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The Phases of the French Revolution, 1787-99
Prelude: Aristocratic Rebellion, 1787-89. The king's renewed attempts to tap the wealth of the undertaxed
aristocracy and clergy (the Second and the First Estate) lead to rebellion. The aristocracy and the top of the
clergy demand a convocation of the Estates General (not assembled since 1614). The king approves but
strengthens the Third Estate at its own request.
First Phase: Toward a Constitutional Monarchy and Abolition of Privilege, 1789-91. The wealthy
representatives of the Third Estate (with many allies from the other Estates) declare themselves a National
Assembly and pledge to make France a constitutional monarchy. Prompted by fears of royal reaction, the
lower middle classes of Paris form the National Guard and storm the Bastille. Meanwhile, a peasant
rebellion (Great Fear) leads to the abolition of all remaining feudal dues. A crowd of women from Paris
force the Royal Couple to relocate from Versailles to Paris. In the Declaration of Rights, the N.A. states
civic equality, freedom, religious tolerance, and security of property. Civic equality does not apply to
women, and property qualifications limit the right to vote and to be elected. Rationalization and
centralization of the administration (départements). Liberalization of trade; standard weights and measures.
To reduce the debt and deficit, the Assembly confiscates all church lands. The clergy need to swear an oath
of loyalty to the new order. The king's attempt to flee Paris and France fails in Varennes.
Second Phase: Constitution of a Republic, Civil War, and Foreign War, 1792-93. To secure the
achievements of the Revolution, the new Legislative Assembly declares war on Austria (allied with
Prussia). As the war takes a turn for the worse, a popular uprising in Paris unseats the king and queen.
Under the influence of the radical Paris crowds, the Legislative Assembly calls for a democratic constitution
and universal manhood suffrage. Random massacres of prisoners, aristocrats, and priests. A newly formed
democratic parliament (Convention) decides to execute the king and declares war to Great Britain, Holland,
and Spain. The radicalism of Paris, the hardships of an economic crisis exacerbated by a flight into war, and
the deep division created by the anticlerical reform fan counterrevolutionary uprisings in the provinces.
Third Phase: Reign of Terror and Mobilization of the Nation, 1793-94. The threat to the Revolution from
within and without leads to increasing radicalism and paranoia. The Convention appoints emergency
committees, which form a dictatorship (Committee of Public Safety under Danton and Robespierre). The
Convention drafts a fully democratic constitution to be implemented after the war. Calls the people to arms
(levée en masse). Severe political repression, executions, cultural revolution (new calendar, dress code,
dechristianization, think police). Controlled war economy (price ceilings). The Terror regime represses the
counterrevolution in France and turns the foreign war to its advantage, but its radicalization induces the
moderates in the Convention to overthrow Robespierre and end the terror in late July 1794.
Fourth Phase: Thermidorian Reaction and Directorate, 1794-99. The wealthy middle class aims at
stabilizing the Revolution against left and right. White terror against democrats. The Directorate (1795-99)
establishes a republic of property owners with a thin political base. It continues foreign war and becomes
increasingly dependent upon the army and its victories.
Napoleonic France, 1799-1815
Consulate, 1799-1804. Fearing a strong monarchist groundswell against the Revolution, the Directory calls
for the leadership of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who becomes First Consul in November 1799 after a
coup d'état backed by the army. Bonaparte decrees a new constitution that reintroduces universal manhood
suffrage but restricts the power of the parliament. Even though it amounts to a dictatorship of Bonaparte
himself, the voters approve the new constitution in a plebiscite. Boosted by military success, Bonaparte
takes up the rigid centralization begun during the first phase of the Revolution and represses opposition
brutally. He concludes a Concordat with the Pope (1801), putting an end to a decade of strife over religious
matters. Plebiscites in 1802 make Bonaparte First Consul for life and sanction yet another constitution by
him that further strengthens his autocracy. The Code Napoléon (1804) establishes a law for all of France
and confirms the Revolution's freedom of opportunities (against privilege) and the security of property.
