I. Expansion of European Power and the “New Imperialism”

The New Imperialism

The Europeans reached the pinnacle of their power in the world during the period 1870 to 1945. North and South America were populated mostly by European peoples. So were Australia and New Zealand. Until this period, most of Asia (with exception of India) and Africa had gone their own ways. The Middle Eastern regions were dominated by the Ottoman and Safavid Empires. But, during the first half of this period from 1870 to 1945, most of these areas were absorbed into European Empires or were dominated by them. The expansion spread over 10 million square miles and 150 million people. The dictionary definition of Imperialism is useful in evaluating this period: “The policy of extending a nation’s authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations.” Usually this began by European countries making investments in foreign countries and supporting these investments by arrangements with local potentates. If these arrangements did not work, the European power extended military aid and, if this did not work either, by outright annexation.

Motives for Imperialism

Lenin’s interpretation of this process was that “Imperialism is the monopoly stage of capitalism.” According to Lenin, competition inevitably leads to the elimination of inefficient capitalist and to the creation of monopolies. Running out of profitable markets at home, monopolists expand into foreign markets and that leads to imperialism. The facts do not support the argument which is logical on its face. Only a small percentage of British and European investments were made in under-developed countries. Most were made in Europe itself or in America. Often new investments that were made in the global south were made in countries that were not colonies. Another fact that was inconvenient for the socialists was the repeated introduction of new products and new techniques of production that produced new companies and new competition. Another argument for the economic roots of imperialism was that the global south produced the raw materials for the industrial state in the United Kingdom and Europe. All of the imperial powers were forced to rely on sources not under imperial control. Nor did the colonies constitute a significant market for the home countries. In the end, most imperial governments spent more money on their colonies than they received in privileged access.

Cultural, Religious and Social Interpretations

Some arguments were put forward that the European peoples possessed a superior culture and that they had a responsibility to civilize backward nations. Few people were persuaded by these arguments although many people of the time shared the underlying assumption of European superiority. Religious groups in Europe had always argued that conversion to Christianity was a duty. Some thought that the colonies were a way of diverting public attention from problems at home or for places to settle surplus population. In fact, most European immigrants went to North and South America where there was empty land to be settled due to the eradication of Native American populations.

Basically, many Europeans viewed the holding of vast lands and peoples overseas as a matter of national prestige with England being regarded as the prime example. Many were envious of the UK and the Russians, Japanese and even the Americans emulated the British in acquiring colonies. What did occur as a result of this period of expansion was that European conflicts inevitably became world conflicts. Another more enduring result was that nationalism spread by example all across Asia and resulted in the emergence of Asian nation states in the Twentieth Century and liberation movements (but not really nationalism) in Africa.

Strategic and Political Interpretations: the Scramble for Africa

 Britain was the only great power with extensive overseas holdings at the beginning of the scramble. When the Suez Canal was completed in 1869 and purchased by Great Britain in 1875, Egypt became crucially important to Great Britain in protecting the canal and access to India. So, when political stability in Egypt was threatened by domestic unrest in Egypt,  the British established a protectorate. Then, to protect Egypt that protected the canal, Great Britain invaded and conquered Sudan.

 France began her involvement in Africa when she sent a war fleet to attack Mediterranean pirates based in Algeria. Then, French colonist began to arrive in a steady stream and reorganized agriculture in that country. By 1882, France was in full control of Algeria.
 
 Soon, smaller states like Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Italy were scrambling for African colonies. By the 1890’s, Great Britain reacted by expanding northward from South Africa to what is now Zimbabwe (then called Rhodesia after the leading British figure Cecil Rhodes). All of these countries equated status as a great power with the possession of colonies even when the colonies did not yield a profit.

 In 1884 and 1885, Bismarck declared protectorates over southwestern Africa, Togoland, the Cameroons and East Africa. His motivation seems mainly to improve Germany’s diplomatic position in Europe.

