The Paris Peace Conference 1919

Transcription

1 The Paris Peace Conference 1919 Letter to Delegates Welcome to the Paris Peace Conference 1919! As chairs we would like to welcome you to this exciting historical committee. The aim of this guide is to get you up to speed with the factors that led to the outbreak of World War One, along with some of the motives of the delegates participating. As you read through you may notice that some of the participants listed did not actually participate in the original peace negotiations (Germany and the USSR), these additions are intended to force delegate to think outside the realm of history and draw on their creativity to possibly change the course of history. Remember that throughout this conference history does not matter and the only limits of this conference will be the imaginations of the delegates! Sincerely, Craig Roseberry and Omar Garcia. Introduction When the guns of war fell silent on November 11 th, 1918, Europe found herself almost unrecognisable; politically, geographically and economically. Gone were the once mighty empires of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Great Britain and in their place lay ruins and newly emerging countries. The series of events that led to all this death and destruction at the time became known as the Great War or the War to end all Wars, and later became what we know today as World War One. The spark that began the march to war happened on June 28 th, 1918 in Sarajevo, Serbia, which was at that time part of the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire. On the 28 th a Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip shot and killed the heir to the throne Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand. The events that were to follow would later become known as the July Crisis as Austria-Hungary saw the assassination as an excuse to final annex and put down anti-empire and nationalistic sentiments that had been brewing in the region. Originally perceived by the rest of the world as a Baltic issue most other nations took little interest in the goings on, until on July 23 rd Austria issued a final ultimatum to Serbia and gave them 48 hours to agree to all terms or Austria- Hungary would invade. It was in the waning hours of the ultimatum that some of the most frantic diplomatic resolutions of the 20 th century took place, with telegrams going back and forth between Austria and her ally Germany, as well as Germany and Russia who had promised to step in on the side of Serbia if Austria-Hungary were to invade. However these talks were to no avail and on the 28 th July, 1918 Austria-Hungary, who had blank cheque support from Germany, declared war on Serbia and began full mobilization. As a response Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary and partial mobilization against Germany, in a last ditch effort the German Kaiser Wilhelm II appealed to his cousin Russian Czar Nicholas II to cease military hostilities against Germany. However this was to no avail and by the 30 th of July Russia had declared full mobilization and Germany declared war

2 on Russia. As a result Germany began to execute its mobilization/war strategy the Schlieffen Plan, which outlined the German strategy for the invasions of France and Russia. The main premise of the Schlieffen Plan was to first defeat France in 6 weeks before turning to the east and defeating Russia before they had a chance to fully mobilize their forces. However the plan soon fell apart as Russia was able to mobilize their forces faster than expected and France proved to be more resilient in defending against invasion. A further aspect of the Schlieffen Plan was the invasion of France through Belgium, however Belgium s neutrality was guaranteed by Britain, so when Germany invaded in August, Britain declared war on Germany in defense of Belgium. The intervention of Britain would eventually cause the warfare on the Western Front to bog down and by December of 1914, the two sides were facing each other in system of trenches running from the English Channel in the north to the Swiss border in the south. The front would hardly move over the next four years and was subject to some of the most brutal fighting in history. It bore witness to the first ever chemical weapons attack at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, the slaughter of the Somme in 1916 and the mud of Passchendaele in This stalemate would continue until the entry of the United States in 1917 which would begin to turn the tide of the war in the favour of the Allies. It was also in 1918 that the trench lines would move the most with two massive offensives. The first came in the early part of the year with the Germans pushing the Allies as far back as 120 miles from Paris, the second which would later become known as the Hundred Days Advance was the final push by the Allied powers from the summer of 1918 and lasted until December of that year. Through a combination of superior numbers and a weakened German nation, Germany was forced into signing an armistice with the Allies on November 11, This was followed by an occupation of German cities by Allied forces. The war would leave nearly 30 million troops killed, wounded or missing, with millions more dead from starvation and the effects the first global total war. Formal peace negotiations would be opened in January of 1919 in Paris. This is where the committee will commence. Below are the main objectives of each nation participating. Canada Having entered the war in 1914 alongside Great Britain, the Canadian Army soon grew to be one of the best trained and most feared over the course of the war. They gained this recognition through their participation at the second Battle of Ypres in 1915, as well as Passchendaele in Furthermore they became the only Allied force to capture Vimy Ridge from the Germans in April This war glory came at the cost of casualties and thousands more killed or missing. The primary objective of the Canadian delegation at the conference will be to secure Canada more recognition on the world stage and further separate herself from Great Britain.

