EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR I
Before we look in depth at the longer-term consequences, it important to briefly recap the Paris Peace Treaties.
The Paris Peace Treaties
Versailles- Germany lost significant amounts of territory to France, Poland, Denmark, Czechoslovakia and the Lithuania. The Rhineland (an extremely important industrial area) was demilitarized, the Saar (a coal-rich region) was governed by the League of Nations and union with Austria was forbidden. Germany was also ordered to pay 6,6 billion pounds in reparations. Additionally, they could not have an air force, a submarine fleet or possess armoured vehicles, were ordered to reduce their army to 100,000 men (with no conscription) and could only build 6 battleships.
Triannon - Hungary lost territory to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Yugoslavia. Also ordered to pay compensation.
St. Germain- Austria lost land to Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Also ordered to pay reparations.
Neuilly- Bulgaria lost lands to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia. Ordered to pay reparations.
Sevres- Between the end of WWI and 1920, the Ottoman Empire had been broken up. Therefore, the treaty was signed with the new Republic of Turkey. Turkey formally accepted the loss of its empire and that territories were given to Greece. Controversially, Britain broke its promise to the Arab tribes concerning independence and divided the old Ottoman Empire with France. Egypt, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan (then Transjordan), Kuwait and Iraq (then Mesopotamia) were given to Britain. Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Syria were given to France.
The beginning of the decline of the old European powers
Although the British and French Empires initially grew, WWI undoubtedly weakened them. Both countries owed considerable debts to the USA which were reneged upon. Their short-sighted desire to punish Germany weakened inter-European trade and forced them to focus on trade with their colonies- at the eventual expense of the League of Nations.
A first attempt at collective security
Although history judges the League of Nations to be a failure, it did set a valuable precedent in international relations. After WWII, another attempt to ensure collective security was much more successful. Although the UN has weaknesses, some of the lessons of the League of Nations were learned. However, after WWI, there was a definite attempt to ensure world peace by diplomacy and disarmament, even though it was ultimately unsuccessful.
A new Europe
The borders of Europe were altered and new countries created almost overnight. New countries were created and people who had formerly been under the command of the German, Russia or Austro-Hungarian Empires had gained their independence. New countries included: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (the Baltic states), Finland, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia.
However, the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire created more problems than it solved. The main reason for this was that this empire consisted of different 'sectors'. Austria had been the administrative sector, Hungary the agricultural and Czechoslovakia the industrial. Austria had an expensive government to maintain without the means to pay for it and Hungary found itself with no industry but had a massive food surplus- 500% more than it could consume. Poland was a particularly complex case. As it had formerly been in all 3 Eastern European empires, it was linked to all 3 former empires by rail but lacked internal links. For these reasons, the economies of most European countries were very unstable in the 1920's and '30's. It should be no surprise to discover, therefore, that all Eastern European countries (with the exception of Czechoslovakia) had abandoned democracy turned to various forms of dictatorship by the late '30's. The one success story, Czechoslovakia, was conquered by Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Russia in 1939.
This was not the last wave of independence and self-determination movements in Eastern Europe; there were further break-ups in the 1990's and early 21st Century- particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
Growth of independence movements
Outside of Europe, Independence movements in the British and French Empires grew. As both powers had been heavily involved in an extremely costly European war, they had neglected their overseas colonies. However, these colonies responded by becoming less reliant on Britain and France for trade. Therefore there were increased demands for independence, particularly in Asia. These demands were not met until after WWII, when India and the countries of Indochina gained their independence.
Double standards
Despite claiming to promote self-determination, this principle was not applied to all countries. For example, the Arab nations did not gain independence and found that they had simply swapped Ottoman masters for British or French. 3 million Hungarians found themselves living in different countries and even more Germans suffered the same fate. It seemed that independence and self-determination was only the right of the victors and their allies.
A bad peace treaty creates more problems than it solves
As seen above, WWI created more problems than it solved, and more wars were required to solve these. It was not the 'war to end all wars'. Although there was a growth in pacifism and an appreciation that modern war was terrible, it took most of the 20th Century to resolve territorial issues in Europe. WWII went some way to resolving these issues.
Arab resentment
Understandably they were angered by the Treaty of Sevres' failure to give them independence. The Balfour Declaration of 1917(a promise to build a Jewish homeland in the Middle East) and the creation of Israel in 1948 only added to this. A large factor behind Western-Middle Eastern tensions today is the feeling of Western interference and control in their domestic affairs. The actions at Sevres, the creation of Israel, the Gulf War and the Iraq War are only 4 examples that some Arabs will cite in regard to Western dominance of their region.
German resentment
Germans described the treaty as a 'diktat'- a dictated peace. Many Germans did not feel they had been defeated and were both angry and confused by the their treatment following the war. Some, Hitler among them, believed they had been betrayed by German politicians in 1918 and 1919 (Dolschtoss Myth). What cannot be in doubt was that a weakened Germany was bad for European trade as well as the stability of the Weimar Republic in the 1920's and early '30's. Would Eastern Europe had fared better with a stronger Germany? Did a weaker Germany harm Britain and France as well (they did have their empires to fall back on)? Would the Great Depression had been as harsh on Europe?
In effect, the Treaty of Versailles helped to created the economic and social conditions in Germany that led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, who were hell-bent on tearing up the treaty and righting the wrongs their country had suffered in 1919.
Problems in Eastern Europe
See above! These problems were certainly exploited by Hitler before WWII and Stalin afterwards.
