The cover illustration, from a painting of Lenin addressing the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, is reproduced by courtesy of the Society for Acknowledgements Cultural Relations with the US·SR. The author and publishers wish to thank the following for granting permission to include copyright material in this book: Prentice-Hall, Inc., for an extract from Why Hitler Came Into Power by Theodore.. Abel; Oxford University British Library Cataloguing in Publication Pata Press for two passages from The German Rundle, Raymond Norman Delegation at the Peace Conference (1941) International affairs, 1890-1939. - (Twentieth by Alma Luckau; Eyre & Spottiswoode' century world history; vol. 1). (Publishers) Ltd, for an extract from Life of I. World politics - 19th century Mussolini by Margherita G. Sarfatti (translated 2. World politics - 1900--1945 3. History, Modern by Frederic Whyte and originally published by - 19th century 4. History, Mod~rn - 20th century Thornton .and Butterworth); William Heine­ I. Title JI. Series mann Ltd for a short extract from Through 909.82 D397 Two Decades by Theodor Wolff; Hutchinson ISBN o 340 24336 8 Boards and Company for a passage from An ISBN O 340 23708 2 Paper Ambassador's Memoirs by Maurice Paleologue (translated by F. A. Holt); HMSO. for two extracts from Report of the Royal Commission on Palestine, Cmd. 5479 (1937). First published 1979 Reprinted 1985 . "(hanks are also due to the following for permission to reproduce the illustrations in this Copyright© 1979 R.N. Rundle book: the Radio Times Hulton Picture Maps© 1979 Library, pages 3, 4, IO, 15, 17, 43, 44, 58, 59, Hodder and Stoughton Ltd. 61, 65, 68, 71, 74, 84, 87, 96,112, II3, 116, 123, All rights reserved. No part of this publication 127, 133, 145, 153, 154; Mary Evans Picture may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or Library, pages 7, 78, 150; Popperfoto, pages b)'. any means, electronic or mechanical, 21, 83, 95, 101, 122; The Illustrated London including photocopy, recording, or any 9, 14; 26, 3 1, 92, 102; information storage and- retrieval system, News, pages the Imperial without Pt':rmission in writing from the War Museum, title-page and page 39; Anne publisher. Horton, page I 5 I; Sovfoto, New York, page 105 ; Culver Pictures Inc., New York, page Printed and bound in Canada 138; Ford Archives, Heriry Ford Museum, by John Deyell Company Dearborn, Michigan, page 143. CHAPTER FIVE The

In January 1918 President Wilson of the the freest opportunity for self-government. United States of America outlined to Congress 11. Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro to be the text of his Fourteen Points. These were evacuated and guarantee"d their political and intended to be the basis of the peace settlement economic independence. Serbia to be given a at the end oJ the war. Wilson stated America's coastline. aim of making the world 'fit and safe to live 12. The Turkish parts of the Ottoman Empire in, particularly for every peace-loving nation should form a separate state, but the other which, like our own, wishes to live its own peoples ruled by the Turks should be given life, determine its own institutions, and be their independence. The Dardanelles should be assured ofjustice and fair dealing by the other open at all times to the ships of all nations. peoples of the world against force and selfish 13. An independent Polish state should be set up aggression'. The Fourteen Points may be and given access to the sea. summarised as : 14. A general association of nations should be formed to preserve future peace. 1. Open covenants of peace openly arrived at - no private international understandings. At II o'clock on the mornilrn .of II 2. Freedom of navigation upon the seas in peace November 1918 the guns on the western front and war. stopped firing, and silence descended upon the 3. The removal, so Jar as possible, of all economic battlefields where many hundreds of thousands barriers to world trade. of men had lost their lives during four years 4. The reduction of national armaments to the of terrible warfare. By the Armistice of lowest point consistent with domestic safety. Compiegne agreed to evacuate all 5. Colonial claims to be dealt with according to occupied territory, and to withdraw beyond the principle that the interests ofthe populations the right bank of the Rhine. The peace concerned must have equal weight with the treaties of Brest Litovsk and Bucharest were claims of the colonial power. cancelled. Germany surrendered its navy, and 6. The evacuation of all Russian territory. large quantities of military equipment, in­ Russia to be welcomed into the society of cluding aeroplanes, lorries, locomotives and free nations under institutions of her own railway wagons, while the Allied blockade of choice, and to be given assistance of every Germany was to be maintained until peace kind that she might need and desire. had been signed. The Allies were determined 7. Belgium to be evacuated and restored. to ensure that although the German armies 8. All French territory to be freed and the invaded had not surrendered they would not be able portions retored. Alsace-Lorraine should be to resume the fighting. returned to France, thus righting the wrong The Allies were agreed that to insist upon done to France by Germany in 1871. unconditional surrender would be an un­ 9. Italy's frontiers should . be adjusted along necessary humiliation of Germany. Thus clearly recognisable lines of nationality. German troops were allowed to march back 10. The peoples of Austria-Hungary to be given in good order to their homeland, while along The Treaty of Versailles 43