The Irrational Element

 By 1900, most of the world had come under the control of the industrialized West. The greatest remaining area not under control was the Ottoman Empire. The fate of that Empire was tied closely to political strife in Europe that resulted in World War I.

2. Formation of the Triple Alliance

Prussia victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, led to a consolidation of a large, powerful German Empire in 1871. The emergence of this new power in the heart of Europe revolutionized European diplomacy. Basically, up to that moment the balance of power set up in the Congress of Vienna following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte prevailed (1815 to 1870). Now, French prestige was damaged defeat and their traditional position as the dominant European power was challenged.

3. The Era of Otto Bismarck, Germany’s Chancellor

Otto von Bismarck was the dominant figure in the new German Empire. His Chancellorship of Germany lasted from 1871 to 1890. Von Bismarck always insisted that he (and Germany) sought no further territorial gain in Europe beyond what had been achieved in 1870 and he meant it. He was afraid of French resentment at the losses of the 1870 and his central diplomatic goal was to prevent France from forging an alliance with any other European power, especially Austria and Russia. Austria itself was threatened by the growing force of nationalism throughout this period of time and had lost ground permanent to Germany.

War in the Balkans

Bismarck’s first attempt to pursue his goal of diplomatically isolating France was to establish the Three Emperor’s League in 1873 between the three great conservative empires of central and eastern Europe: Russia, Austria and Germany. The league collapsed when Russia went to war with the Ottoman Empire (modern Turkey) as a result of uprisings in the Balkans of Slavic nationalists. Basically the Ottomans were kept in power in the Balkans by the competing aims of these three Empires. When the Slavs in Bosnia and Herzegovina rose in rebellian, Servia and Montenegro came to their aid. Soon the Slavic uprising spread to Bugaria as well. Then, Russia came to the aid of fellow Slavs (and Orthodox Christians). Besides sympathy with their cousins, the Russian fixed goal was to seize Constantinople and the Dardanelles (the straits that link the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea). The Ottomons were defeated in several battles and forced to sue for peace in the Treaty of San Stefano. Russia emerged triumphant with most of the Balkans free of Turkish control. Austria, however, also had provinces in the Balkans (e.g.: Slovenia) and feared Russian influence so close to home. The British were alarmed at the collapse of the balance of power in Eastern Europe and was determined not to allow Russia to seize Constantinople.

The Congress of Berlin

The British sent a fleet to Constantinople and forced the Russians to agree to an international conference dealing with the Balkans. This conference (called the Congress of Berlin) met in 1878 under the Presidency of Otto von Bismarck. The results were very poor from the Russian point of view. Bulgaria lost  two-thirds of its territory and deprived of access to the Aegean Sea. Austria-Hungary was given Bosnia and Herzegovina to administer, Britain was given Cyprus and France was allowed to occupy Tunisia. The Russians were allowed to keep territory that they had conquered on the border with Rumenia. The Russians were bitterly disappointed and the question of Slavic nationalism in the Balkans (particularly in Bosnia) was to simmer for the next 35 years until it blew up with the assassination of the son of the Autrian Emperor. Germany did not receive anything directly but did manage to establish itself as a major power in Europe diplomatically.

German Alliances with Russia and Austria

Russia was alienated from Germany by the disappointment at the Congress of Berlin where everyone seemed to gain by Russian successes on the battlefield. Realizing this, Bismarck concluded a secret treaty with Austria that provided that each would come to the other’s aid should Russia attack. This was the first formal step that led, eventually to World War I, World War II and the Cold War. The treaty was renewed every five years until 1918. The treaty had the potential to tie Germany to Austria’s problems in the Balkans (especially with the Serbs). While in power, Bismarck avoided this trap by refusing to get involved directly in Austria’s problems (the treaty only protected Austria from a Russian attack).

Russia heard of the gist of this treaty and, as Bismarck expected, was frightened into agreeing to a renewal of the three Emperor’s League in 1881.
 