Read this for more details on the effects of WWI:
The Paris Peace Treaties
Versailles- Germany lost significant amounts of territory to France, Poland, Denmark, Czechoslovakia and the Lithuania. The Rhineland (an extremely important industrial area) was demilitarized, the Saar (a coal-rich region) was governed by the League of Nations and union with Austria was forbidden. Germany was also ordered to pay 6,6 billion pounds in reparations. Additionally, they could not have an air force, a submarine fleet or possess armoured vehicles, were ordered to reduce their army to 100,000 men (with no conscription) and could only build 6 battleships.
Triannon - Hungary lost territory to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Russia and Yugoslavia. Also ordered to pay compensation.
St. Germain- Austria lost land to Italy, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Also ordered to pay reparations.
Neuilly- Bulgaria lost lands to Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia. Ordered to pay reparations.
Sevres- Between the end of WWI and 1920, the Ottoman Empire had been broken up. Therefore, the treaty was signed with the new Republic of Turkey. Turkey formally accepted the loss of its empire and that territories were given to Greece. Controversially, Britain broke its promise to the Arab tribes concerning independence and divided the old Ottoman Empire with France. Egypt, Palestine, Qatar, Jordan (then Transjordan), Kuwait and Iraq (then Mesopotamia) were given to Britain. Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Syria were given to France.
The beginning of the decline of the old European powers
Although the British and French Empires initially grew, WWI undoubtedly weakened them. Both countries owed considerable debts to the USA which were reneged upon. Their short-sighted desire to punish Germany weakened inter-European trade and forced them to focus on trade with their colonies- at the eventual expense of the League of Nations.
A first attempt at collective security
Although history judges the League of Nations to be a failure, it did set a valuable precedent in international relations. After WWII, another attempt to ensure collective security was much more successful. Although the UN has weaknesses, some of the lessons of the League of Nations were learned. However, after WWI, there was a definite attempt to ensure world peace by diplomacy and disarmament, even though it was ultimately unsuccessful.
A new Europe
The borders of Europe were altered and new countries created almost overnight. New countries were created and people who had formerly been under the command of the German, Russia or Austro-Hungarian Empires had gained their independence. New countries included: Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (the Baltic states), Finland, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia.
However, the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire created more problems than it solved. The main reason for this was that this empire consisted of different 'sectors'. Austria had been the administrative sector, Hungary the agricultural and Czechoslovakia the industrial. Austria had an expensive government to maintain without the means to pay for it and Hungary found itself with no industry but had a massive food surplus- 500% more than it could consume. Poland was a particularly complex case. As it had formerly been in all 3 Eastern European empires, it was linked to all 3 former empires by rail but lacked internal links. For these reasons, the economies of most European countries were very unstable in the 1920's and '30's. It should be no surprise to discover, therefore, that all Eastern European countries (with the exception of Czechoslovakia) had abandoned democracy turned to various forms of dictatorship by the late '30's. The one success story, Czechoslovakia, was conquered by Germany, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Russia in 1939.
This was not the last wave of independence and self-determination movements in Eastern Europe; there were further break-ups in the 1990's and early 21st Century- particularly after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
Growth of independence movements
Outside of Europe, Independence movements in the British and French Empires grew. As both powers had been heavily involved in an extremely costly European war, they had neglected their overseas colonies. However, these colonies responded by becoming less reliant on Britain and France for trade. Therefore there were increased demands for independence, particularly in Asia. These demands were not met until after WWII, when India and the countries of Indochina gained their independence.
Double standards
Despite claiming to promote self-determination, this principle was not applied to all countries. For example, the Arab nations did not gain independence and found that they had simply swapped Ottoman masters for British or French. 3 million Hungarians found themselves living in different countries and even more Germans suffered the same fate. It seemed that independence and self-determination was only the right of the victors and their allies.
A bad peace treaty creates more problems than it solves
As seen above, WWI created more problems than it solved, and more wars were required to solve these. It was not the 'war to end all wars'. Although there was a growth in pacifism and an appreciation that modern war was terrible, it took most of the 20th Century to resolve territorial issues in Europe. WWII went some way to resolving these issues.
Arab resentment
Understandably they were angered by the Treaty of Sevres' failure to give them independence. The Balfour Declaration of 1917(a promise to build a Jewish homeland in the Middle East) and the creation of Israel in 1948 only added to this. A large factor behind Western-Middle Eastern tensions today is the feeling of Western interference and control in their domestic affairs. The actions at Sevres, the creation of Israel, the Gulf War and the Iraq War are only 4 examples that some Arabs will cite in regard to Western dominance of their region.
German resentment
Germans described the treaty as a 'diktat'- a dictated peace. Many Germans did not feel they had been defeated and were both angry and confused by the their treatment following the war. Some, Hitler among them, believed they had been betrayed by German politicians in 1918 and 1919 (Dolschtoss Myth). What cannot be in doubt was that a weakened Germany was bad for European trade as well as the stability of the Weimar Republic in the 1920's and early '30's. Would Eastern Europe had fared better with a stronger Germany? Did a weaker Germany harm Britain and France as well (they did have their empires to fall back on)? Would the Great Depression had been as harsh on Europe?
In effect, the Treaty of Versailles helped to created the economic and social conditions in Germany that led to the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, who were hell-bent on tearing up the treaty and righting the wrongs their country had suffered in 1919.
Problems in Eastern Europe
See above! These problems were certainly exploited by Hitler before WWII and Stalin afterwards.
Read this for more details on the effects of WWI:
| effects_of_wwi.docx |