POST WORLD WAR 1 EUROPE
The high casualty rate of World War 1 had left Europe
bewildered. In four years of fighting over eight million men had died and over
21 million had been wounded. This was unprecedented. In the conflicts that had
ensued in Europe over the whole of the 19th century up to the Balkan
wars of 1912 – 1913, Europe had lost only about 4.5 million men on the battle
field.
This staggering rate of loses had even affected the
demographic balance with women outnumbering men in demographic counts all over
Europe. This of course led to many women taking up jobs in areas of the economy
hitherto reserved for men. The bye product was the granting of the right to
vote to women in many parts of Europe beginning with Britain in 1920.
The women suffrage campaign now extended to the struggle
for equal rights for women and the escalating debates over birth control and
the woman’s right to have abortion. This shifting trend in society became the
hallmark of European society in the post World War 1 era as technology, innovations
and a shift in social behavior became a dominant trend.
The nationalistic aspirations that erupted as a result of
the dissolution of the Empire of Germany, Austro – Hungary, Russia, Ottoman
Turks also led to an explosion in the number of nation states in Europe that
were seeking visibility and rights to self determination.
The rights of ethnic minorities, nationalities and races
were vigorously campaigned- for and upheld. The issues in any case that arose
in the November armistice of 1918 had to be dealt with in a larger and more
complex treaty that was to ensue after the conflict.
A peace conference to thrash out the issues dealt with in
the Armistice of November 1918 was called for in Paris and attended by the
leaders of the major Allied nations, George Clemenceau of France, Lloyd George
of Great Britain, Woodrow Wilson of the U.S.A and Orlando of Italy.
The one year long
conference was designed specifically to put in place a peace and conflict
resolution mechanism that was designed to ensure that a conflict on the scale
of the Great War as World War 1 was then known, never recurred again.
The Allied delegates embarked on the conference with a
spirit of vengeance and a determination to punish Germany; and imposed terms
that were both harsh and severe and ultimately difficult to fulfill or even
supervise. Whereas the sanctions were specific, the mechanism for enforcement
or even supervision was vague as each country was left to fulfill its
obligations to the best of its interpretation and conscience.
The French were determined not only to recover Alsace –
Lorraine but also to occupy the Saar and detach the Rhineland from Germany. The
British were more interested in increasing Germany’s reparations payment and
sought terms that were harsh and ultimately difficult to fulfill in the midst
of Germany’s own political and economic turmoil.
Economists like
Maynard Keynes had strongly argued for a more accommodating term of reparations
for Germany. In any case the treaty was signed on June 28th 1919. Germany’s
Colonies were dismantled and taken over by the victorious Allies; heavy
reparations were imposed on her army and fleet.
Parts of the Rhineland, Saar and other parts of the fatherland were put
under occupation until the reparations were paid and the terms of the treaty
fulfilled.
Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen peace points had dealt with
issues such as rights to self determination, determination of the right of
nations and minorities, freedom of the seas, trading, reduction of armaments
and adjustment of colonial claims.
His proposition concerning the general assembly of
nations transposed into the League of Nations which was meant to be a body to
ensure peace and tranquility amongst the nations of the world by settling
disputes and conflicts amongst the major and minor powers without a resort to
armed conflict.
The failure of the US to ratify the treaty setting up the
league meant that the same Europeans the league was meant to pacify were the
same nation states left to enforce its sanctions and covenants. In the event it
was obvious to see why the league failed.
The European
statesmen were anxious to curtail Germany’s position and influence and did not
give much thought to the political path and direction, Germany might follow
after the war in the wake of such a punitive peace deal.
The 1920s fortunately brought a brief season of flowering
economically as Europe and the rest of the world including the U.S.A
experienced a season of economic boom that helped to reduce tensions and make
payments of reparations easier. The period also saw a boom in the stock
exchange as trading in stocks and equities boomed. While the economic boom
lasted, the terms of the treaty were somehow enforced and peace seemed to
endure.
The futile efforts to give teeth to the decisions of the
League of Nations at this time underscored the deficiencies associated with the
setting up of the body. In this period also the international Court of Justice
at The Hague was set up and the Geneva conventions regulating the conduct of war,
prisoners and treatment of civilians were also established.
The Washington
naval conference of 1922 also sought to enforce a treaty of self restraint on
the part of the major powers with regards to the building of capital ships.
GERMANY AND THE ISSUE OF PAYMENT OF
REPARATIONS
The challenges of maintaining domestic stability while
responding to the demands of the Versailles treaty continued to prove a
daunting task to the post- war German governments. The elections that followed
the treaty seemed to favor the centre right parties that were in opposition to
the treaty. The coalitions cabinets that resulted thereafter felt insecure in
their bid to fulfill the treaty whilst placating domestic opposition to the
treaty.
This put the government in the centre in Berlin in a weak
position, unable to stamp its authority on the country particularly with
relations to raising taxes and curbing inflations. This gave the industrial
leaders the courage to defy government policies while actively crafting policy by
stealth.
The leadership dithered over how to satisfy the
electorate without violating the treaty. Some favored rapprochement with
Bolshevik Russia in order to pressure the West to ease its demand on Germany
for fear of communist inroads into Germany
While the reparation committee dithered over how much to
demand from Germany as reparations and also how to share the proceeds amongst
the Allies in 1920, a new formula was soon adopted with France taking 52
percent of the reparations while Britain got 22 percent.
After the treaty of Versailles, Great Britain faced
further challenges on the home front in the form of Ireland’s agitation for
independence. The agitation had been boldly suppressed while World War 1 went
on, as Britain could not afford the distraction.
