After World War I, the world created a new order at the Paris Peace Conference. However, this incomplete peace eventually became the seed of another war.
Basic Knowledge
January 1919 saw the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, and the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 (five years after the Sarajevo Incident). U.S. President Wilson proposed the Fourteen Points (including the abolition of secret diplomacy, national self-determination, and the establishment of the League of Nations), but anti-German revenge among Britain and France (Clemenceau) was strong, and harsh conditions were imposed on Germany: reparations of 132 billion gold marks, loss of all colonies, return of Alsace-Lorraine to France, arms limitations (an army of 100,000 and an almost complete ban on an air force and navy), and the war guilt clause. Germany reacted furiously, calling it a “stab in the back.” In January 1920, the world's first international organization, the League of Nations, was established (headquartered in Geneva), and Japan also became a permanent member of the Council. However, it was weak from the beginning because the U.S. Congress rejected ratification of the treaty and the United States did not participate.
June 1919 Treaty of Versailles
January 1920 Establishment of the League of Nations (Geneva)
1921-22 Washington Conference (naval disarmament 5:5:3, end of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance)
1925 Locarno Treaties (recognition of the German-French-Belgian borders)
1926 Germany joins the League of Nations
1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact (Pact of Paris)
1930 London Naval Treaty
In Depth (Background and Effects)
Germany suffered from hyperinflation in the first half of the 1920s (in 1923, even 1-trillion-mark banknotes were issued). In 1923, France and Belgium occupied the Ruhr industrial region because of unpaid reparations, accelerating hyperinflation. In the same year, Hitler launched the Munich Putsch but failed, and wrote Mein Kampf in prison. The 1924 Dawes Plan and 1929 Young Plan eased the reparations burden. Under Foreign Minister Stresemann, the German economy temporarily stabilized; the 1925 Locarno Treaties confirmed the demilitarization of the Rhineland, and Germany joined the League of Nations in 1926. The 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact declared the “outlawry of war” for the first time in the world. However, this stability collapsed with the Great Depression of 1929, and the Nazi Party rose in Germany as the Versailles System broke down.
- Paris Peace Conference = January 1919 (major members: U.S. Wilson, Britain's Lloyd George, France's Clemenceau)
- Treaty of Versailles = June 28, 1919, harsh terms imposed on Germany
- Wilson's Fourteen Points = national self-determination, the League of Nations, and others
- League of Nations = 1920, headquartered in Geneva, United States did not participate
- Washington Conference = 1921-22, naval disarmament 5:5:3
- Kellogg-Briand Pact = 1928, outlawry of war
- Hyperinflation = 1923 in Germany, occupation of the Ruhr
- Dawes Plan and Young Plan = easing of reparations
Points to Note (Easily Confused)
① The Treaty of Versailles (against Germany, 1919), Treaty of Saint-Germain (against Austria), and Treaty of Sèvres (against Turkey) were separate treaties for different defeated countries. ② Distinguish the League of Nations (1920, Geneva, United States absent, unanimity) from the United Nations (1945, New York, United States participating, majority voting + veto power). ③ The Fourteen Points were proposed by Wilson but were not fully reflected in the Treaty of Versailles. ④ The Locarno Treaties (1925, collective security in Europe) and the Kellogg-Briand Pact (1928, outlawry of war) were both interwar peace efforts.
Practice
- State the name and signing year of the peace treaty with Germany after World War I.
- Which American president proposed the “Fourteen Points”?
- What was the world's first international peace organization, established in 1920?