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The Other Treaties of 1919-20

Treaty of Versailles (1919–1920)

    •  Treaty w. Germany, decided by Big Three

    •  Set up League of Nations

    •  Set principles for defeated nations →

          ◦  Reparations

          ◦  Disarmament

          ◦  Land loss

          ◦  Self-determination

   

Four Other Treaties (followed Versailles principles)

(Hungary)

    •  Lost land to Romania & Yugoslavia

    •  Army = 35k

    •  Went bankrupt b4 reparations set

(Bulgaria)

    •  Lost land to Greece

    •  Army = 20k

    •  Reparations = £90m

(Austria)

    •  Lost land to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Italy

    •  Army = 30k

    •  Went bankrupt before reparations set

Sθvres (Turkey)

    •  Gave land to Greece; empire split btwn Britain & France

    •  Army = 50k

    •  Allies planned reparations, but revolution → overturned by Treaty of (1923):

          ◦  No reparations

          ◦  Unlimited army

          ◦  No reparations

          ◦  Kept land from Greece

   

Self-determination

    •  Created new nation-states in E. Europe, notably 5 from Austro-Hungarian Empire

          ◦  Czechoslovakia (Czechs & Slovaks)

          ◦  Hungary (Hungarians)

          ◦  Austria (Austrians)

          ◦  Poland (Poles)

          ◦  Yugoslavia (Slavs)

    •   demanded human rights for ethnic minorities

   

Problems of New States

a. Weak, unstable govts

    •  Many citizens still identified w. old empires → internal division

    •  Hungary: Communist Bιla (1919); King Charles IV’s failed coups (1921–22)

    •  Austria: Paramilitary groups → Civil War (1934)

    •  No traditions → By 1939:

          ◦  Dictatorships (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Yugoslavia)

          ◦  Repressive govts (Poland, Hungary)

          ◦  Fascist Austria

          ◦  Only Czechoslovakia a democracy (annexed by Hitler, 1939)

b. Ethnic tensions

    •  Borders included minorities → conflict

    •  League ineffectual → did not protect minorities

    •  : Polish rebellion vs Germany (1919–21)

    •  Czechoslovakia: Mixed ethnic groups, incl. German minority in → later tensions [split 1993]

    •  Austria: Pro-German but forbidden Anschluss

    •  Hungary: Hungarians in Romania discriminated against → border disputes

    •  Yugoslavia: Separatist movements, political assassinations (King Alexander I killed, 1934) [→ Yugoslavia collapsed (1991)]

c. Border disputes

    •  1919: Italian Gabriele D’Annunzio seized (disputed w. Yugoslavia)

    •  Poland fought Russia & Lithuania over (1919–21), Czechoslovakia over (1920).

    •  Lithuania seized Memel (1923)

    •  Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) fought Russia & Germany for independence

    •  Hungary & Bulgaria sought lost lands → allied w. Nazi Germany in 1930s

d. Economic weaknesses

    •  Agricultural economies w broken financial systems →

          ◦  Hungary: Economic collapse (1920–21)

          ◦  Austria: (1922)

    •  Former Austro-Hungarian states struggled to trade → new borders ignored railways/roads → transport chaos

e. Military weakness

    •  Small armies → to attack

    •  No strong state in C. Europe to resist Hitler (1930s)

    •  USSR occupied E. Poland (1939) & Baltic states (1940)