11 minute read
1 The Impact of World War I
1The Impact of World War 1
World War I (1914–1918) had a major impact on Europe. Borders changed dramatically with the creation of many new countries. Emperors and kings lost their thrones and political revolutions broke out in many countries. We’ll look briefly at the war and the peace treaties that followed it.
Soldiers returning home from the war found a muchchanged world.
World War I
The war was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austrian empire, in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. He was shot by a Serb who hoped to see the Austrian province become part of the Kingdom of Serbia. Austria attacked Serbia and this triggered a crisis between Europe’s main powers that plunged Europe into war by the start of August 1914.
During the war, the main European powers were divided into two alliances:
The Central Powers of Germany, Austria–Hungary and Turkey.
The Allies, led by Britain, France and Russia. Italy joined them in 1915.
The Germans advanced into France but were stopped at the first Battle of the Marne. Trenches were then constructed by both sides. Conditions in these trenches were very poor. For the next four years, generals found it difficult to make a decisive breakthrough and battles usually resulted in heavy casualties. In 1916, two of the worst battles occurred at Verdun and the Somme. It is estimated that one million men lost their lives during the Battle of the Somme.
On the Eastern Front, the Germans defeated the initial Russian invasion and advanced into the Russian Empire. The Russians had more success against the Austrians, but any gains they made were lost when the Germans sent men to help their Austrian ally. There was fighting in the Alps between the Italians and the Austrians. In Turkey, an attempted landing by British troops was defeated at Gallipoli. The Balkans was also the scene of bloody struggles between the Allies and the Central Powers.
In 1917, two major events occurred that were to have a major impact on the course of the war:
The United States entered the war on the side of the Allies in April. US troops didn’t start arriving in
France until 1918, but they made a decisive contribution to the Allied victory.
Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was overthrown by a popular revolution in February. The new government made the mistake of continuing the war. The revolutionary Lenin saw his opportunity and seized power in October. This was the world’s first successful Communist revolution (see Chapter 2). His government immediately took Russia out of the war.
The End Of The War
In the spring of 1918, the Germans launched a massive offensive on the Western Front that was very successful at first. However, in August the Germans were defeated and forced to retreat.
Helped by fresh American troops, the British and the French advanced towards the German border. As their allies surrendered and the Austrian Empire collapsed, the Germans realised they were defeated. The German Emperor, Wilhelm II, was forced to abdicate (give up his throne) and the new democratic government surrendered to the Allies. At 11 a.m. on 11 November 1918, the bloodiest war in human history ended.
A soldier in a trench in World War I. Conditions were harsh for the ordinary soldier throughout the war.
The Negotiations in Paris
In January 1919, the delegates from the victorious Allied powers met in Paris to negotiate a peace treaty. They faced a host of problems:
Over 10 million people had died in the war and large parts of Europe were destroyed. There were millions of refugees and food was in short supply. It was estimated that famine threatened over 200 million people. To make matters worse, the deadly Spanish flu epidemic was raging in both the victorious and defeated countries.
Another serious problem was the threat of the communist revolution spreading throughout Europe, helped by the chaotic conditions. The new communist government in Russia was encouraging revolution in other countries, especially Germany. The delegates were determined to stop this.
The most powerful countries at the conference were France, Britain, the US and Italy. They had different views about how to treat the defeated powers, especially Germany.
France had suffered terribly in the war and a quarter of all Frenchmen between the ages of 18 and 30 had died. The French delegation was led by premier Georges Clemenceau (1841–1929), who wanted a harsh peace treaty that would protect France from a future German attack. He aimed to take as much
German land as possible, weaken their army and force Germany to pay compensation for the damage caused by the war.
The British delegation was led by Prime Minister David Lloyd George (1863–1945). He took a more moderate view, but was under a lot of political pressure at home to be harsh on the Germans. The main
British aims were the destruction of the German navy, acquiring German colonies in Africa and getting compensation for the cost of the war.
President Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) represented the US. He wanted a just and fair peace based on his Fourteen Points. This was his peace programme that he had set out in a speech to the American
Congress in January 1918. He felt that frontiers of countries should be decided on the principle of self-determination. This meant that transfer of territory should be on the grounds of nationality and should take account of the wishes of the people who lived there. This is why he strongly opposed the secret Treaty of London (1915), as it had promised large territorial gains for Italy in return for them entering the war on the side of the Allies. His major aim was to see an international body called the League of Nations set up to settle future disputes between countries. Wilson was very popular among ordinary people throughout Europe, who were inspired by his vision for post-war Europe. Unfortunately for Wilson, he faced a lot of political opposition at home from the Republican Party and from those who felt the US should stay out of European affairs.