the eastern front some German armies were courtesy since France was the host nation. left in position, in order to stop the spread President Wilson was the only head of state of communism. In these arrangements lay the at the ~onfrrence. An idealist and a deeply origin of the belief~ held by many Germans religious man, Wilson believed that his mission after the war, that they had been deceived was to formulate a just and lasting peace by Allied promises. They never fully settlement. Aloof and sensitive to criticism, he appreciated that the German High Command did not try to cultivate good relations with _had told the government in November 191 8 the press and public. He soon disagreed strongly that further resistance was useless, leaving the with Clemenceau, who was determined to · civilian authorities with no choice but to inflict a harsh settlement upon the Central agree to an armistice. Powers. Wilson also knew that American Nine weeks passed before delegates from public opinion was becoming increasingly thirty-two states assembled at Paris to begin hostile to any further involvement in Europe's drafting the peace treaties. This delay enabled affairs. Even before he arrived in Paris, Wilson's a general election to be held in Britain where, party, the Democrats, had lost its majorities because of the war, eight years had passed in both the Senate and the House of since the previous one. In the famous 'Khaki Representatives to the Republicans in the Election' · of December 1918 anti-German Congressional elections of November 1918. feeling ran very high, and no candidate who This weakened Wilson's position in Paris, and showed any signs of sympathy for Germany later resulted in Congress refusing to ratify stood any chance of being elected to Parliament. the Versailles Treaty. Lloyd George became Prime Minister with a These three statesmen, Wilson, Clemenceau, large majority, and he went to Paris with a and Lloyd George, were the 'Big Three'. Most mandate to 'Make Germany Pay'. . of the major decisions at the Conference were

The French Prime Minister, Clemenceau, taken by them. Neither Italy nor Japan1 the also received an overwhelming vote of other two great powers represented at Paris, confidence in the French Chamber of Deputies. played very imp9rtant parts. Italy was pre­ The 78-year-old Frenchman, nicknamed 'The occupied with obtaining favourable frontier Tiger' for his unrelenting hatred of Germany, adjustments, while Japan was chiefly concerned was made Chairman at the Conference, out of with claiming German territories in the Pacific and consolidating its influence in China. After six months of deliberations the final details of the peace settlement with Germany were decided. Althirngh the actual terms had been kept secret, th~ German government was aware that they were savage. Speaking at the Trianon Palace Hotel at Versailles in May 1919, Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, head of the German delegation, said:

We are under no illusions as to the extent of our defeat and the degree ofour powerlessness. We know that the strength of the German army is broken. We know the intensity of the hatred which meets us, and we have heard the victors' passiona~e demand that as the vanquished we shall be made to pay, Delegates of the four victorious great powers at the and as the guilty we shall be punished. · Versailles Peace Conference: (left to right) Lloyd The demand is made that we shall acknowledge George, Orlando, Clemenceau, Wilson that we alone are guilty of having caused the 44 International Affairs, 1890-1939 war. Such a confession would ·be a lie . ... We expired, the German delegation indicated their deny that the people of Germany, who were readiness to sign. This ceremony took place in convinced that they were waging a war of defence, the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on 28 June, should be burdened with the sole guilt of that war. the fifth anniversary of the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand. The treaty was presented to the German By the terms of the treaty Germany lost delegation on 16 June 1919. They were given 28,000 square miles, or 14 per cent, of her

