The victorious powers or the Allies, as they were called, met in a conference first in Versailles, a suburb of Paris, and later in Paris, between January and June 1919. Though the number of countries represented at the conference was 27, the terms of the peace treaties were really decided by three countries — Britain, France and USA. The three persons who played the determining role in framing the terms of the treaties were Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, Lloyd George, Prime Minister of Britain, and George Clemenceau, Prime Minister of France. The defeated countries were not represented at the conference. The victorious powers also excluded Russia from the conference. The terms of the treaty were thus not the result of negotiations between the defeated and the victorious powers but were imposed on the defeated by the victors.
The main treaty was signed with Germany on 28 June 1919. It is called the Treaty of Versailles. The republican government of Germany was compelled to sign this treaty under the threat of invasion. The treaty declared Germany and her allies guilty of
aggression. AlsaceLorraine was returned to France. The coal mines in the German area called Saar were ceded to France for 15 years while that area was to be governed by the League of Nations. Germany also ceded parts of her prewar territory to Denmark, Belgium, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The area of the Rhine valley was to be
demilitarized. The treaty also contained provisions for disarming Germany. The
strength of her army was to be limited to 100,000 and she was required not to have any air force and submarines She was dispossessed of all her colonies which were taken over by the victors. Togo and the Cameroon were divided and shared by Britain and France. German colonies in SouthWest Africa and East Africa were given to Britain, Belgium, South Africa and Portugal. German colonies in the Pacific and the spheres under her control in China were given to Japan China was aligned with the Allies during the war and was even represented at the Paris Conference. But her areas under German possession of control were not restored to China; instead they were given away to Japan. Germany was also required to pay for the loss and damages suffered by the Allies during the war. The amount of reparations was fixed at an enormous figure of $6,500,000,000.
Separate treaties were signed with the allies of Germany. Austria-Hungary was broken up and Austria was required to recognize the independence of Hungary,
Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and Poland. She had to cede territories to them and to Italy. Many changes were made in the Balkans where new states were created and transfers of territories from one state to another took place Baltic states which earlier formed parts of the Russian empire were made independent. The treaty with Turkey
stipulated the complete dismemberment of the Ottoman empire Britain was given Palestine and Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Syria went to France as what were called
‘mandates’. In theory, the ‘mandatory’ powers, that is Britain and France, were to look after the interests of the people of the ‘mandates’ but actually they were governed as colonies. Most of the remaining Turkish territories were to be given to Greece and Italy and Turkey was to be reduced to a very small state. However, there was a
revolution in Turkey under the leadership of Mustapha Kemal. The Sultan was deposed and Turkey was proclaimed a republic in 1922. Turkey regained control of Asia Minor and the city of Constantinople (Istanbul) and the Allies were forced to abandon the earlier treaty.
An important part of the peace treaties was the Covenant of the League of Nations. Wilson’s Fourteen Points included the creation of an international organization for the preservation of peace and to guarantee the independence of all states. The League of Nations was created. It was intended as a world organization of all independent states. It aimed at the preservation of peace and security and peaceful settlement of
international conflicts, and bound its members ‘ not to resort to war’ One of its important provisions was with regard to sanctions. According to this provision, economic and military action would be taken against any country which committed aggression. It also bound its members to improve labour and social conditions in their countries. For this the International Labour Organization was set up which is now one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations.
The hopes of having a truly world organization devoted to the preservation of peace and independence of nations were, however, not realized with the formation of the League. Two major countries – Germany and the Soviet Union — were not allowed to become its members for many years while India, which was not independent, was made a member. The United States which had played an important part in the setting up of the League ultimately decided not to join it. The League was never an effective
organization. In the 1930s when many countries resorted to aggression, the League was either ignored or defied
An important feature of the peace treaties which indicates its nature was the decision with regard to the colonies of the defeated powers. The Allies had entered into many secret agreements for dividing the spoils of war The Soviet government, to bring out the imperialist nature of the war, made these treaties public. During the war, the Allies had been claiming that the war was being fought for freedom and democracy. President Wilson had said that the war was being fought “to make the world safe for democracy”. The publication of secret treaties by the Soviet government exposed these claims. However, in spite of this, the distribution of the colonies of the defeated countries among the victors took place as has been mentioned before. Of course, the Soviet Union which had repudiated all the secret agreements did not receive any spoils which had been promised to the Russian emperor. The League of Nations also recognised this division of the spoils. Legally most of the colonies which were transferred to the victorious powers were ‘mandates’ and could not be annexed.