 
 

The Triple Alliance

In 1882, Italy asked to join the Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria because she wanted support for colonial expansion in Africa (specifically Libya). Bismarck agreed and thus was completely successful in attaining his goal of isolation of France. After all, Bismarck’s diplomacy had resulted in an alliance with Austria, Italy and Russia. He was on friendly terms with Great Britain. France was left without major allies.

In 1888, William II ascended to the German throne as Kaiser. He was filled with a sense of Germany’s destiny to be the leading power of Europe. He dismissed Bismarck as Chancellor in 1890 and embarked on an aggressive path that quickly alarmed Russia and Great Britain and thereby undid Bismarck’s work in isolating France. This change in goals and diplomacy led to war.

3. The Triple Entente: Britain, France and Russia

Bismarck’s successor refused to renew the Reinsurance Treaty that Bismarck had used to reassure and neutralize Russia. Russia reacted by moving towards an alliance with France who eagerly accepted Russia offers of friendship.

Britain was in conflict with Russia in central Asia where Russian expansion was coming closer and closer to the Indian Empire (it included Pakistan at the time). She was opposed to Russian ambition to seize Constantinople (the reason for the Crimean War in 1854).

Britain was also opposed to French colonial expansion in northern Africa and the remembered enmity of two hundred years of conflict in the 17th and 18th centuries was still fresh enough to cause the British to dislike and distrust the French.

Nevertheless, within ten years after Bismarck’s dismissal as Chancellor, Great Britain was allied with Russia and France. This alliance was to last for nearly 50 years. How this happened was a curious tale of diplomatic and military ham fisted policy. First, Kaiser William II insulted the British by congratulating the President of the Transvaal State in South Africa upon repulsing a British attack (the Boers and British were at war for control of South Africa). Second, and perhaps more serious, the Germans had embarked on a large scale construction program with the goal of constructing 38 battleships and supporting fleet ships. This directly challenged Great Britain’s dominance at sea. Superiority at sea was vital to the continuation of the British Empire and to the security of Great Britain itself. This was the act that forced Great Britain to change their thinking and to construct new alliances.

The Entente Cordiale

In 1902, Great Britain concluded a treaty with Japan to help protect British interests in the Far East against Russia. In 1904, Great Britain concluded a series of agreements with France. These were called the Entente Cordiale. Short of a formal treaty of alliance, the agreements collectively took a long step towards such a formal alliance against Germany.

First Moroccan Crisis

In 1905, Germany landed troops in Morocco then under French domination. The Chacellor, Bernhard von Bulow, wanted to demonstrate to France just how weak and isolated she was. He called for an international conference to reinforce the message. The Germans had overplayed their hand and the French were confirmed in their position in Morocco. This incident drove the French and British into ordering their general staffs to co-ordinate war plans in case of an invasion of France by Germany.

British Agreement with Russia

The Russians and Japanese went to War in 1904-1905 over a dispute about some small islands north of the Japanese home islands that both claimed. Even though the British were allied with Japan, they acted like a neutral in the naval fight in the Tzushima Straits between Japan and Korea between the Japanese and Russian fleets. The Russians were decisively defeated at sea in the war that ended with the Kurile Islands going to Japan.

With French support, the British concluded an agreement with Russia in 1907 that settled Russo-British quarrels in Central Asia (guaranteeing the independence of Afghanistan as a neutral country) and Persia (fixing the boundary between Persia and Russia). Thus emerged the Triple Entente that was an informal but effective alliance against Germany and, therefore, the Triple Agreement allies of Germany, Austria and Italy.
 
 

4. World War I

A. The Road to War (1908-1914)

The Ottoman Empire controlled a strip of territory west from Constantinople to the Adriatic Sea. North of it were the independent states of Romania, Montenegro and Serbia. South of that strip of land was independent Greece. On the Black Sea, Bulgaria while technically part of the Ottoman Empire, in fact was largely independent. The Austro-Hungarian Empire included Slovenia and Croatia and had, since 1878, occupied and administered Bosnia-Herzegovina. So, the Balkans were truly “Balkanized” into tiny interlocking states.