The Empire, 1804-1814. In a political show, Napoleon crowns himself Emperor of the French in the
presence of the Pope (1804). Again, Napoleon promulgates a new constitution and gets the approval of the
people in a plebiscite. France now is an inheritable monarchy under a self-appointed emperor approved by
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the people! With seemingly endless military victories, the French Empire expands through annexation of the
Netherlands and parts of Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. Napoleon appoints members of his family as
kings and dukes of newly constituted European states (mostly in Germany and Italy). To give the Bonaparte
family greater dynastic legitimacy, he divorces his wife and marries a Habsburg princess in 1810. The
creation of a Napoleonic dynasty and a new aristocracy of loyal officials as well as the strains of a long war,
however, damage Napoleon's popularity even in France. Napoleonic rule over much of Europe exports
many ideals and achievements of the French Revolution but also produces much anti-French feeling, thus
sparking German, Italian, and Spanish nationalism. Napoleon's political system represents the autocracy of
a charismatic (military) leader, sanctioned by occasional plebiscites with universal manhood suffrage
(Bonapartism).
Bourbon Restoration, 1814. In the wake of military defeat, Napoleon abdicates; the Bourbon dynasty is
restored. Louis XVIII (the brother of executed Louis XVI) becomes king and establishes a constitutional,
inheritable monarchy. Introduces an appointed Upper Chamber and a Lower Chamber elected by a narrow
franchise based on high property requirements.
Napoleon's Hundred Days, March to June 1815. Observing disunity among the victors of the war and
unhappiness about the Bourbon Restoration in France, Napoleon returns and seizes Paris in a triumphal
march. He implements yet another constitution but loses a battle against the combined British and Prussian
armies (Waterloo). Louis XVIII returns to Paris and restores the order of 1814.
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The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
1792-95 France declares war on Austria and Prussia. Invasion of Northern France. Battle of Valmy (20
September): victory for the French. France declares war on Britain, Holland, and Spain in 1793. Despite
temporary reversals in 1793, French troops conquer Belgium, West Germany, and Northern Italy, where
they create "Sister Republics."
1795
France annexes Belgium (an Austrian province) and concludes a peace treaty with
Prussia. The third partition of Poland by Russia, Prussia, and Austria eliminates the Polish state (until
1916/18). The French war with England and Austria continues.
1797
Bonaparte's troops defeat Austria in Northern Italy. Treaty of Campo Formio establishes
French domination over Switzerland and Italy.
1798-99 Bonaparte's disastrous Egyptian campaign against Britain.
1799-1802
Second Coalition (Britain, Austria, Russia, Ottoman Empire) defeats French armies in
Switzerland and Italy (1799), but Bonaparte forces the Russians and Austrians to cross the Swiss Alps and
restores the settlement of Campo Formio in 1801. Peace with England in 1802.
1803-07 Renewed Franco-British war and Third Coalition (Britain, Russia, Austria) after 1805. While
Napoleon's armies crush the coalition in Germany and Bohemia, the British naval victory at Trafalgar
destroys French sea power. Prussia joins the coalition but is defeated in 1806. Napoleon reorganizes
Germany, greatly reducing the number of states and standardizing their institutions. The Holy Roman
Empire ceases to exist. Almost all of Continental Europe is now either under French control or allied with
Napoleon.
1806The Continental System imposed by Napoleon amounts to a trade war against Britain.
This attempt to close the Continent to British goods hurts the Continental economy more than the British
and fans anti-French resentment in many areas, as do Napoleon's arbitrary dynastic policies.
1807Napoleon invades Spain and Portugal to prevent smuggling, but the French forces never
subdue either country. Spanish uprising in 1808 with British support.
1809
Austrian uprisings crushed.
1812-13 Following Russian withdrawal from the Continental System (1810), Napoleon invades Russia with
a large multinational army. The campaign ends in disaster, killing most of the army during the winter.
Napoleon flees to France and raises new forces.
1813-14 Popular uprisings in Germany and Italy. Prussia, Austria, and many smaller states in Germany and
Italy join Russia and Britain in a final attack on Napoleonic France, which rejects compromise. Napoleon
emigrates to the island of Elba. A peace agreement reduces France to the borders of 1792.
1815
The Belgian campaign of (returned) Napoleon fails. The peace treaty imposes harsher
restrictions on France but leaves it a great power.
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The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Louis XVIII. Rules 1814/15-1824. A moderately conservative, phlegmatic ruler (monsieur "sleep"), who
tries to steer a careful middle course after the upheavals of the preceding period. He offers a charter
(constitution) with a parliamentary system based on property qualifications. It allows approximately
100,000 men to vote (in a population of 25 million). An uneasy deadlock remains between revolutionary
forces and reactionaries (royalists). The royalists press Louis XVIII to double the vote of the richest voters
after the assassination of the Duc de Berry, the king's nephew (1820). Censorship tightens. Increased role of
the church in education.
