Paris Peace Settlement 1919-1920 (Nicole Moller)

Paris Peace Settlement Time line
= Prior to the Settlement =

1914: Germany declares war on Russia and France

1917: Germany declares submarine warfare on Great Britain in attempt to force their surrender

1917: USA is provoked to declare war on Germany

1918: Germany launches a massive offense on the 3 main powers and Germany is pushed back within its borders

September 1918: Germany Admits defeat

October 1918: Germany signs Armistice

= During the settlement =

January 10, 1919: Bolshevik style revolution staged in Berlin and brutally stopped by the Freikorps

January 18, 1919: Start of the negotiations in Paris

January 25, 1919: accept the idea of a League of Nations

February 6, 1919: German National Assembly meets in Weimar

February 14, 1919: Draft of League of Nations is completed

May 6, 1919: Peace conference disposes (makes decisions) of German territory's

May 7 - June 28, 1919: Treaty of Versailles drafted and signed

June 21, 1919: German High Seas Fleet Scuttled at Scapa Flow

1920: Great Britain, France, USA, Japan withdraw aid to Russia

Essay
The Paris Peace Settlement, which occurred between 1919 and 1920, was the concluding settlement to the issue of World War I. Although there was still input after the settlement, it majorly defined the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Prior to the Paris Peace Settlement an armistice was signed by the countries involved in the great war in order to officially end the physical conflict, however there were still many major issues to resolve in regards to territory, reparations, war guilt, and the change of major powers.

The years that led up to the Paris Peace Conference proved to be a struggle for many countries, however ultimately Germany suffered as blame was placed on them for starting The Great War. This was due to the many attacks that Germany had led on the Major Powers for example the submarine warfare against Britain which involved the USA in the war, and the invasion of France and Belgium. By 1918 Germany had admitted defeat and had signed the armistice which allowed for discussions to begin and treaties to be drawn up.

The Major Powers that were present at the Paris Peace Settlement were USA, Great Britain, and France. As well, Italy came to fight for the land they had been promised in the Treaty of London in 1915; however they left the discussions when their desired results were not achieved. The Major Powers accepted the idea of a League of Nations which was, in Woodrow Wilson’s (The President of the USA) eyes, the most important result of the settlement.

By mid 1919, the parties of the peace conference disposed of the German territories. This only meant that they were taken away from Germany however in some cases; the parties had not come to a conclusion about what to do with certain territories, therefore they were left as mandated territories until further discussion took place. By late June 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was drafted and signed. Due to the Treaty placing most of the war guilt upon Germany, Germany was forced to alter their navy and military, however to avoid their ships falling into the hands of the British, the German Naval officers Scuttled their fleet at Scapa Flow. This provided a small amount of National Security amongst the German people.

By 1920, The Paris Peace Settlement was over and almost all decisions had been made as to the war guilt and reparations that resulted from The Great War. The settlement did not however take into account that the severe restrictions that had been placed on Germany would lead to an overall unstable economy in Europe.