After the final victory over Germany in the First World War, the victorious countries began planning the future of the world. It was necessary to sign peace treaties and legitimize the territorial changes that had 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 the First World War, there was a real need to legalize the end of hostilities and delineate the new borders of Europe as soon as possible. This would prevent further conflicts and clashes based on territorial interests.
Exactly sinceFor this purpose, 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 well-being. This idea was first expressed by the Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, then he was supported by representatives of other states.
These were the common goals for all participants of the peace conference. The French prime minister proposed Paris as the venue for the talks. France suffered more than other countries during the hostilities, so the choice in the direction of its capital would be moral satisfaction for the French, at least this is how the prime minister justified the proposal. The name was fixed at the venue - 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 of the Paris Peace Conference 1919-1920. there were twenty-seven victorious states and five dominions of Great Britain, but the main issues were decided by the so-called Big Four, consisting of the USA, Great Britain, Italy and France. It was they who held almost one hundred and fifty meetings during the conference and made all the important decisions, which were then ratified by the rest of the countries.
What private goals did France pursue
In addition to the common goals for all, the participants of the conference also hatched private goals. At the endFrance became one of the most powerful countries in Europe in terms of military power, so the French ruling circles, using this advantage, put forward their own plan for redistributing the world. Firstly, France actively sought to transfer the border with Germany to the Rhine, secondly, it demanded huge reparations from the Second Reich, and thirdly, it wanted to reduce German armaments.
The French also spoke in favor of expanding the borders of Poland, Serbia, Czechoslovakia and Romania, assuming that these states would become instruments of pro-French policy in post-war Europe. France supported the claims of Poland and Czechoslovakia to Ukrainian and Russian lands, because the country hoped to subsequently draw them into 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 debts 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 structure of the world were contained in the fourteen points of Wilson. The United States government pushed for equality of trade opportunity and an open door policy. On the issue of the structure of Germany, the United States opposed the weakening of the country, hoping to use it in the future against the Soviet Union. Union and the socialist movement in general.
The United States had greatly strengthened its position during the World War, so that their plans sounded more like demands than proposals. But still, the United States failed to achieve the full implementation of its points, since at that time the state of the country's armed forces did not correspond to the share of the United States in the world economy.
Did the UK pursue private goals
Great Britain proceeded from the expanding influence of the United States in the economy and politics, the need to weaken the naval power of the Second Reich and preserve the colonial empire. England insisted that Germany be deprived of colonies, merchant and navy, but not greatly weakened in the territorial and military sense. In matters of dividing Germany's colonies, British political and territorial interests openly clashed with French ones.
What were the plans of imperialist Japan
During the war, Japan managed to seize German colonies in China and the North Pacific, strengthened its own position 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 assignment to Japan of all German possessions taken away during the war, but also the recognition of her dominance in China. In the future, the imperialists also intended to capture the Far East.
How was the Paris Peace Conference 1919-1920
The Peace Conference opened in the French capital at the end of January 1919. ATthe same day in 1871 the German Empire was proclaimed - the Second Reich, the death of which was discussed at these negotiations. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 brought together more than a thousand candidates representing virtually all independent states of the time in Paris.
All participants were divided into four groups.
The first included superpowered states - the USA, France, Japan, Great Britain, Italy. Their representatives had to participate in all meetings that took place in the framework 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, Nacaragua, Liberia, Haiti. They were only invited 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 the meetings only at the invitation of one of the members of the central bloc.
The schedule of meetings was thought out to the smallest detail. Yet the order was often violated. Some meetings were even held without protocol records at all. In addition, the entire course of the conference was predetermineddivision of 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 issue of the need for the participation of Soviet Russia or other state entities that appeared after the fall of the Russian Empire was discussed. Russia was not invited to the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, 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 stated that the winner 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, Neuy, Trianon, Sevres.
The peace treaties provided for:
- return to France of Alsace and Lorraine captured by Germany;
- return of Poznan, some territories of West Prussia and part of Pomerania to Poland;
- return of Malmedy and Eupen to Belgium;
- German recognition of the independence of Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia;
- division of the German colonies between the countries that won;
- demilitarization of vast territoriesGermany;
- assertion of the collapse of Austria-Hungary;
- transition of part of Transylvania to Romania, Croatia went to Romania, Ukrainian Transcarpathia and Slovakia to Czechoslovakia;
- partition of the lands of the Ottoman Empire;
- 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, brought up for discussion during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920. In short, this is a corridor with the help of which they intended to finally separate Austria and Hungary from each other, as well as 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 the majority of the countries participating in the conference. Representatives of several nationalities lived in the territories of the proposed corridor, including Germans, Slavs and Hungarians. The powers that be were simply afraid to create another potential hotbed of tension.