Charles X. Rules 1824-1830. The younger brother of Louis XVI and Louis XVIII is the most reactionary of
the three. Tries to revive medieval traditions (the king's healing touch). In an alliance with the highest
aristocratic landlords, he wants to establish an absolutist monarchy again and bolster the Catholic church.
His course provokes the resistance of the liberals (mostly the upper bourgeoisie), who in turn make Charles
X more resolute and uncompromising. Conflict comes to a head in 1829-30.
The Revolution of 1830. After a renewed electoral victory of the liberals Charles X decides to stage a royal
coup d'état: restriction of the liberty of the press, dissolution of the newly elected chamber, even higher
property qualifications for the vote, and new elections under the new laws. As in 1789-94, the people of
Paris erect barricades and fight. Situation resembles 1789, but this time the king does not hesitate to fight.
He sends troops to Paris but cannot subdue the capital. Flees to London. Will the situation become as
radicalized as after 1789? Workers, shopkeepers, and artisans in Paris, hit by an economic downturn as in
1789, want a republic. The liberals ally with enlightened aristocrats to stabilize the situation through quick
intervention: they negotiate with another high French aristocrat and make him king in a constitutional
monarchy. Solution of 1789-91 (first phase), but with a cooperating, reasonable monarch, Louis Philippe,
duke of Orléans. His father had been active in the Revolution of 1789 (Philippe Égalité).
Louis Philippe. Rules 1830-1848. He is declared King of the French (Napoleon's formula) and drafts a
constitution "by the right of the people," not by the grace of the monarch. Censorship is abolished and the
role of the Catholic church limited. Franchise becomes wider but remains restricted by property
qualifications (200,000 men). "Monsieur Poire" (pear-shaped face) gains popularity, but domestic tensions
remain high. The liberals and aristocracy avoid both a return to absolutist monarchy with full power of the
Catholic church and popular revolution and civil war, as in 1792-4. Uprisings by people who want
democracy and a republic do happen in several cities until 1834 but are all crushed by troops. Louis
Philippe and the ruling classes ignore the problems of the lower middle class and the poor. Louis Philippe's
cynical comment: "enrichissez-vous!" (get rich, then you will be able to vote).
European Aftershocks, 1830-32. As conservatives had feared, the revolution in Paris sent shock waves to
other places. An uprising in Brussels after an opera performance leads to a Belgian insurrection against the
Dutch government. Belgium receives independence in exchange for a guarantee of neutrality. Poland revolts
against Russian predominance, but Russian troops repress the rebellion after a war in 1832. Poland's special
rights (dating from 1815) are revoked by the Russians. Serbia gains independence from the Ottoman Empire
after an insurrection. Some smaller German states and Italian cities also experience revolutions in 1830, but
few of the revolutions lead to lasting change. The English Reform Bill of 1832 extends the suffrage and
abolishes many "rotten" electoral districts after a lot of popular unrest, but it is not directly inspired by the
Parisian events of 1830. The bill gives more voting power to the rich in the urban and commercial centers
but balances their power by creating more districts in the countryside. No democracy. Simply greater and
more rational representation for the wealthy (and for different kinds of wealth). The Bill sends an important
message, however: revolution is not necessary; the British system can be reformed if put under pressure.
Unrest in 1848 thus never produces a revolution.
Causes of the Revolutions of 1848/49. Poor harvests in 1846 and 1847 cause shortages and famines in many
parts of Europe. General economic downturn. Unemployment particularly among urban artisans (partly as
an effect of the industrialization in Britain and elsewhere). Liberalism, nationalism, and to a lesser degree
socialism become the intellectual motors of the revolution. Liberals want more representative government
(though not a democracy), liberty, and unrestrained economic life. Prefer peaceful change after initial
success. ("Revolution is not good for business.") Workers, particularly the urban artisans, want more
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economic security (safeguards against unemployment) and political rights. Temporary alliance between
workers and liberals. Peasants join the initial phase of the revolution in countries with remaining feudal ties
(Austria, some German states, Italy). Nationalism is important in Germany, Austria, Hungary, and Italy.
