Focus Points
● What were the motives and aims of the Big Three at Versailles?
● Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?
● What was the impact of the peace treaty on Germany up to 1923?
● Could the treaties be justified at the time?
Specified Content
● The peace treaties of 1919–23:
○ the roles of individuals such as Wilson, Clemenceau and Lloyd George in the
peacemaking process
○ the impact of the treaties on the defeated countries
○ contemporary opinions about the treaties
BACKGROUND
Causes of WWI:
Militarism
Alliances/Assassination (July crisis)
Imperialism
Nationalism
Alliances leading up to WWI:
Note: Italy ends up joining
Russia/France/Britain
War comes to an end:
● March 1918 - Russia (USSR) withdraws following Bolshevik Revolution, Treaty of
Brest-Litovsk harsh on Russia
● October 1918 - Remaining German front is about to collapse, armistice negotiations
(dependent on Kaiser Wilhelm’s abdication) → Revolutionary activities and crises
across Germany (Navy inciting revolts)
● November 1918 - Kaiser abdicates, armistice, war comes to an end, Germany
nobility collapses
NOTES
Motives and Aims of the “Big Three”
Leader Country Aims (what they want Motives (why)
the terms to be)
Georges France PM
Clemenceau
“The Tiger”
Woodrow United States
Wilson President
“The Idealist”
David Lloyd United
George Kingdom PM
“The Realist”
Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Terms Details
Blame
Reparations
Army
Territory
League of Nations
Europe before/after the war
Land taken from Germany in the treaties
Why did all the victors not get everything they wanted?
Discuss, for each of the “Big Three”
● Which terms of the TOV would please him and why?
● Which terms would displease him and why?
● How far did he accomplish his aims?
● What prevented him from getting everything he wanted?
(You might want to make another table to revise this information)
How the terms of the treaty impacted Germany up to 1923:
Political
(violence, instability)
Economic
(hyperinflation,
unemployment, poverty)
Morale/loss
(loss of population,
battered pride, mistrust)
Tip: Remember that the German public’s responses to the terms AND the enforcement of
the terms themselves caused great issues
The Terms of the Other Treaties
Treaty Country Terms Similarity/difference vs.
Affected Treaty of Versailles
St. Germain Austria
Neuilly Bulgaria
Trianon Hungary
Sevres Turkey
Hint: LoN!
EXAM PREP
Structured Essays (Paper 1)
(a) How did the treaty of Versailles restrict German armed forces?
(b) Why was Wilson unsuccessful in achieving his goal of self-determination for the
peoples of Europe?
(c) How far did the “Big Three” achieve their aims at the peace conference? Explain your
answers.
(a) What were the main terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
(b) What impact did the TOV have on Germany up to 1923?
(c) ‘The terms of the TOV could be justified at the time.’ How far do you agree with this
statement?
Source Evaluation (Paper 2)
SOURCE A
The severity of the trade depression served to stimulate the growing appetite for liberalism
among the middle class, especially among the lower middle class. The great power of the
working class, more apparent than real, as time proved, persuaded the established ruling
classes to surrender power with little fight in the early months of 1848. The following months
showed these two politically and socially underprivileged classes – the workers and the
lower middle class – competing for power. Although certain causes were more relevant in
some places than others – the financial crisis was more important in France – the
widespread nature of the revolutions suggests certain common explanations. The great
common factor was the town. Cities had vast concentrations of poor people, far more likely
to get together than peasants in the countryside, and were also centres of political power. It
was on the cities that the great social and economic developments – population growth,
industrialisation, railway building – had their impact. It was to cities that the political exiles
made their way. It was in cities that the liberal and national aspirations were voiced. And at
this time the ruling classes failed to control these cities.
From a history book published in 1981
SOURCE B
The simplest approach to the revolutions is to see them as a bid by the rising middle classes
to take the power from which they were excluded. However, a clear majority of the middle
classes lived in small towns and were not much interested in political power. They accepted
the existing social hierarchy and were certainly not revolutionary. Industrialisation in cities
brought dreadful conditions for the working classes. Here, surely, is the backdrop to the
revolutions. However, there were relatively few factory workers on the continent in 1848 and
they did not play a significant role in the outbreak of revolution. The revolutions followed
growing interest in a variety of ideas all designed to alter the existing order. The outpouring
of ideas like liberalism and nationalism was a vital element in causing the revolutions.
Intellectual ideas helped prepare the revolutions and gave them direction. Lower class
elements made the revolutions.
The suddenness of the outbreaks found most governments unprepared. The weakness of
most rulers owed something to accident but something perhaps to the problems of adjusting
the institution of monarchy to a changing world. Unready governments, headed by indecisive
rulers doubtful about their own future, helped the conversion of street fighting into full-scale
revolution. Also, the questioning about the basic social and legal order delayed the reaction
of the ruling class to a revolutionary challenge.
From a history book published in 1974.
How far do these two sources agree? Explain your answer using details of the sources.
(0470/21 May/June 2017)
THE RECKONING
GERMAN: Monstrous, I call it. Why, it’s fully a quarter of what we should have made them
pay if we’d won.
Why was this source published in Britain in 1919? Explain your answer using details of the
source and your knowledge.
THE FINISHING TOUCH
Why was this source published in Britain in 1919? Explain your answer using details of the
source and your knowledge.
How far would these two cartoonists agree? Explain your answer using detailed references
to the sources and your own knowledge. (Two US cartoons published 1919)