Allied officers watching the handing over of the Versailles peace treaty to tlze German delegation seven days to consider it, but they knew that territory. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to thirty-nine Allied divisions were poised on the France. Germany's request that the inhabitants Rhine ready to advance into a defei1celess should vot·e on this matter was refused. The Germany should they reject it. On 22 June coal mines of the Saar were handed over to the delegates said they would sign if the War France as compensation for the ruin of France's Guilt clauses were deleted. The Allies refused northern coalfields. An International Com­ this request outright, for the clauses were the mission was to administer the Saar territory for legal justification for reparations. Moreover, fifteen years, when its future would be decided they had been angered by the scuttling of the by a plebiscite. (In 193 5 the Saar· opted for German Fleet lying at Scapa Flow, in Scotland. reunion with Germany, which repurchased At 5 p.m., two hoors before the deadline the mines.) The Treaty of Versailles 45

Belgium was awarded three areas: Moresnet, part of West , which voted to stay Eupen, and Malmedy. A plebiscite determined German (see map I 3). Danzig became a Free the Danish-German frontier. The largely City, aoministered by the League of Nations Danish-speaking northern half of Slesvig chose but with Poland enjoying special rights, such to join Denmark, while the southern part voted as control over its foreign affairs. Germany to remain German. also lost the port of Memel. In 1920 the League In Eastern Europe Germany renounced the agreed to its seizure by Lithuania. gains it ·had made by the treaties of Brest The union of Germany and Austria

LITHUANIA

eBerlin

G'E'.RM~NY

' POLAND ' ' 'Weimar

...... --- ... , ,, ...... ____ , ...,. /' ... - ... _... ,~ .. " ',.. .._ __ .... ,:' ... __ .... \\:,, FRANCE ...... -----_ ...... - ... _-- ...... /,,/,,, ______.... --- ... ------" ------....

- Germany's frontier 1914 SWITZERLAND AUSTRIA / ,. HUNGARY A Morienwerder The union of Germany J ;/ [Germany lost all her] with Austria (Anschluss) ,,,, overseas possessions B Allenstein [ was forbidden

13 Territorial changes made by the Treaty of Versailles, 1919

Litovsk and Bucharest. Posen, West Prussia ( Anschluss) was forbidden unless it was and part of Upper Silesia were transferred to authorised by the unanimous consent of the Poland. The acquisition of West Prussia gave League's Council. Since France was a Permanent Poland access to the sea, thus fulfilling one of Member of the Council it was assumed that the Fourteen Points, but separated East Prussia such a move would always be vetoed- from the rest of Germany. German protests Germany lost all its overseas territories, succeeded in winning Allied agreement for amounting to one million square miles. A strip plebiscites to be held in the districts of of German East Africa· was given to Belgium; Allenstein and Marienwerder in the southern the remainder became the British colony of International Affairs_,<11890-1939

Tanganyika. Britain and France shared prevent the development of a conscript army, Togoland and the Cameroons, while German officers were required to serve for twenty­ South West Africa was given to the Union of five years, and all other ranks for twelve South Africa. Germany's possessions in the years'. Tanks, heavy artillery and military Pacific Ocean south of the Equator were aircraft were prohibited. The General Staff divided between Britain, Australia and New was disbanded. Germany's navy was limited Zealand. Those north of the Equator were to twelve destroyers, six light cruisers, and six awarded to Japan, to the anger of China, 'pocket' battleships with a maximum of which subsequently refused to sign the Treaty 10,000 tons displacement. Submarines were of Versailles. banned. To ensure that these provisions were German territory on the west bank of the observed, the German armaments industry was Rhine, and three bridgeheads on the east bank to be strictly controlled and inspected, but in (Cologne, Coblenz and Mainz), were to be the event this proved to be an impossible task. occupied by Allied troops. Provided Germany Germany unwillingly accepted legal fulfilled its treaty obligations, the zones would responsibility for the war. Article 231, the War ·be successively evacuated at five-year intervals. Guilt clause, stated: 'The Allied and Associated German territory west of the Rhine, and a Governments affirm and Germany accepts the strip of territory 50 km wide adjoining the responsibility of Germany and her allies for right bank ofthe Rhine, were to be permanently causing all the loss and damage to which their demilitarised. No armed forces, military nationals have been subjected as a consequence installations, or army manoeuvres were to be of the war imposed upon them by the allowed in these areas. Any violation of aggression of Germany and her allies.' these provisions was to be regarded as a 'hostile . Under the armistice terms Germany agreed act calculated to disturb the peace of the to pay for damage done to Allied civilian world'. As a guarantee of good faith over , property. Subsequently the principle of the cancellation of the Treaty of Brest Litovsk, reparations was extended to cover the full cost Germany agreed to withdraw all her troops of the war, so that pensions and war debts from the Baltic states immediately the Allies were included. In the opinion of Lloyd George, decided that stability had returned to Eastern naming the figure the Allies had in mind would Europe. frighten the Germans into refusing to sign the Germany was made virtually defenceless by treaty, while any figure which did not frighten severe restrictions placed upon its armed forces. them would not be acceptable to the French The army was limited to 100,000 men. To and British electorates. Accordingly, a