After the signing of the armistice in 1918, Lloyd George
finally caved in to the pressure of the Irish Republican movement for
independence. After much deliberation in the face of the threatened revolt in
Dublin, a compromise was reached in 1921 that established Irish Free State as a
British dominion in the South while predominantly protestatant, Northern
Ireland remained in the United Kingdom.
The Sinn Fein nationalists however continued to agitate
until in 1937, Eire (Ireland) achieved full independence while Northern Ireland
(Ulster) remained British.
In (November 1921 – February 1922) US Secretary of State
Charles Evans Hughes invited the Great Powers to Washington D.C to forge a new
order for maritime power and Asian stability. Amongst other agreements
including the decision to respect China’s sovereignty; a five-power treaty on
naval armaments was put in place to forestall a naval arms race between the US,
U.K, Japan, France and Italy. The treaty temporarily put a halt to the
escalating naval arms race between the US, U.K, Japan and Italy.
Europe 1922 – 1929
Countries of Europe
European civilizations
have, historically, been centers of economic and cultural development. Both the
Renaissance (14th century) and the Industrial Revolution (18th century)
originated in Europe. Europe’s legacy extends to destructive influences as
well, as both world wars began on the continent.
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The period described above was a period of armistice
between one season of war and another. It was obvious that the peace settlement
of 1919 as comprehensive as it sought to be, did not deal comprehensively with
all the issues that had arisen concerning defeated Germany and Russia and the
Victorious Powers of Britain, France, Italy and the USA.
French insistence on Germany being weakened, coupled with
the harsh reparations policy meant that the feuding parties were still seething
with resentment. The US which had argued strongly for equality and self
determination amongst nations, had failed to ratify the treaty leaving only
Britain and France to enforce the treaty, the best they could.
There were so many loose ends arising from the treaty
that were left and handled unsatisfactorily. For instance the dismembering of
Germany and handing over of her territories alongside the forbidding of the
Anchluss (Union) with Austria meant that a sizeable German minority were left
to their fate in a number of countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, France,
Belgium etc.
The issue of war
guilt which was imposed on Germany, Austria and Hungary was one pill too, that
the defeated nations found difficult to swallow; as well as the oppressive
nature of the reparations payments. The territorial issues that touched on
Germany and the newly created nations of Poland especially as it related to the
corridor carved out of Germany in favor of Poland, i.e. Danzig was another bone
of contention.
With the over one
million German residents trapped there, that proved to be another point of
injustice that needed to be dealt with as far as the German people were concerned.
The treaty of Versailles was one harsh treaty that was carefully crafted; yet
nobody was ready to fully defend it.
Even the French
that had demanded many of the harsh provisions, ironically stood aloof when
Hitler’s Nationalist Socialist party came to power and began to openly
repudiate the terms of the peace treaty.
In the words of another “The great war failed to solve
the German question especially as it related to her role and destiny in Europe’’.
Though defeated and shackled by the Versailles treaty, Germany’s strategic
position still remained strong because on all sides it was surrounded by
weakened and dispirited nations.
France and Russia
had been drained and weakened by the war. Moreover the rest of the newly
emerging European countries were hardly in a position to confront a resurgent
Germany’’.
The post-war French leaders thought seriously over these
issues. There was a momentary resort to an -intra European defense arrangement
between France and Belgium in September 1920, a Franco-Polish alliance in
February 1921 and a Franco – Czechoslovak entente in January 1924. The
strivings of a need for European unity was pulsating, but who was to lead it?
Britain, feeling secure in her strength and the natural
barrier of the English Channel, concentrated her energy on her empire and did
not see any serious need to commit vigorously to Europe once the treaty had
been signed. The strict enforcement of the treaty came to rest on a hesitant
France which was all too concerned over its defense than in the provocation of
a fresh war with Germany.
The security of France and the entire Europe came to
depend on German disarmament and the Allied occupation of the Rhineland. French
finances were strained by the cost of rebuilding the war- devastated region of
the north, the army and the demands of the colonial holdings as well as the
refusal of the French parliament to levy sizeable tax increases until either
Germany had paid the reparations or France’s war debts had been forgiven.
As long as Germany was not forth coming in settling its
debts, then France would continue to face serious budget deficits that
threatened its currency. France also depended on Germany for the coal needed to
revive iron and steel production while at the same time bracing up to face the
stiff competition from German exports.
To compound matters, France’s war- time Allies, the US
and Great Britain quickly distanced each other from the enforcement of the
Versailles treaty. Britain meanwhile was facing a post- war economic slump that
was due mainly to wartime losses particularly in ships and foreign markets.
Unemployment in Britain in the post war years had climbed to 17% in 1921.
Wartime spending and neglect had accelerated the decline
of the ageing British industrial plants and the economy generally. Unemployment
figures in the 20s generally hovered above 10% and there was pressure on the
British government to boost employment by reviving trade.
British economist
Maynard Keynes argued at this time that the recovery of Europe was tied to the
recovery of the German economy which was the dominant economy in Europe, and
yet the very fabric of the Versailles treaty seemed designed to ensure that
Germany never got back on its feet economically as virtually every clause seemed
designed to restrain Germany from reviving its natural economic capacity.
As a pragmatic measure Britain needed the reparation
debts from Germany to balance her own war debts to the United States. However
after the war, British Prime Minister Lloyd George came to support German
recovery in the overall interest of trade. The entente with France became
strained as early as 1920 over the issues of reparations, Turkey and the coal
shortage of that year, from which Britain garnered major profits at the expense
of France.
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC SLUMP
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