Most of the inhabitants of the Balkans spoke some variant of Slavic and felt some kinship with Russia. Ruled for centuries by Austrians, Hungarians or Turks, they thirsted for independence. The most radical wanted a unified state to be called Yugoslavia (or union of the south Slavic peoples.

In 1908, a group of modernizing reformers called the “young Turks” overthrew the Ottoman government. This threatened the plans of various European powers to seize parts of the Balkans for themselves.

1. The Bosnian Crisis.
 
So, in 1908, the Austrians and Russians called for an international conference and agreed that they would support each others demands to chunks of Balkan territory. Austria would annex Bosnia and Herzegovina and Austria would support Russia’s claim to open the Dardanelles to Russian warships.  Austria prematurely declared its annexation before the conference and Great Britain rejected Russia claim to the right to send warships through the Dardanelles from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Once again the Russians were screwed and furious. The Serbs had hoped to include Bosnia in their state were also furious. But Russia was too weak to do anything about the Austrian treachery. Germany backed Austria. Britain and France had failure to support their ally, Russia. This encouraged the Austrians and Germans to think that the Britains and French would back down again in the future.
 
 

2. The Second Moroccan Crisis

Another incident that soured relationships between the British and French on one hand and the Germans on the other occurred in French occupied Morocco. The was an uprising of Moroccans against the French colonialists in 1911. The Germans sent a gunboat to the port of Agadir. The British suspected that the Germans intended to set up a naval base on the Atlantic Ocean. This fear was not unreasonable given the continuous naval build-up under Admiral Tirpitz of the German Navy. The incident blew over when French yield some insignificant bits of land in the Congo region and the Germans withdrew from Agadir. After that, Great Britain drew up detailed plans to land a British expeditionary force in France in case of a German invasion.

3. The Balkan Wars

In 1911, Italy attacked the weak Ottomon Forces in Libya and obtained Libya and the Dodecanese Islands. Encouraged by Ottoman weakness, the Bulgarians, Greeks, Montenegrans and Serbians attacked the Ottomans in 1912 and easily won the war. Then the victors fell out among themselves and quarreled about the division of Macedonia (the territory just north of Greece). In 1913, Turkey and Romania joined Greece and Serbia against Bulgaria who lost both the war and all territory gained since 1878.

The Austrians were determined to limit Serbian expansion. A conference held in early 1913 called for an independent kingdom of Albania. The Serbs vacillated between withdrawing and occupying parts of Albania. Finally, the Austrians issued an ultimatum and demanded Serbian withdrawal which the Serbs finally did. The relationships between the Austrians and Serbs by the end of 1913 were poisonous.

The Russians were embarrassed by their humiliation in 1908 and their British and French allies were not inclined to restrain them again. The Austrians were ticked off that they had had to accept an international conference on Serbian occupation of what they considered their land. They noted that they (the Austrians) got what they wanted when they threatened to go to war (the Germans were also impressed). Thus, the groundwork was laid for Sarajevo and the beginning of World War I.
 
 
 
 

 B.  Sarajevo and the Outbreak of World War I

1. The Assassination

In June, 1914, a young Bosnian Serb nationalist assassinated Archduke Ferdinand and his wife who were on a royal visit to Sarajevo to cement loyalties to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The assassin was a member of a terrorist society called the Black Hand. The Serbs in Serbian were gleeful and rejoiced publicly.

2. German and Austrian Response

At first, the Austro-Hungarians were divided in their response. The chief of staff of the Austrian general staff wanted the government to issue an ultimatum. The Hungarian representative resisted. The Imperial foreign minister knew that he had to get German guarantees of support both to defend Austria should Russian come to aid of Serbia and also to persuade the Hungarians to agree to war with Serbia. The German Kaiser and Chancellor agreed to support Austria and urged her to move quickly while the other Europeans were still angry at the Serbian response to the assassination. The hope was a localized war between Austria and Serbia in which Serbia (being the smaller and weaker power) would suffer defeat and thus confirm the status quo in the Balkans.