The transfer of German minorities Territory German~ transferred Ruled by Population speaking

EUPEN-MALMEDY BELGIUM 60,000 47,000 NOR TH SLESVIG DENMARK 160,000 40,000 SUDETENLAND CZECHOSLOVAKIA 3,255,000 2,775,000 MEMEL LITHUANIA 141,000 72,000 DANZIG LEAGUE 336,000 328,000 POLISH CORRIDOR POLAND 939,000 185,000 POSEN POLAND 1,974,000 346,000 SILESIA POLAND 9>19,000 272,000 ALSACE FRANCE 1,219,000 I,I 53,000 LORRAINE FRANCE 655,000 481,000 Based on Geographic Aspects of International Relations, by Charles C. Colby The Treaty of Versailles 47

Reparations Commission was set up to decide safeguard France in any future war with the amount Germany should pay. The figure Germany. Lloyd George and Wilson had eventually decided was £6,600,000,000 plus refused. All that Clemenceau obtained was a interest. This compared with the £2,000 temporary military occupation of the million which the British Treasury calculated Rhineland, its demilitarisation, and a Treaty of Germany could reasonably be expected to pay, Guarantee, whereby the United States and and the so-called 'businessman's estimate' of Britain promised to come to the assistance of £24,000 million. France if she was the victim of an unprovoked attack by Germany. When the United States Senate refused to ratify the treaty, this Criticisms of the treaty promised security vanished, since the British government claimed that its guarantee was Reparations were the most controversial aspect dependent upon America fulfilling her of the Versailles T,:eaty. They were intended obligations. to serve two purposes. Apart from paying for Significant German minorities were trans­ wartime losses, they would, if paid in full, ferred to other states, particularly }:'oland and destroy any chance of Germany re-emerging Czechoslovakia, as shown opposite. as a great power for the next fifty years. In the The German government declared: 'We shall event reparations benefited no country. never forget those who are to be severed from J. M. Keynes, the famous economist, in his us. They are flesh of our flesh. Wherever it book The Economic Consequences ef the Peace, can be done, we shall take their part as if it argued that reparations were vindictive, were our own. They will be torn from the impractical and completely beyond Germany's Reich, but they will not be torn from our capacity to pay. If Germany paid in gold the hearts.' Minorities remained a constant source cash could only be earned by massive exports of irritation to the governments concern~d, ofmanufactures, which would cause unemploy­ especially after the advent to power of the ment in the receiving countries. Payment in Nazis in 1934. goods was unacceptable for the same reason. It was unwise not to have involved Germany No sensible financial settlement was possible in the peace negotiations. The Germans always unless the Allies were prepared to cancel their bitterly resented the fact that the treaty had war debts, but so long as the American been signed under duress, and the Diktat of government demanded the repayment of Versailles was a favourable propaganda topic wartime loans (amounting to £2,000 million), with the Nazis. Britain and France were determined to collect Finally, the very harshness of the treaty the money from Germany in the form of discredited the Weimar government in reparations. Reparations were 'ended in 1932, Germany, which was responsible for signing but in the meantime they embittered relations the armistice and the peace treaty. Had the between the victors and defeated. peace settlement been less savage in its treatment The French were dissatisfied with the treaty, of Germany, the Weimar Republic would for, having won the war at a grievous cost, have stood a greater chance of winning the they lost the security to which they felt they loyalty of the German people, and if the were entitled. At the Paris Conference Republic had not been destroyed by .Hitler Clemenceau had demap.ded the crea.tion of a in 1934, the course of international history buffer state on the west bank of the Rhine to would have been very different.