3 : Prime Minister Robert Borden Russia/Soviet Union Though not originally invited to the Paris Peace Conference the newly established Soviet Union has insisted on taking part in negotiations. Having entered the war in 1914 in defence of Serbia what was then Russia was embroiled in the bloody fighting on the Eastern Front until 1917 after the newly established Communist government had overthrown the Czar and signed a cease fire with the Germans. The Soviets currently find themselves tied up in a bloody civil war with White non-communist forces who are receiving some aid from the Western Allies. The main objective of the Soviet delegation will be to gain reparations from the Germans as well as push the concept of universal communism west ward. : Commissariat for Foreign Affairs G.V. Chicherin Head of the Red Army Leon Trotsky Germany Like their Russian counter-parts the Germans were not originally invited to Peace Conference, but the Chairs of this Committee have deemed their presence important. The Germany at the end of the war is far different than the one that entered it. It now has a starving unstable population at home as well as no real central government with the Kaiser having fled to Holland. The main objectives of the German delegation will be to avoid having sole blame placed on them for the outbreak of the war as well as try to avoid losing as much territory as possible. Foreign Minister Ulrich von Brockdorff-Rantzau General Field Marshall Paul von Hindenburg United Kingdom Having been involved in the war since 1914 the UK enters the conference as a relatively moderate delegation having only 4 main priorities which will be the delegations main goals:

4 Ensuring the security of France, removing the Threat of the German High Seas Fleet, settling territorial contentions and finally supporting the League of Nations. It is of utmost importance that the UK delegation achieve these goals as re-election back home rests on whether or not these goals are achieved. Prime Minister David Lloyd George Foreign Minister Marquess George Curzon Japan Having only participated in the Pacific theatre during the war the Japanese delegation has few major objectives to achieve. Their main goals are have their racial equality clause included as part of the final peace agreement as well as maintain claims any gained territories in the Pacific. Former Prime Minister Marquess Saionji Kinmochi New Zealand Despite suffering over casualties at the Battle of Gallipoli alone, the New Zealanders enter the Conference with few wishes other than to retain any territories gained from the Germans during the course of the war in the Pacific. Further Great Britain has expressed their desire for New Zealand as well as the other colonies/dominion states to be rewarded for their sacrifices, so delegates should be keeping this in mind. Prime Minister William Massey The United States The United States entered the war in 1917, and it was only in 1918 that American troops were landing en masse in Europe. The American Expeditionary Force thus escaped some of the most brutal fighting of the war, and unlike the wearied and strained European powers, its troops were fresh, plentiful and well-supplied. The arrival in late 1917 and early 1918 of a quarter million US troops every month in France more than made up for Russia s defeat and surrender on the Eastern Front.