The Austrians were slow to act and did not deliver an ultimatum until July 24. The Serbian response was soft and conciliatory. But, the Austrians were determined to punish Serbia and declared war on July 28, 1914.

3. The Triple Entente’s Response

Angered by the Austrian ultimatum, Russia decided on a partial mobilization of its armed forces to intimidate Austria into backing down. However, General von Moltke who was chief of the general staff of the German Army, pressed for full mobilization and war. He did so on the grounds that Germany had to act first or be overwhelmed on two fronts (Great Britain and France on the western front and Russia on the eastern front). Austria had deliberately timed their ultimatum when the President and Prime Minister of France were at sea on their way back from a visit to Russia. The Germans hoped that the British would not support the French in their support of the Russians. This hope proved futile as the British thought that they had no choice because otherwise the Germans would defeat France and be at the English Channel.

On July 30, 1914, Austria mobilized for war. Responding to Russian full mobilization, Germany also mobilized its army for war. Germany invaded Luxembourg on August 1 and Belgium on August 2. The British had guaranteed Belgian neutrality and the German invasion united British public opinion in favor of war with Germany. Germany then invaded France itself and on August 4, 1914 Great Britain declared war on Germany. World War I had begun.

B.    Strategies and Stalemate (1914-1917)

There was general jubilation at the outbreak of war. There had not been a general war in Europe for nearly 100 years. No one had the slightest idea of just how devastating the war was to become. Both sides expected a swift victory by fighting on favorable grounds just like the victory enjoyed by Germany in 1870.

Germany’s plan (the ‘von Schlieffen plan’ developed after 1905) was to outflank the French forces by invading Belgium. Then, they planned to  sweep the French forces from west to east behind the Maginot Line and crush the remaining French Army against the German fortresses in Lorraine. The idea was to stand on the defensive against the Russians until the French Army was destroyed.  When von Schlieffen died he was heard to advise his colleagues to make the right wing of the front strong (the one facing Belgium from the German perspective). Von Moltke, nephew of Bismarck’s winning general, was a weak and vacillating man who instead diverted forces to his left flank and also weakened the eastern front for the same purpose. The result was that the von Schlieffen plan failed by a very narrow margin.

The French generals were even worse than their German counterparts. The French launched their own offense depending on the great morale of their troops. Unfortunately, good morale was no defense against machine guns and mobile artillery as well as a serious under-estimate of the number of troops that Germany mobilized in a short period of time. The French offensive failed miserably. Finally, the British and the French were able to stop the German offensive in the Battle of the Marne.

The war in the west settled down to trench warfare in which open fields were covered by overlapping fields-of-fire by machine gun nests. Artillery bombardments of the trenches was massive and very frequent. Finally, both sides resorted to chemical warfare. The slaughter of young men was horrible and vast.

C. The War in the East

The Russians advanced upon Austrian territory in the east and inflicted heavy casualties. A combination of Russian incompetence and German energy soon changed the situation. Under the command of General Paul von Hindenburg, Erich Ludendorff captured an entire Russian army at the Battle of Tannenberg and defeated the Russians elsewhere. The Germans and Austrians in 1915 pressed their advantage and moved further east, inflicting more than two million casualties in that year alone. Badly shaken up, the Russian army still stayed in the field. Elsewhere, a series of battles occurred that justified the use of the term ‘World’ War but these were not decisive to the outcome. Examples are Italy’s campaign against Austria on behalf of the Allies (in which a young officer distinguished himself --- Benito Mussolini, later fascist dictator of Italy) and Romania ill conceived campaign against Hungary which they lost. The Japanese honored their alliance with Great Britain and occupied German colonies in China. Churchill planned and directed a military invasion of Constantinople. The allies lost 150,000 men and the battle was lost.