The Revolution in Paris. Spontaneous uprising of liberals and workers in late February 1848 induces Louis
Philippe to abdicate. Repetition of 1830, except that the king does less to repress the revolution. Who can
fill the power vacuum? Liberals want a republic and a national assembly. Workers want social reform and
national work programs (Louis Blanc). Liberals form provisional government but make concessions to the
workers: establish national workshops. Free elections based on universal suffrage in April produce majority
for conservatives and moderate liberals. Countryside, as after 1789, remains critical of Paris radicalism. The
elections deepen the gap between the liberals and the workers. Clashes follow. Provisional government
wants to close the national workshops. Uprising of the workers in June. Brutal repression through troops
drawn from the countryside ("June Days").
Presidential Dictatorship and Second Empire. Provisional government calls for presidential elections. Louis
Napoleon Bonaparte wins - mostly by virtue of his name and the fame of his uncle. Wants to emulate
Napoleon I: not for republic or democracy, but for plebiscitarian dictatorship. Quarrels with the National
Assembly. In December 1851, Louis Napoleon starts a military coup. Like his uncle, he drafts a more
authoritarian constitution and submits it to a plebiscite and wins. One year later he declares himself emperor
Napoleon III. France reenacts the revolutionary-Napoleonic period but goes directly from the first phase
(1789-91) to Empire. Universal suffrage, even if it does not lead to effective representation, satisfies the
lower classes for the time being. Napoleon III pursues a less adventurous foreign policy than did his uncle.
The Revolution in Austria. A revolutionary guard consisting largely of students (!) forces the Austrian king
to promise a liberal constitution in March 1848. Hungarian nobles meanwhile strive for independence though within the Habsburg monarchy. Metternich flees to London. Students rule Vienna and demand
democracy. The emperor and cabinet flee to another city and decree emancipation of the serfs to undercut
further peasant uprisings. This measure splits the peasants from the liberals and the democratic students.
Hungarian rebellion provokes other uprisings, since Hungarians repress national groups within their part of
the Habsburg Empire. Austrian government allies with the minorities in Hungary. Uprisings follow also in
Bohemia and Moravia (aim: a Pan-Slavic state). The Austrian army, loyal to the emperor, represses the
rebellion in Bohemia and Moravia (first setback for the revolutionaries). In Austrian-dominated Italy a war
of independence mixed with liberal and nationalist undertones breaks out. Austria represses the movements
after initial setbacks. But uprisings continue. Republic of Rome (as a core unit of a future all-Italian state)
forces the Pope to flee to Naples. France helps restore him (Louis Napoleon appeases the French Catholics).
New uprisings in March 1849 against Austria all fail. The Hungarian rebellion is the last one to be quelled.
The Russian army intervenes to help restore order.
The Revolution in Prussia. As in Austria, a middle-class uprising in Berlin (March 1848) forces the king of
Prussia to promise a constitution, a parliament, and a liberal cabinet. A democratic majority gets elected to
the new assembly, but the army represses the revolutionaries in April 1849. The king revises the
constitution and introduces a three-class suffrage benefiting the rich and reducing the power of parliament.
Failed German Unification. The liberals, victorious in Austria, Prussia, and many other German states, call
an all-German assembly to Frankfurt and try to unite Germany under a moderately liberal constitution.
Elections take place, but the assembly has not much power and gets bogged down in a dispute on whether
future Germany should include Austria, a multinational state. Since Austria rejects a unified Germany, the
assembly offers the Prussian king a German crown in an act of desperation. The king refuses to take a
"crown from the gutter." Repression of the Frankfurt assembly and democratic South German uprisings by
the Prussian army in the summer of 1849. Ultimate gains of the revolutions of 1848 in Germany are small
but not negligible: most rulers agree to pass (conservative) constitutions to satisfy the liberals. Extension of
the franchise in some German states, mostly in the south.
Typical Features. The nightmare of all conservatives comes true when revolution spreads from Paris to
dozens of other capitals in March 1848. Like the peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe in 1989, the
revolutions of 1848 succeed with surprising speed in one country after the other. But outside France the old
authorities, initially paralyzed by fears of a repeat performance of 1789-94, quickly realize that the armies
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have remained loyal and that the revolutionaries are split. Concessions pacify the peasants and divide the
other revolutionaries. The rich liberal bourgeoisie becomes afraid of lower-class activism in the cities
(precedent: Paris, 1792-4 and "June Days") and mounts little resistance to royal reaction. Nationalism and
striving for national independence or unification complicate matters. Socialism plays a role in Paris
(national workshops), but it is the anti-industrialist socialism of Louis Blanc (Karl Marx is still unknown).