5 American President Woodrow Wilson had brought the United States into the Great War to fight against Old World power politics and in the name of democracy. Wilson s Fourteen Points, his template for a negotiated peace, were a clear reflection of the idealism that characterized his approach to diplomacy. Among other things, the Fourteen points called for the establishment of a League of Nations and the reconstitution of a Polish state. Delegates representing the United States should be familiar with the Fourteen Points; three American objectives should also be emphasized: the establishment of an international body to resolve disputes and prevent wars, a peace without vengeance, and the right of self-determination for former imperial territories across Europe. President Woodrow Wilson Foreign Secretary Robert Lansing France A sizeable portion of northern France was invaded and held by the Germans for much of the Great War. Along with the indignity of having lost land to the invading German army, France also lost access to significant repositories of resources especially for the production of iron. Throughout the war, the Germans exploited the capture of French resources for war production. France also paid an unnerving human price to win the Great War: 1.3 million Frenchmen were killed in action. It is therefore no surprise that when the Paris Peace Conference began in 1919, the French delegation demanded the most aggressive punitive measures to be imposed on Germany. After all, France had been invaded twice by German troops in half a century, first in 1870 and then in Shortly put, the French representatives wanted both revenge and security. For France Germany constituted a serious threat that had to be dealt with definitively, lest Germany recover from the war and once again attack invade France. The delegates representing France should keep the following objectives in mind: the imposition of a hefty reparations bill from Germany, the de-militarization of Germany, and the demand that any international body created in Paris be given an independent army. Prime Minister George Clemenceau Diplomat Rene Massigli Italy

6 When the Great War broke out in 1914 Italy was a nominal ally of Germany and Austria-Hungary. Yet the Italian leadership chose to remain neutral as Europe s great powers declared war on one another in quick succession; it argued that the treaty tying Italy to Germany and Austria had not been activated because neither Germany nor Austria-Hungary had come under attack. In reality, Italy s decision to remain neutral was a calculated political move: in the years preceding the war outbreak, Rome had gradually moved closer to France and Great Britain. It furthermore was increasingly suspicious of Austria-Hungary, its neighbour, and had designs on Austrian lands on the Adriatic coast and the Austrian province of Tyrol. By way of the secret Treaty of London with Great Britain, France and Russia, Italy agreed to enter the war on the Triple Entente s side in return for Austro-Hungarian territories. In the years of war that followed, six hundred Italians died fighting Rome s former allies. The Italian delegates arrived in Paris with the objective of representing Italy as a great power fully deserving compensation for its wartime losses. The Treaty of London weighed heavily on their mind, and it was on the treaty s basis that their demands were made. The delegates representing Italy should be familiar with the London Treaty and frame their arguments accordingly. Three objectives the delegates representing Italy should pursue are: secure the Dalmatian coast for Rome, secure Germany s African colonies, and secure Ottoman territory to expand Italian influence in the Mediterranean. Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando Belgium With a general European war breaking across the continent in 1914, Belgium soon found itself caught up in the designs of the great powers. In the years leading up to the war s outbreak, both France and Germany had countenanced invading Belgium, but it wasn t until Germany s Schlieffen Plan was developed in 1905 that Germany s intention of invading France through Belgium was institutionalized. In August 1914, the brave Belgians refused to allow the German army unimpeded passage through Belgium, and even succeeded in temporally delaying the massive German advance. The German superiority in quantity and quality however overwhelmed the Belgian troops and for the duration of the war only a small portion of territory around the city of Ypres remained under Belgian and British control. Having earned international sympathy and having endured the full extent of German occupation, Belgium arrived at the Paris Peace Conference with good reason to demand retribution. Indeed, the Belgian delegation requested that it receive German reparations to cover all the war costs

7 Belgium incurred during the conflict. The delegates representing Belgium should of course keep in mind that Belgium is a lesser power. Nonetheless, delegates should press for maximum compensation, and should find a friendly set of ears in the British delegation. Prime Minister Leon Delacriox Australia Like Canada and New Zealand, Australia automatically entered the First World War when Great Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August Australian troops fought with distinction in the ultimately unsuccessful Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front. Some 60,000 Australians were killed during the war. Delegates representing Australia should seek to have Australia s war effort internationally recognized. But more specifically, the Australian delegates should be motivated by the following aims: securing Australian control over former German colonies in Oceania and preventing an outcome in East Asia that would grant a rising Japan too much power. Prime Minister Billy Hughes