D. Return to West in 1916

In 1916, both sides try to win a decisive battle that would end the war on their terms. The Germans tried first by attacking the fortress of Verdun. Henri Petain, commander at Verdun, became a national hero by declaring: “They shall not pass” and making it stick.

The Allies tried to win a decisive victory in the subsequent battle of the River Somme in July but it too failed. The war dragged on and the horrendous losses in life and limb continued.

E. The War at Sea

The British contravened international by declaring a general blockade of Germany making no distinction between war supplies and food and other peaceful goods. Their intent was to starve the Germans out. The Germans retaliated by submarine warfare. They declared the waters around Great Britain to be a war zone and sank any ship that they could find. This resulted in the sinking of the Lusitania, a luxury passenger with many Americans aboard. While there was a strong sentiment for neutrality in America and residual hostility to the British, gradually the Americans began to sympathize more and more with the democratic French and British and repulsed by the autocracy of Kaiser William and his generals. President Wilson warned the Germans that a repetition would not be tolerated. The hard-pressed Germans backed off from their blockade by submarine. Finally, the expensive battleship navy sailed out of the Baltic Sea to do battle with the English fleet. The result was a standoff, the German fleet retreated to Hamburg and Great Britain retained control of the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

F. America Enters the War

In December, 1916, Presdent Wilson attempted to bring both sides to the negotiating table but both refused and the war went into its third year. On February 1, 1917, the Germans resumed unrestricted submarine warfare in British waters. In March of 1917, the Czarist government was overthrown by a general uprising and a republic was declared.  On April 6, 1917, America declared war on Germany. One motivation was the sinking of American ships and another was the fact that all of the principal allies were, in April, 1917, democratic governments. Wilson, an idealist, declared the purpose of the war was to “make the world safe for democracy.”

5. The Russian Revolution

The March Revolution was a genuine uprising of the Russian people disgusted by the incompetence and corruption of the Monarchy. It was not led by any one party although many participated. In March, 1917, strikes and worker demonstrations erupted in Saint Petersburg and the troops refused to fire on the mobs. On March 15, the Czar abdicated and the government fell into the hands of the Duma (the Russian legislature). Various types of socialists began to organize worker’s councils that they called Soviets. Initially, the Soviets and the provisional government centered on the Parliament or Duma co-existed. The provisional government decided to remain loyal to the Russian alliances with France and Great Britain and therefore stayed in the war against Germany. A new offensive in the summer of 1917 failed. The peasants demanded that their land be distributed to them and began uprisings all over Russia.

The Germans, seeing an opportunity, provided V.I.Lenin with transport across German in a sealed train to Petrograd. The Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, demanded that all power go to the Soviets which they controlled. They attempted a coup that failed. Lenin fled to Finland and Trotsky was arrested. The conservatives tried a military coup of their own that failed. Lenin, returning to Russia in April convinced his colleagues to attempt a forced taking of power. This time, the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks succeeded and held absolute power in Russia until 1989.

The Communists (Bolshevik in Russian means majority as opposed to Menshivik that means minority --- both referred to wings of the Communist Party) distributed land to the peasants and turned the factories over to worker’s councils.  Banks were taken from their owners and the Communists repudiated all debt incurred under the monarchy

Lenin signed an armistice with Germany in December of 1917 and concluded a treaty at Brest-Litovsk. Russia lost Finland, Poland, the Baltic State and the Ukraine as well as other bits of territory. Lenin had no choice because the Bolsheviks needed time to organize the country and consolidate their power. A massive uprising against the ‘reds’ (the Communists) by a coalition of groups who were collectively known as the whites began a civil war that lasted until 1921. Led by Trotsky, the Red Army overcame its domestic opposition and Communism prevailed in Russia.

6. The End of World War I

When the armistice with Russia was signed in December, 1917, Germany both gained access to food supplies of the eastern territories and could shift troops from the eastern to the western front. This might have been decisive were it not that the Americans began to arrive in large numbers by the Spring of 1918. Both sides tried to end the war during 1917. The British and French launched a large offensive in an attempt to break through the German lines. It failed disastrously and both lost large numbers of men. The Austrians, supported by German troops defeated the Italians at Caporetto but were checked in their advance with the aid of allied troops. So the deadlock continued for the rest of 1917. Time was running out for Germany and Austria.

