from the book by donald kagan. supposed to be guaranteed by tofv – article i immediate...
TRANSCRIPT
From the book by Donald Kagan
Supposed to be guaranteed by TofV – Article I Immediate assistance to France in event of
unprovoked aggression by Germany Britain insisted that their assistance hinged upon
the U.S. doing the same U.S. rejection of the treaty absolved British of
responsibility
Neither protected by a buffer state nor a promise of assistance
Old balance of pwr led to instability France safer if Germany conciliated not alienated Punish Germany but reintegrate into postwar
liberal capitalist order that is prosperous & stable Fails to account for
National pride and resentment Potential future dominance by restored Germany
League would oversee restoration of Germany & protection of France (contradictory goals per Kagan)
Wilson’s idea of U.S. involvement – assure security but retain independent U.S. decision making
U.S. protected by distance & its honor not at stake Return to Normalcy
Americans sought isolation & rapid return of Germany to full prosperity for trade w/ U.S. industry
Also a check against spreading communism Needed to restrain French from strict enforcement
Lend $ to Germany to prop up economy Express disapproval of French demands for reparations Continue to insist upon full repayment of debts by Allies
Acting in response to France’s true predicament would require responsibility, commitment, expense & action – better to go easy on Germany
U.S. intervention in the war was due to “willy-nilly” involvement in world economy and political system the U.S. was not free to ignore
The new postwar situation imposed new responsibilities for preservation of peace
U.S. chose to ignore them for the moment but they proved inescapable
Though David Lloyd George had promised to squeeze the Germans “until the pips squeeked” Later stated that Euro reconstruction would come thru
German recover Therefore opposition to French enforcement of treaty
In the present, France was the predominant military power Germany had been disarmed & Britain had disarmed itself Britain suddenly worried about France even though
France was concerned with Germany Britain therefore wanted to maintain a “free hand”
to balance the contending powers of the Continent without committing to any of them
Kagan – British fought off commitments in Europe until war was nearly upon them – if face of obvious danger Too late to save France & almost too late to save
themselves
Deprived of support from allies, France left alone to deal with Germany
No choice but to take advantage of temporary military superiority to enforce treaty
Would need to make alliances with Czech & Poland to contain Germany
To contain Germany, FR needed GER disarmament, control of Saar & Ruhr resources, and reparations
Germany failed to make payments unless compelled by force
Whether they Could pay or not irrelevant – GER chose not to pay
Amount of reparations determined May 1921 London Schedule of Payments - 132 billion gold marks Far greater than Germans could pay but recognized
as such – figure announced for public consumption Germany’s real liability – 50 billion ($12.5 billion)
Made first payment but failed to make full payments until 1924 Dawes Plan restructured payments
Summer 1922 – clear that Germans were not going to pay – claimed that reparations were ruining economy
German avoidance of payments was allowing rebound of economy (with Anglo-Am tolerance)
France achieved neither financial stabilization, economic recovery nor security
France wanted to seize a revenue-producing German resource as a guarantee of payment but Britain opposed the idea Compulsion would hurt
German recovery & ability to pay
Even though GER deliberately destroyed their own currency – GB recommended 4-year halt on payments
French objected to delay – rewarding bad behavior
German defaults on monthly obligations for timber and coal led to occupation of Ruhr by FR & Belgium
Goal of France to collect missed payments from Germans by taking goods from mines & factories - shipping them to France
German workers did not cooperate with French, instead protested by destroying goods, mines & factories
Event broke out into violent conflict & resulted in inflation
Weimar Government already had serious inflation problem made things worse by printing more money to
help support the workers which resulted in disastrous hyperinflation
Strikes ended in 9/1923 by coalition govt. led by Gustav Stresemann Civil unrest erupted – focused on Weimar Govt. Including Beer Hall Putsch
International pressure led French to agree to Dawes Plan (4/1924) Large loan, restructure of payments & debt
FR pulled out of Ruhr in 1925 US & GB would pay later for undermining
FR
Appointment of Gustav Stresmann as chancellor of Germany changed Ruhr situation
Stresmann called off resistance in Ruhr & announced Germany would agree to obligations set by TofV Would also accept current borders with France &
Belgium This resulted in Locarno Treaty 1925
The Locarno Treaty was an agreement made between Belgium, France, the UK and Germany Germany agreed to accept its western boundaries as
agreed in Versailles Treaty Germany accepted borders with France & Belgium and
these borders where guaranteed by the UK and Italy Also, Germany would become a member of League of
Nations.
This was a step towards Franco-German reconciliation Meant that Germany could start to grow economically
again without being a threat to Western Europe It also meant France & Britain could reconcile over
differences that drove them apart Locarno Agreements dealt with western borders
Eastern borders of Germany had not been fixed Britain refused to guarantee security of the countries
to the east of Germany This lead Germany to believe that it could change its
eastern borders with little objection from Allies
Locarno Treaty resulted in a sense optimism Tension between Allies & Germany was reduced
Meant that a sense of peace was present Germany obtained permanent seat on League Council
Allied troops from left bank the Rhine were removed Supervision of Germany's disarmament stopped in 1927 By 1930 Germany was an independent state again However Germany was still in cooperation with the USSR
in the Treaty of Rapallo (renounced claims against each other) This meant Germany could still avoid disarmament that had been
imposed on it (Rapallo allowed GER to skirt some military controls) Germany had not agreed on its eastern borders and it was co-
operating with USSR who's goal was to redraw map of Europe Even though the Locarno Treaty had been successful in
bringing about peace, the LoN was not strengthened Collective security remained uncertain