could have been averted had Germany not
gone to war. Some of the other European treaties were unfair but to
make treaties that left everyone happy and everyone thinking that they
were fair would have been impossible. It was difficult enough for three
allies – Britain, USA and France to agree on a treaty.