Persuaded by Ludendorff, the German Army risked everything on a last offensive in an attempt to reach the Marne and break through the allied line. But, the line held. The Germans had used up the last of their reserves and the country was exhausted. The allies were bolstered by American reinforcements. They counter-attacked on the Austrian fronts in the Balkans and Italy. The fronts collapsed disastrously. Ludendorff determined to make peace before the German armies could be disastrously defeated on the battlefield. He allowed a new government to be established on democratic priniciples and sought peace.

The new government asked for peace based on Wilson’s fourteen points. They included principles such as self-determination for minorities, open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, disarmament and the establishment of a League of Nations. Wilson insisted on dealing with a democratic government to ensure that he was dealing with the German people. William II abdicated on November 9, 1918 and the government under a Social Democratic Party proclaimed a German Republic. They successfully fended off a Communist uprising with the goal of attained a Soviet Republic. The German people were unaware that their army had been defeated on the field of battle. After all, the war ended with no foreign soldier on German soil. They expected, therefore, a mild settlement. Instead the peace that was signed in the end was very harsh. This embittered the Germans and laid the groundwork for a renewal of the war (World War II).
 The old order was dead. The Czar, the Kaiser and the Austrian Emperor had all abdicated. Many nationalist movements were given their wish in central and eastern Europe with the emergence of many new countries as the Austrian Empire disappeared and the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans also disappeared. The map that emerged then is very close to the political map of Europe today.

7. Settlement at Paris

a. The Peacemakers

There were four major powers who negotiated the settlement at Paris. They were: President Woodrow Wilson for the United States, David Lloyd George for Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau for France and Vittorio Emanuele Orlando for Italy. Japan, recognized for the first time as a great power, played an important role in the discussions.

Even though Wilson had proclaimed lofty principles, the conference business was pragmatic and very down to earth. Various participants among the victors had been promised bits and pieces of territory and, for the most part, they got them. For example, Romania who had sided with the victors had been promised the province of Transylvania that was populated mostly by Hungarians. Hungarians as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were losers. So, Transylavania went to Romania. A substantial number of Hungarians retain Romanian citizenship today. This sort of settlement occurred a lot.

Sowing the seeds of future conflict, the British had encouraged the Arabs to revolt against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire and promised them independence in return. The current map of the Middle East reflects the results of that promise with one exception --- Israel. In 1917, the British also promised the Jews a homeland in Israel even though the same territory was promised to the Arabs as Palestine. Of course, this led directly to the Arab-Israeli conflict after World War II.

Great enthusiasm for Wilson turned into great contempt (neither of which were justified by reality) because Wilson’s promise of a peace without victors turned hollow once the conference was concluded and all of the deals became public. The central problem was that France was determined that her smaller population (half that of Germany) be protected by rendering the German state unable to rebuild its industrial economy and military might. The British went along with the French desire to emasculate the German state but with less enthusiasm. The treat provided for exorbitant monetary reparation, the loss of Alsace and Lorraine provinces to France, a French army of occupation of the Saar Basin that was the heart of German steel making capacity and severe restrictions on German re-armament.

The western powers were focused on the threat of revolution from the Bolsheviks of Russia. They formed a Comintern or international organization of Communists with the explicit goals of: (1) violent overthrow of the western governments; (2) confiscation of private property; and, (3) the establishment of socialist states. The Germans kept playing on western fears of domestic uprisings but British and French hatred of the Germans in the immediate aftermath of the war made them deaf to such pleas.

b. The Peace

The settlement consisted of five separate treaties signed between January, 1919 and August, 1920. The Germans were excluded from the peace conference and simply were forced to sign the treaties. The principle of national self-determination was violated many times. That was unavoidable. The diplomats of smaller powers were excluded from the decision-making and left the conference very angry. All of this was contrary to Wilson’s desires. He had little choice given the realities of 1920.

