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Word Count: Date: 20/10/2010

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: Why was the enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles between 1919-1922 a problem? The pens which write against disarmament are made with the same steel from which guns are made. Aristide Briand, 96th Prime Minister of France The enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles by the League of Nations was seen as a significant problem, to some extent because of German outrage to the treaty, deeming it to be too harsh on the military and economic aspects of the country, the nationalistic feeling tensed as the Reparations Commission fined a huge sum of indemnity on Germany in 1921. Another reason contributed included the absence of Americas military support due to refusal of the Republican-dominated senate to ratify the treaty as well as be a member of the LON. This subsequently led to the failure of an Anglo-American military guarantee for France, resulting in Frances reluctance to be involved in any disputes, as she continued to feel insecure suggested all possible means to cordon and isolate Germany. Moreover, due to unconfident relations between Great Britain and France because they had differing aims, there was vague acknowledgement between who would be responsible for different aspects for enforcing the treaty, which ultimately led to their condemnations of only statements without any true use of force or action. In addition, economic difficulty was also another cause to countries unwilling to enforce the treaty, either by imposing trade embargos or by military intervention. The majority of Germans considered the Treaty of Versailles was a dictat, known as a dictated peace because not only was the Germany delegation not consulted before hand and had the ability to negotiate the peace settlement, but also was literally forced to sign the treaty within 22 days or face the invasion of their country. Clause 231 was the most controversial from Germanys view as it acknowledged German war guilt and served as the basis for compensation. This respectively was followed by a clause demanding Germany to pay a huge fine of indemnity, finally declared to be a sum of 132 milliard gold marks in April 1921. Furthermore, Germany saw the treaty as unjustified because other countries received national self-determination however clause 80 condemned the reunification of Austria and Germany as a single German-speaking state. This, hence created great German outrage and made enforcement difficult. Americas absence from the League of Nations had significantly affected the enforcement of the Treaty because of its leading military power. Although it was US President Woodrow Wilsons idea to create an international organization to preserve long term world peace, the Senate was mainly dominated by Republicans who strongly believed in the ideology of Isolationism, suggesting Americas sphere of influence was only around the Pacific, not in Europe. Furthermore, they did not ratify the Treaty because America was not in support of the concept of collective security as she did not want to assist countries financially and militarily that she had no interest of. It was implied America did not want to be a world policeman, as this would put most of the burdens of collective security and the duty of enforcing the duty mainly into the hands of the United States. In addition, Russia, another state considered to be influentially powerful, was in diplomatic isolation during the 1920s, and was not invited into the LON. Because of US absence, this ultimately led the responsibility of enforcing the treaty into the hands of the French and British. The British government, having suffered greatly from the war, had its military expenditure and capacity lowered to a minimum in order to improve its budget. Due to this reason, 1

Word Count: Date: 20/10/2010

Li Chun Ho (Alvin) IB History HL

Essay Question: Why was the enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles between 1919-1922 a problem? UK military advisors suggested the government not to interfere with foreign affairs as UK did not have the finance to assist other countries by sending in their army in times of war. Due to this, Britain found it reasonable for Germany to adjust the treaty to some extent as they acknowledged the harshness of the treaty. In addition, Britain had achieved her war aims; to ensure British naval supremacy and also to protect her colonies. The British governments perception was that it was not part of Europe, therefore did not have the interest to be involved in European affairs, and provided the government did not possess sufficient funding for the military sector. Britains major interest was in her colonies, such as Australia, Asia, and South Africa. Furthermore, diplomatic tensions between France and Great Britain grew as there were contrasting opinions on the handling of regions which formerly belonged to Germany but were either declared as protected by the LON or through plebiscites. For example, Danzig, a former city of Germany, was declared as a free city protected by the League of Nations. However, prior to the status of a free city, Danzig was required to have an agreement with Poland on the future relations between the two countries. Poland argued she had the right of ownership of some infrastructures in Danzig. To prevent this, Great Britain and France fought diplomatically. However, Great Britain was able to take advantage of Polands dependence on Allied Military aid in order to make her agree to a joint PolishDanzig harbour board, chaired by a person appointed by LON to be in charge of the docks. Therefore, from this we can gather that the causes to the problematic enforcement of the Treaty of Versailles were due to the degree of harshness endured by Germany from the Treaty. This as a result meant it was uncooperative during the enforcement of the Treaty, such as nationalistic groups in Germany condemning the German government to cooperate with the League. The fact only America and Japan financially benefited from the war meant many other countries had substantial financial burdens from the war. Due to this, many countries were reluctant to impose trade bans as well as supplying their army as military means. In addition, due to the economic situation, an AngloAmerican guarantee could not be signed, not only because America did not ratify the treaty nor was a member of the LON, but due to the constraints of the level of money diverted to the UK military expenditure spending. Furthermore, due to economic difficulties, and the fact Italy could not receive what she expected to receive from the Treaty of Versailles, this in due course led to the rise of Mussolini, the new fascist leader of Italy, who aimed to overthrow the treaty, as many Italians felt they were not credited for their efforts. The main reason for their fighting with the Allies was the fact of a secret Treaty of London that promised land within the Austria-Hungary border, from Trentino, South Tyrol to Trieste.

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