The Italian Prime Minister, Vittorio Orlando (1860–1952), hoped to gain the land promised to Italy by the secret Treaty of London. Italy had suffered over 500,000 dead and was heavily in debt as a result of the war. Italy felt they deserved what was promised.
The Treaty of Versailles
By June, the treaty with Germany was ready and the Germans were given no choice but to agree to what was put in front of them. On 28 June 1919, the treaty was signed by the Germans at the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles outside Paris. The main points of the treaty were as follows.
From left to right: David Lloyd George, Vittorio Orlando, Georges Clemenceau and Woodrow Wilson.
Former Austro-Hungarian Empire NORWAY SWEDEN
FINLAND
ESTONIA
IRELAND
Atlantic Ocean
PORTUGAL SPAIN GREAT BRITAIN
London North Sea
DENMARK
NETH.
BELGIUM
Berlin GERMANY Baltic Sea
LATVIA
LITHUANIA
POLAND RUSSIA
Paris
FRANCE
SWITZ Vienna CZECHOSLOVAKIA
AUSTRIA HUNGARY
ITALY YUGOSLAVIA ROMANIA
BULGARIA
ALBANIA
M e d i t e rranea n S e a
GREECE
Europe in 1920. The borders of the old Austrian empire are shown in red.
Territory Germany lost one-eighth of its pre-war territory to Belgium, Denmark, France, Lithuania and
Poland.
East Prussia was separated from the rest of Germany by Polish territory. This became known as the Polish Corridor. It included the German-speaking port of Danzig, which was controlled by the
League of Nations but through which the Polish state had access to the sea.
The small Saar region was placed under international control for 15 years while the French exploited its coal mines.
The Germans were forbidden to station troops on the west bank of the River Rhine or within 30 miles of the east bank of the river. This was known as the demilitarised zone. Allied troops were to occupy this area for 15 years.
Germany and Austria were forbidden to unite as one country (this was known as the Anschluss in
German).
New countries were formed from the old Austrian, German and Russian empires. These included Czechoslovakia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Yugoslavia.
Military The German army was reduced to 100,000 men. Conscription was forbidden. Germany’s navy was limited to six battleships and they were not allowed to have an air force, tanks or submarines.
Reparations Under Article 231, or the War Guilt Clause, Germany and its allies were blamed for causing the war and Germany was ordered to pay reparations, or compensation, to the Allies. In 1921, the figure was fixed at £6.6 billion.
Colonies German colonies were taken over by the League of Nations and called Mandates. They were to be administered by one of the victorious countries. In reality, they passed from one colonial master to another, e.g. German East Africa became British East Africa.
The League of Nations
The aim of The League of Nations was to preserve peace, but before it got off the ground, it was seriously weakened when the US Senate voted against joining this new international organisation. It also possessed no army with which to enforce its decisions. Thus, it could do little to stop a determined aggressor such as Japan or Italy in the 1930s.
The main decisions affecting the other defeated Central Powers were also agreed during the Paris negotiations:
The peace treaty signed with Austria was called the Treaty of St Germain (1919).
The Treaty of Trianon (1920) dealt with Hungary, and the Treaty of Neuilly (1919) with Bulgaria.
The Treaty of Sevres (1920) was signed with Turkey, but after a war with Greece this agreement was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923.
The Impact of the Treaty
Popular opinion in two countries, Germany and Italy, was outraged by the agreements reached in Paris. Resentment to the treaty was very strong in Germany. Political leaders attacked the territorial losses to the new Polish state. They also pointed to how they believed Germany had been treated unfairly:
The ban on union with Austria and the incorporation of large numbers of Germans into the new state of Czechoslovakia were seen as violations of Wilson’s promise of self-determination.
They did not believe Germany had started the war.
Many Germans hoped that one day the treaty would be torn up and Germany would become a great power again. Many extreme nationalists, such as Adolf Hitler, associated the new democratic government with the shame of the Treaty of Versailles. Reparations caused a series of economic problems that led to massive hyperinflation in 1923.
Feeling in Italy was also very hostile. The Italians were furious that the Allies had gone back on promises made to them during the war. They were most annoyed about the town of Fiume. Italy was also heavily in debt, which caused economic problems after the war.
In Italy these factors led to the growth of a new political idea called fascism. It was founded by Benito Mussolini and in 1922 he came to power. As we shall read in Chapter 5, fascism also became popular in Germany, where opposition to the treaty was strongest.