c. The League of Nations and Colonies

Wilson set great store by the creation of the League of Nations that was the predecessor for the United Nations.  Since the League of Nations had no right to raise either taxes or an army, it was toothless. While the Covenant of the League bound its members to “respect and preserve” the territorial integrity of its members, it was powerless to enforce that obligations as later proven over and over again. The exclusion of Germany and the Soviet Union further weakened the League. Finally, the United States Senate refused to ratify the Treaty that created the League and the United States never joined. So, the idea of an world association of countries was planted but it was not successful until after World War II. The covenant provided that the Asian and African colonies be placed under the “tutelage” of the colonial powers who were obligated to move them towards independence. Once again, the major powers simply ignored this provision and de-colonization did not occur until after World War II.

d. Germany

The allies did not support the dismemberment of Germany even though France advocated creating a separate buffer state along the Rhine River. France received the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine and the right to occupy the Saar for 15 years. Germany west of the Rhine and 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of it was formally demilitarized. Britain and the United State guaranteed that they would defend France if attacked by Germany. Germany was permanently disarmed. If all of these provisions were observed, France would be safe from attack by Germany.

e. The East

The Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared and was replaced by a series of nation-states in Central and Eastern Europe. Most of the German speaking peoples of the Empire were gathered together in the new country of Austria. Hungary lost territories on its borders but what remained was nearly 100% Magyar and proclaimed the new nation-state of Hungary. The Czechs of the provinces of Bohemia and Moravia were joined with the the Slovaks and Ruthenians in the new country of Czechoslovakia. This state also contained several million unhappy Germans and a few hundred thousand Hungarians. As we said before, the Romanians gained Transylvania (a third of the current state) and the province of Bessarabia from Russian. Bulgaria lost territory to Greece and Yugoslavia. The Kindom of Yugoslavia was proclaimed. It joined together the nations of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzagovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. Albania continued its independent existence. In short, the modern map of Europe emerged from the conference formed out of the debris of the ancient Empires.

The countries of the middle-east and parts of Africa were given as mandates to the colonial powers of Britain and France for the purpose of “tutelage” (teaching) with the notion that, later, they were all to become independent. In practice, not one of them did until the end of World War II. So, the British and French actually expanded their Empires as a result of the war. But, they had paid an enormous price in blood for their territorial gains.
 
 
 

f. Reparations

Germany was forced to agree to enormous payments in reparations to compensate Britain and France for their losses and to admit to sole responsibility for starting the war. The reparations wrecked the German economy and  the German people never believed that they bore sole responsibility for starting World War I. The fact that the Social Democrats and the Catholic Center Party had signed the treat after forming a new government became a stigma that they never overcame. Hitler was to use this resentment to gain power.
 

8. Evaluation of the Peace

The Treaty of Versailles came to be disliked by everyone including the victors who negotiated it. The French had tied their security to unreliable Anglo-Saxon allies who proved to be unreliable. Liberals in the United States and Great Britain complained bitterly that the treat violated every principle that it proclaimed. John Maynard Keynes, a brilliant economists, wrote a book called The Economic Consequences of the War that was a scathing attack on practically the entire treaty. He said that it was both immoral and unworkable. He said that implementation of the treaty would ruin the economy of Europe. Keynes had great influence in Britain and the United States. Both came to view the treaty provisions with distaste.

The criticisms went overboard in their intensity. Germany had not been dismembered. The Germans had planned even more severe terms for their opponents if they had won the war.

The dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian Empire did disrupt the flow of trade in Central Europe and contribute to the economic problems of the twenties and thirties in Europe. Finally, the treat ignored the national wishes and ambitions of the Russians and the Germans. Yet, they constituted a third of the European peoples and more than half of its territory. The provisions of the treaty inevitably had to be changed. The only issue was how this was to be done.