Evaluate the successes and failures of the Paris Peace conference in creating a stable European Community in the post WWI era

The Paris Peace Conference was a meeting that took place in the post WWI era and was created to settle the peace terms of all the defeated Nations. It took place in Paris in 1919 and was a convention of all the Allied victors who discussed a series of treaties that created new countries and borders which reshaped the map of the world and resulted in many empires becoming bankrupt. Germany was the main country that was penalized as their economic, military, and political aspects were completely destroyed so the allied countries were protected from any future attacks. Through these treaties, more than 29 countries were involved and reformed which affected all of Europe but mostly its people, their ethnicity, religion, and way of living.

The three “Great Powers” controlled this conference and made all the important decisions. They included President Woodrow Wilson who was the President of the USA, David Lloyd George, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and Georges Clemenceau, the Prime Minister of France. The Treaties that were included in the Paris Peace Conference were the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, the Treaty of Lausanne, the Treaty of Neuilly, the Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye, the Treaty of Sevres, and the Treaty of Trianon that all dealt with different nations individually, imposing terms and punishments. It is being greatly debated by historians today whether or not the Paris Peace conference created a stable European Community in the post WWI era and if the peacemakers had made rational decisions at the time and if the terms imposed helped or destroyed the era.

The first of the treaties created after the Treaty of Versailles which dealt with the German Empire, was the Treaty of Saint-Germain. This agreement dealt specifically with Austria on the 10^th of September, 1919 where the Republic of Austria was established and was to consist of German-speaking territories of the old Hapsburg state. They were to remain strictly independent so there would no longer be a risk of unification with Germany. Austria was then forced to surrender territories to countries like Italy, Romania, and other counties that were created after WWI. This lead to changes in political, economic, and military outcomes; Austria became a much smaller state and was now isolated to German-speaking people. Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes were now all recognized as independent states. On the economic aspect of the country, they were economically limited with a lack of resources which lead to an unstable country. Militarily, Austria was now limited with their volunteer army and the Austro-Hungarian navy was broken down and distributed within the Allied Powers.

When the Treaty of Saint-Germain ended, the Treaty of Neuilly was established on the 27^th November, 1919 in France and dealt with Bulgaria. As it was on the side of the Central Powers, it was required to surrender Western Thrace to the Entente which cut off its direct outlet to the Aegean Sea on the western border of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Furthermore, it was required to reduce its army to 20,000 men and was forced to pay reparations exceeding $40 million. Many changes occurred in Bulgaria throughout the Treaty of Neuilly; a large number of Bulgarians were placed under the rule of the Greeks when western Thrace had to be given up, and borders over contested territories were established. The nation was now deprived of her only access to the Mediterranean Sea as western Thrace was her only route, and new boundaries gave many military and strategic advantages to the Serbs which exposed Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria). This lead to bitterness against the nations in the center of the treaty which later caused Bulgaria to side with the Nazis in WWII. People’s rights were taken away from them and many Bulgarians were forced to change their nationalities to Greek or Serb-Croat-Slovene nationalities. Tension around Europe was beginning to emerge and many Nations were becoming furious at the new policies and restrictions that they had no control over.

On the 4^th of June 2010, the Treaty of Trianon was created, adding to the list of treaties in the Paris Peace conference. This meeting focused on the formation of Hungary after its separation from Austria and continued to remove all of Hungary’s rights to self-determination. There were many negative outcomes of this treaty on the new empire as its territory was divided resulting in the loss of 73 percent of its original land, they were no longer allowed to access the sea, and Hungary was responsible in restoring Italy. Additionally, Hungary’s economy was highly affected due to the fact that the new borders cut off all of the empire’s trade routes so they were restricted from any income of agriculture produce, unemployment levels grew rapidly, and the economic growth in the region vastly declined which lead to a recession. Moreover, in order for the allied victors to be protected from future attack, they affected the military aspect of Hungary, suspending the Hungarian navy, air force, and army, limiting the number of men to 35,000, and prohibiting heavy artillery, tanks, and air force. Lastly, the public of Hungary were wrongly transferred from one state to another without being consulted and was a major mistake made in the treaty as Hungarians lost their citizenship. The only positive factor was that some countries like Romania and Croatia-Slavonia, benefited from the series of agreements as they received a lot of useful territory.

The Treaty of Sevres came last, on the 10^th August 1920, addressing the Ottoman Empire. Throughout the meeting, it was decided that the empire was to be abolished and Turkey forced to renounce all rights over Arab Asia and North Africa. The treaty resulted in many political outcomes that affected the empire greatly like large amounts of territory were lost, the rights to Sudan and Libya are taken from Turkey, the government and monarchy was overthrown, and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk become the new nation’s leader. As well as political effects, economic and military outcomes emerged; the empire’s finances began to be controlled by the Allies so future expansion of loans and the custom and tax system could not be set up without the consent of the allies. Moreover, the empire’s army was limited to 50,000 men, their navy was allowed only six torpedo boats, and they became forbidden to obtain an air force. New independent states were created and a big amount of territory was reduced. After the treaty took effect on the nation, it became much weaker with a destroyed economy and military.

Throughout the Paris Peace conference, extremely important decisions were made to try and make Europe and the world safer for the Nations and its people. Its aim was to set peace terms with Germany and all the other defeated countries by setting restrictions on economic, military, and political aspects. Observing the results of this convention though shows that the series of treaties created to focus on different countries were not as successful as was hoped. Most nations became extremely aggravated at the idea of how much land was being lost, the restrictions on the number of men allowed in the army, and the economic changes that were taking affect. Many human rights were being lost as in many cases, people were forced to change their nationalities and this urged the public and many of the nations to go against the allied powers and later causing them to side with the Nazis in WWII. The Paris Peace conferences did, on one hand make Europe safer as there were many military restrictions which stopped any further attacks for a while, but on the other hand, many of the treaties were too ruthless as they destroyed economic, military, and political aspects of empires which lead to a riot of angry nations that made it more likely for another war to arise. A peace agreement was greatly needed at the time but many of the restrictions forced on Nations weren’t needed and just created more tension in Europe.