After the final victory over Germany in the First World War, the victorious countries began to plan further peace. It was necessary to sign peace treaties and legitimize the territorial changes that occurred.
True, during the negotiations it turned out that even between the strongest countries there were unresolved issues and contradictions, so the conference participants failed to cope with the main goal - to prevent subsequent large-scale wars.
What were the objectives of the peace conference?
After the end of World War I, there was a real need to legally formalize the end of hostilities and outline the new borders of Europe as soon as possible. This would prevent further conflicts and clashes based on territorial interests.
It was for this purpose that drafts of several peace treaties were developed. It was also supposed to create a single organization, the main task of which would be to further ensure world peace, stability, prosperity and prosperity. The prime minister of the Union of South Africa was the first to express this idea, then he was supported by representatives of other states.
These were the common goals of the participants in the peace conference. The French Prime Minister proposed Paris as a venue for negotiations. France suffered more than other countries in the course of hostilities, so a choice in the direction of its capital would be a moral satisfaction for the French, at least that is how the prime minister’s proposal was justified. At the venue and the name was fixed - the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920.
Which countries participated in the conference and when did it take place
The peace conference in the French capital lasted from January 18, 1919 to January 21, 1920 with interruptions. Participants in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920 twenty-seven victorious states and five dominions of Great Britain became, but the so-called Big Four, consisting of the USA, Great Britain, Italy and France, decided the main issues. It was they who held almost one hundred and fifty meetings during the conference and made all the important decisions that the rest of the countries then ratified.
What private goals did France pursue?
In addition to common goals, conference participants nurtured private goals. At the end of the war, France became one of the strongest countries in military power in Europe, so the French ruling circles, using this advantage, put forward their own plan for the redivision of the world. Firstly, France actively sought to transfer the border with Germany to the Rhine, secondly, it demanded huge reparations from the Second Reich, thirdly, it wanted to reduce German arms.
The French also spoke in favor of expanding the borders of Poland, Serbia, Czechoslovakia and Romania, suggesting that these states would become tools of pro-French politics in post-war Europe. France supported the claims of Poland and Czechoslovakia on Ukrainian and Russian lands, because the country hoped to subsequently draw them into the intervention against the Soviet Union. France also wanted to get some German colonies in Africa and part of the territories of the Ottoman Empire.
However, the country could not count on the full implementation of the plan, since during the war it managed to acquire debt to the United States. That is why the French representatives had to make concessions during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920.
What were the plans for rebuilding the US world
The main provisions of the post-war world structure were contained in fourteen Wilson points. The United States government insisted on equal trade opportunities and an open door policy. On the issue of the structure of Germany, the United States opposed the weakening of the country, hoping to further use it against the Soviet Union and the socialist movement in general.
The United States significantly strengthened its position during World War II, so their plans sounded more like demands rather than offers. But still, the States failed to achieve the full implementation of their points, since at that time the state of the country's armed forces did not correspond to the specific gravity of the United States in the global economy.
Has the UK pursued private objectives
Great Britain proceeded from the expanding influence of the United States in economics and politics, the need to weaken the sea power of the Second Reich and preserve the colonial empire. England insisted that Germany be deprived of the colonies, merchant and navy, but not much weakened in territorial and military senses. In matters of the division of the German colonies, British political and territorial interests openly clashed with the French.
What were the plans of imperialist Japan
Japan during the war managed to seize the German colonies in China and the North Pacific Ocean, strengthened its own positions in the economy and imposed an extremely unfavorable agreement on China. At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920, the imperialists demanded not only the consolidation of all the possessions of Germany selected during the war for Japan, but also the recognition of its dominance in China. In the future, the imperialists also intended to seize the Far East.
How was the Paris Peace Conference 1919-1920
A peace conference opened in the French capital at the end of January 1919. On the same day in 1871 the German Empire was proclaimed - the Second Reich, whose death was discussed at these negotiations. At the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, more than a thousand candidates representing almost all independent states of that time gathered in Paris.
All participants were divided into four groups.
The first included superstrong states - the USA, France, Japan, Great Britain, Italy. Their representatives were supposed to participate in all the meetings that took place as part of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920.
The second group of countries was represented by those who had private interests - Romania, Belgium, China, Serbia, Portugal, Nakaragua, Liberia, Haiti. They were invited only to meetings that directly concerned them.
The third group included countries that at that time broke off diplomatic relations with the central bloc. The rules for the participation of the countries of the third group in the meetings of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 (a short list of them included Bolivia, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador) were the same as for the second group.
The last category of states are those countries that were in the process of formation. They could attend meetings only at the invitation of one of the participants in the central bloc.
The schedule of meetings was thought out to the smallest detail. But still the order was often disturbed. Some meetings were held without any protocol records at all. In addition, the entire course of the conference was predetermined by dividing the participating countries into categories. In fact, all the most important decisions were made only by the Big Four.
Why Russia did not participate in the negotiations
On the eve of the conference, the question of the need for the participation of Soviet Russia or other state formations that appeared after the fall of the Russian Empire was discussed. Russia was not invited to the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, in short, for the following reasons:
- Atlanta called Russia a traitor, because the latter signed a separate peace with Germany and withdrew from the war.
- The European leaders considered the Bolshevik regime a temporary phenomenon, so they were in no hurry to officially recognize it.
- Initially, it was announced that the winning countries should become participants in the conference, and Russia was considered defeated.
What were the results of the Paris Conference
The results of the Paris Peace Conference (1919-1920) consisted in the preparation and signing of peace treaties: Versailles, Saint-Germain, Noy, Trianon, Sevres.
Peace treaties provided for:
- the return of France to Alsace and Lotharginia captured by Germany;
- the return of Poznan, some territories of West Prussia and part of Pomerania to Poland;
- the return of Malmedy and Epen of Belgium;
- Germany's recognition of the independence of Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia;
- the division of German colonies among the victorious countries;
- the demilitarization of the vast territories of Germany;
- approval of the collapse of Austria-Hungary;
- the transfer of part of Transylvania to Romania, Croatia went to Romania, Ukrainian Transcarpathia and Slovakia Czechoslovakia;
- division of the lands of the Ottoman Empire;
- the creation of the League of Nations.
There were rejected questions at the conference
One of the most controversial projects was the Czech-Yugoslav territorial corridor, which was put up for discussion during the Paris Peace Conference 1919-1920. In short, this is a corridor with the help of which it was intended to finally separate Austria and Hungary from each other, and also to get a path that would connect the Western and Southern Slavs.
The project was rejected only for the reason that it did not find the support of most of the participating countries of the conference. Representatives of several nationalities, including Germans, Slavs and Hungarians, lived in the territories of the proposed corridor. The powers that be were simply afraid to create yet another potential hotbed of tension.