Britain and Russia escape revolution.
The Four Manifestations of Nationalism
A) Movement for national homogeneity. Examples: Gallicization policy in France after 1871, Russification
of Poland after the revolts of 1831 and 1863. Goal: to create a linguistically and culturally homogeneous
entity, to make the state a coherent nation state. Can be repressive and intolerant toward minorities. The
most extreme case is the mass murder of innocent people for the sake of alleged racial "purity" (Holocaust).
B) Movement for national independence. Examples: Polish and Irish nationalism; strivings of national
minorities in the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires (and later the Soviet Union). Ethnic groups within
a larger, usually multi-national state develop their own nationalism and want to break away from the
existing state to form their own. Sometimes the same national minorities are spread over several countries,
so that independence movements develop in all of them to form a state that will include territories from
several states. (Examples: Polish striving for independence against Russia, Prussia, and Austria; Kurdish
nationalism today.) Movements for national independence can be fanned by intolerance manifested by
nationalism of type A. Zionism is a special case: plan to assemble all Jews in a homeland removed from the
settlement of most Jewish minority groups; creation of a new nation state and following immigration from
areas in which Jews are minorities.
C) Movement for national expansion. Examples: German nationalism in World War I and beyond; Russian
nationalism and expansionism in the Balkans and in Asia in the late Tsarist period; maybe European
colonialism after 1870. Results from the feeling that national expansion is a question of survival (pseudoDarwinist logic). The existing nation state is considered too small for the people, and stagnation is seen as
decline.
D) Movement for national unity. Examples: Italy and Germany before 1870/71. Initial situation: perception
of one nation divided into many states. People in several smaller states feel they belong together as one
nation and strive to form a unified nation state. Often the feeling of a few elite circles only. ("How do we
create Italians after having created Italy?")
Questions:
I) Is nationalism intrinsically related to democracy? Consider the difficulty of justifying social privilege
within a nation and the French Revolution's claim for liberty, equality, and fraternity.
II) Is the rise of nationalism a symptom of the decline of religion? Are they necessarily contradictory?
III) What is nationalism's relation to the new individualism of the nineteenth century?
IV) Does nationalism necessarily tend towards intolerance and aggression?
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The First World War
Causation: Danger that Austria-Hungary might collapse after the assassination of heir apparent Franz
Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. Germany gives Austria a blank check for a quick punitive war
against Serbia but does not deliberately set out to start a general war. Germany also fears Russian war
preparation (strategic railroads) that would make the Schlieffen Plan unworkable. Russia supports Serbia,
which makes concessions to the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum but refuses to accept it unchanged. France
backs Russia in order not to lose Russia as an ally and foster a further loss of stability within Russia.
Germany's invasion of neutral Belgium, required by the Schlieffen Plan, makes British declaration of war
inevitable.
Stalemate September 1914 to August 1918: Nobody doubted that a long war would have devastating,
potentially revolutionary consequences, but few people believed that an industrialized war involving highly
developed and inter-connected economies could last long at all. But a stalemate developed after the failure
of the Schlieffen Plan (due to rapid Russian mobilization and quick British landing in France). Only
American intervention, caused by German unrestricted submarine warfare in retaliation for the British
blockade, broke the stalemate in August to October 1918.
Revolutionary Effects of the War: The long duration of the war put an unprecedented strain on state
administrations and people at home. Mobilization of women, the old people, and the very young. Massive
nationalist indoctrination. Promise of extensive war aims and reparations. In Russia, the state fails.
Monarchic authority dissolves: liberal-democratic revolution in March 1917. Continued engagement in the
war undermines the new government and allows the Bolsheviks, a small, radical, and fanatically determined
group under Lenin, to take power in November 1917. Lenin, promising bread and peace, concludes peace
with Germany (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, March 1918) in order to consolidate the Bolsheviks' hold over
Russia. The Bolsheviks win in the course of a devastating war until early 1921(civil war, war with Poland,
allied interventions).
Defeat of the Central Powers: In September and October 1918, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, and then
Austria-Hungary sue for peace after utter exhaustion and internal unrest (nationalities in A-H). Germany,
exhausted and starving and facing the loss of its allies, appeals to President Wilson to negotiate a peace.
The socialists take power in Germany and unseat the emperor. Germany becomes a democratic republic
after repression of radical left-wing uprisings (inspired by the Bolsheviks). The armistice (11 November
1918) requires German forces to withdraw everywhere and to surrender weapons.
