Why did Germany agree to sign the Treaty?
Allies naval blockade still
in place, occupation of
Rhineland
Article 231
Reparations
Redrawn map of Germany
France’s goals – keep Germany too weak
to ever threaten France again
France’s industrial
region devastated by
war
France had borrowed
millions from the U.S.
Seeking security
“buffer zone”
Great Britain’s goals –
punish, but let rebuild
John Maynard Keynes – The
Economic Consequences of the
Peace
Germany was Britain’s
second-best market
No navy!
U.S. (Woody Wilson) – 14 Points
Self-determination
League of Nations
Washington Naval Conference, 1921-’22
Five Powers Treaty – limited tonnage of naval vessels, using
a ratio system
U.S. and United Kingdom– 500,000 tons
Japan – 300,000 tons
France and Italy – 175,000 tons
U.S. and U.K. needed navies in Atlantic and Pacific, others
did not
Allied Reparations Commission
1921 – Germany would
pay 132 billion marks
annually ($33 million)
1922 – no payment
made, announced 3year moratorium
Britain agreed, France
did not
Here we go again!
France responds by
occupying Ruhr River
Valley (80% of German coal
and steel manufacturing)
German govt. orders
workers in Ruhr to stop
working and passively rest
French seal off entire
Rhineland
Most of 1923 – stand-off
Consequences
Germany begins
experiencing massive
inflation
French economy
suffered due to
expense of
occupation of
German territory and
no payments
The Dawes Plan – 1924
Charles Dawes,
American banker
German reparations
reduced
U.S. banks loan money
to Germany, Germany
pays reparations to U.K.
and France, which repay
debts to U.S.
Germany paid 1.3 billion
in ‘27 and ‘28
“Spirit of Locarno”
1925 – agreements
signed at Locarno,
Switzerland
Germany and
France agree on
borders
Great Britain and
Italy agree to
fight against
either Germany
or France if either
invades the other
Kellogg-Briand Pact - 1928
“outlawed” war as a
tool of foreign policy
Only acceptable use
was for defensive
purposes
62 nations signed
Isolationism
Belief that the U.S.
should not have gotten
into the Great War, and
that we should return
to minding our own
business
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