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Treaty of Versailles Specialist Terms

   

  

     

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  •  Brest-Litovsk
    • The peace treaty signed between Germany and the defeated Russians in 1917. It was VERY harsh - Germany took huge amounts of land and most Russia's industrial areas - delegates at Versailles used it as an excuse to argue that Germany, too, should be treated without mercy.
  •  Fontainbleau Memorandum
    • Lloyd George’s 25 March statement to end the deadlock in negotiations , giving full support for the League of Nations and a reasonable peace which would not alienate the Germans, but alongside a defensive alliance with France
  •  Tiger
    • The nickname for Clemenceau - who was known as a vicious and tenacious person. he hated Germany for defeating France in 1871, as well as for the First World War. His first aim was to make sure that Germany was weakened so much that the Germans could never threaten France again. His second aim was revenge.
  •  Appeasers
    • The name given in Britain to those internationalist politicians who wanted a mild peace
  •  Realists
    • The name given in Britain to those politicians who wanted a harsh peace
  •  Carthaginian Peace
    • Keynes’s portrayal of The Treaty (referring to the total destruction of the city of Carthage by the Romans when they won the Punic Wars)
  •  Fourteen Points
    • Fourteen Points The terms proposed by President Wilson of the USA on 8 January 1918, as a basis for the settlement of World War I. The main points were the creation of the League of Nations, open diplomacy (no secret treaties); freedom of the seas; removal of trade barriers; international disarmament; weakening of 'empires'. Wilson was obliged to compromise on many of the points in the Treaty.
  •  Bolshevism
    • Fear of Bolshevism (Russian communism) had a significant effect on the final terms of the Treaty
  •  Disarmament
    • One of the 14 Points. The Germans complained that they were expected to disarm, but not the victorious powers.
  •  Self-determination
    • The right of a country to rule itself. Different nations states were set up by the Treaties - Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia. the Germans complained that everyone got self-determination but them - the 'corridor' and Posen were given to Poland although Germans lived there, and Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria.
  •  Covenant
    • The first 26 terms of the Treaty of Versailles made up the Covenant of the League of Nations - the aims and remit of the League, which countries which joined the League promised to keep.
  •  Reparations
    • The money that Germany was supposed to pay to repair the damage done during the war. Clause 231 stated that Germany was liable to ALL the cost of the war. However, the Big Three argued violently about the size of reparations (France wanted a huge amount/ Britain did not want a figure that damaged Germany's ability to trade). The Treaty of Versailles kicked back decision as to the actual sum of the League, which did not fix reparations (of £6.6 billion) until May 1921. The Germans refused to pay, and France, Britain and Belgium had to invade the Ruhr (March-Spet 1921) to force Germany to pay.
  •  Clause 231
    • The Clause which statd that Germany was responsible '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'. Originally inserted simply as a pre-statement giving the Allies the right to collect reparations, the clause was interpreted as saying that Germany had caused the war. the Germans denied this, and in 1927 President Hindenburg officially denied the 'war-guilt' clause.
  •  Schuld
    • Clause 231 did not ‘blame’ Germany for the war, it used the word ‘responsible’ (which gave a legal right to charge Germany reparations). The German delegation, however, (intentionally) translated the word ‘responsible’ with the German word ‘Schuld’ – a word meaning ‘responsible’ in the sense of blame/ ‘moral guilt’ – so that they could be outraged about it.
  •  Anschluss
    • Union with Austria - denied under the Treaty of Versailles. This breached the principle of self-determination, since the Austrians were a Germanic people. Hitler broke this in 1938.
  •  Demilitarised
    • The area on the east bank of the River Rhine, 50 miles wide at its narrowest, and including all of the Ruhr - i.e. the area of Germany next to France - into which Germany was not allowed to send any troops. When the Germans sent in their soldiers to stop rioting in April 1920, French troops invaded the Rhineland to drive them out. However, in 1936 Hitler put troops back into the Rhineland.
  •  Corridor
    • The strip of German land which connected Poland to the Baltic Sea (also Danzig, which was made a free city under League of Nations control) - not that this was against the rpincple of self-determination, since the people who lived in the corridor were Germans. The 'Polish Corridor' separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany. In 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and reconquered the corridor, thus starting World War II.
  •  Diktat
    • A harsh, punitive, imposed settlement
  •  Dolchstosslegende
    • The ‘stab in the back’ myth which grew up in Germany that maintained that the German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, but was instead betrayed by certain politicians and traitors and tricked into peace negotiations by the Fourteen Points, then saddled with an imposed treaty which sought to destroy Germany
  •  Deutsche Zeitung
    • The German newspaper which said: 'The disgraceful Treaty is being signed today. Don’t forget it! We will never stop until we win back what we deserve.'
  •  Senate
    • The American 'parliament'. While Wilson (who was leader of the Democratic party) was away, the Republicans took power (led by Cabot Lodge). Wilson had a stroke fighting the election and had to retire from politics, and the Democrats lost the election. Consequently, the Senate refused to ratify the treaty or join the League.
  •  Ratification
    • The process of agreeing the Treaty; in America, this was considered by the Senate.
  •  Reservationists
    • Those American politicians who were prepared to agree the Treaty of Versailles, but with amendments
  •  Irreconcilables
    • Those American politicians who were totally opposed to the Treaty of Versailles
  •  February Plot
    • The myth which grew up in America that in February 1919 Lloyd George and Clemenceau had plotted to try to drop the League
  •  Saint Germain
    • The treaty (Sept 1919) with Austria. It mirrored the Treaty of Versailles, setting out boundaries, reducing Austria's armies, and requiring reparations.
  •  Neuilly
    • The treaty (1919) with Bulgaria. It mirrored the Treaty of Versailles, setting out boundaries, reducing Bulgaria's armies, and requiring reparations.
  •  Trianon
    • The treaty (June 1920) with Hungary. It mirrored the Treaty of Versailles, setting out boundaries, reducing Hungary's armies, and requiring reparations.
  •  Sèvres
    • The treaty (1920) with Turkey. It broke up the Turkish empire (giving most of it as mandates to Britain or France), gave control of the Straits to a League of Nations Commission, rewrote Turkey's laws, reduced Turkey's armed forces and set reparations. Accepted by the Sultan, it was rejected by the givernment of Kemel Attaturk, and the Turks fought successfully against it, forcing the Allies to renegotiate at the Treaty if Lausanne (1923) - which gave all of Asia Minor to turkey, cancelled reparations and allowed Turkey to keep its armed forces.
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