Consequences of the War: Europe loses its predominant global power position. The United States becomes
the center of world finance. British dominions and Latin American countries become much less dependent
on European industrial exports. Horror given the human and material cost of the war.
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A Definition of Fascism
HI 112
- Military organization (party armies); strict hierarchy and subordination, usually under a charismatic leader.
- Cult of the leader.
- Widespread use of violence (party armies, later: police repression, war); opposition to humanist and
Christian values, often combined with a crude Darwinist ideology.
- Usually sophisticated use of propaganda (with modern technology such as the radio, film, mass press,
huge rallies, clever manipulation of news and language).
- Strong opposition to liberalism, democracy, and socialism (both communism and social democracy).
Fascists reject parliaments and free elections; instead, they aim for the predominance of one mass party and
a dictatorship under their leader. Some fascist movements use social revolutionary rhetoric and tend to
downplay social hierarchies, at least in propaganda. But fascists have no plan for a socialist economy; after
destroying the socialist parties and the trade unions, they generally leave the capitalist economy intact
(except in wartime). Here lies the decisive difference in the practice of Stalinism and Fascism.
- Virulent nationalism, often fueled by dissatisfaction with the international order following World War I
(Italy, Germany). The nationalism of the fascists is often imbued with racism and anti-Semitism (though
Italian fascism much less so than in German National Socialism). War appears as a completely justified way
to increase national power. Focus on sacrifice of the individual for the collective.
Ultimately, fascism appears as a symptom of a social order and a civilization deeply shattered by the First
World War. Traditional morality and individuality are suspect (Nietzsche!). Fear of chaos and
disorganization. War seems to be the order of the day, peace the exception. Enormous anxieties about
communism (Red Terror) and the decline of the middle classes help the fascists. But fascism is not
reactionary: no interest in the restoration of monarchies. Fascism involves the masses, but in quasi-military
order, not in free volition.
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Main Motives of the Victor Nations at the Paris Peace Conferences (1919-21):
- French security through disarming Germany and weakening it economically. The first aim succeeded
but the second failed. The failure of the United States to remain engaged in Europe and participate in
the League of Nations also undermined the security agenda. Finally, France's cordon sanitaire in eastern
Europe was weak due to internal factors (democracy was challenged, and national minorities were often
repressed) and the threat from the Soviet Union, which wished large border adjustments.
- Democracy and national self-determination for Europe. Excluded non-Europeans (Vietnamese,
Africans, Indians, and many others). The principle of national self-determination was violated with
respect to the losers of the war (above all Hungary and Germany).
A Brief Summary of German Grievances against the Treaty of Versailles (1919):
- An initially undefined sum to be paid by Germany as reparations. (Later, the sum was defined and
progressively reduced given the limited German ability to pay.)
- The "war guilt clause" stating that Germany and its allies had started the war and therefore should pay
for everything.
- The violation of national self-determination of Germans (amputation of ethnically German areas to
benefit Poland; German minority in Czechoslovakia; prohibition of unification with German Austria).
- Deliberate humiliations (such as opening the peace conference on the German national holiday and
complete exclusion of the losers from the conferences)
- Foreign occupation of West Germany.
- Trade clauses disadvantaging Germany until at least 1925.
- Loss of German colonies and the entire merchant and war fleet to Britain (the war fleet scuttled itself
before delivery to the British).
Historians' Verdict on the Paris Peace Conferences:
- The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh to reconcile Germany and to give German democracy a chance.
In turn, it was too mild to really tie down Germany for long (much economic potential remained and
could be turned into military power once Germany felt free to rearm).
- Many German grievances were acknowledged by France and Britain after the war, particularly by the
1930s. The Treaty was revisable. Unfortunately, the Treay of Versailles was rigorously enforced
toward the democratic German governments during the 1920s but largely ignored after Hitler came to
power in 1933.
- Dividing eastern central Europe according to the principle of national self-determination was too
difficult given the complicated ethnic and national mix in those areas.
- Ultimately, the outcome of the conferences was a difficult balancing act between very different national
interests (such as French interest to weaken Germany as much as possible and British interest to keep
Germany united and economically viable enough to be a strong trading partner).
- Critics argue that the victors fatally shifted between imposing a victors' peace and designing a peace of
compromise and lasting justice, as the Congress of Vienna achieved. The losers perceived this
inconsistency as sheer hypocrisy.