Example research essay topic: The Paris Peace Treaties - 1,644 words

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The Paris Peace Treaties (1919 - 1920) IB History To the subject and passive onlooker, those meticulous organizers of the Paris Peace Treaties allowed for an unfortunate amount of flaws to enter their task of creating a treaty that could satisfy all of the nations of not only Europe but of the world as well equally. Yet one must attempt to put that passiveness behind and admit that those of the time of post World War I had truly no idea what was to come of their decisions. Thus, the decisions of these toilers of the Paris Peace Treaties undoubtedly made a medley of wrong judgments that were virtually unforeseen at the time. The first of these mistakes was that they looked over the problems that the innumerable ethnic groups of Europe would cause. Second to be overlooked was France, still highly intimidated and insecure of a Germany that it wanted to see completely annihilated and rendered powerless.

Lastly, was the Central powers, angry and cheated over their extremely harsh punishments. Thus the founders of the Paris Peace Treaties, despite doing their best to form a way to peace and betterment for Europe, managed to make a great deal of unanticipated oversights in their quest for harmony. The continent of Europe was composed of legions of different ethnic groups that at the end of World War I caused many problems for the treaty drawers of Paris. Even Wilson himself confessed that there were far many more ethnic groups in Europe than he at first realized- most of them seeking their own personal independence. Eastern Europe and the Balkans because many historical occurrences (such as invasions and migrations) were made up of a bewildering kaleidoscope of races and religions. There were still hordes of nationalistic minorities in countries with a majorities of ethnic groups not of their own.

To make things even more difficult for the writers of the Paris Peace Treaties was that these races did not live in their own separate areas of the countries of Europe. They lived mixed among themselves, dispersed throughout the regions with the race of the majority. In addition to the problems left to those who drew up the peace treaties (in accordance to the ethnic problems) were that there were still populations of a race of people within various nations that belonged ethnically to another nation. For example, within Hungary were populations of many different groups that werent distinctly Hungarian.

There were many Romanians, for example. To solve this the Peace Treaties cut off a substantial part of Hungary to give to Romania which obviously did not please this once powerful state). Yet it couldnt give all of the Romanian inhabited area of Hungary to Romania and thus left many Romanians within a country of an ethnicity not their own. To name all the other races within Hungary would be impossible for they ranged into the hundreds.

Another example is with the Rhineland. This piece of land was taken from Germany to serve as a protective barrier against the Germans for the French. The problem of this decision was that the population of the Rhineland was totally German. This would obviously cause for Germany to feel increasingly upset over the loss of a piece of land so obviously German, and to urgently wish for it back under any circumstances (much like the French with Alsace and Lorraine). Another example is with Poland. The peace treaties wished to give land to Poland that was indisputably Polish which also gave her free and secure access to the Baltic Sea.

This was nearly impossible without taking some land from some other nations (most obviously the losers) and greatly upsetting them because of it. Much like with the Rhineland. These are just a meager few examples of some of the mistakes made. To list them all would need an entire book dedicated to this one subject. To sum this all up, however, the Paris Peace Treaties contained innumerable flaws that could not be helped in that there were so many different and varied ethnic groups that to make every one satisfied was impossible due to this undeniable medley. Another one of the many mistakes made in the Paris Peace Treaties was the overlooking of the French insecurity of Germany.

Ever since Germany's victory over France during the Franco-Prussian Wars, France had been extremely intimidated by its neighbor and thus wanted to crush this adversary into a point where it could never threaten France again. France underwent a humiliating defeat by Germany in the Franco-Prussian Wars in which Germany disgraced its enemy by not only overpowering it with disgusting ease but also by forcing France to sign the peace treaty within the Palace of Versailles and stealing the French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Afterwards, France remained as being extremely cautious and horrified of the prospect of another German invasion. World War I was the illustration of this fear where a German military force once again entered French territory with the intent of seizing the capital Paris.

Therefore when the Allied Forces won the war against the Central Powers (with Germany at its head) there was nothing that France wanted more than to see Germany pay. Firstly, France (after reclaiming Alsace and Lorraine) was bent upon having a security zone between Germany and France, which would be demilitarized manned by the Entente powers. In addition France wanted Germany to reduce its military drastically (by cutting down its army to 100, 000 men and a limit to the navy and air force) with a British and American guarantees that they would come to French aid if ever Germany attacked it. Another threat to France by Germany was that Germany had a higher birth-rate and a younger population that its counter-part which France considered to be a lead to a higher probability of a German retaliation and bounce back from its post-war state.

Most paralyzing to Germany was the French demand for German reparation. The demand was unbelievably high- an estimated 6. 6 billion. All this was to cripple Germany from ever attempting to attack France again. Those who drew up the Peace Treaties did not realize the implications that agreeing with Frances petty demands. These implications were a very aggravated Germany. Therefore, because of Frances exaggerated insecurities about Germany, France wanted nothing more than to effectively humble the once proud and powerful nation.

These French demands along with others drove the Central powers to a state of extreme rage over their loss of power, land, money, and face. Hence, the Central powers felt deceived because of the dictated peace that they were forced into. These Central Powers had a great deal of punishments inflicted upon them. Firstly, they were not allowed to have their provinces given the right to self-determination but rather the peace treaty or the League of Nations determined this.

Some examples of lost territory were the Rhineland (as previously mentioned), the coal producing Saar, and the previously French Alsace and Lorraine (which had produced three-fourths of the iron of Germany). Because of the loss of these provinces, Germany lost a great deal of its resources and its German population. To be precise, Germany lost over 10 % of its territory, population, and economic resources. In addition, Germany had to pay an astounding amount of reparations- over 6. 6 billion. The Allied reason for this reparation was the War Guilt Clause, which stated that Germany was totally guilty for the war and thus had to pay for it in money. This amount was nearly impossible for the Central powers to pay in that it lost most of the land that supplied the necessary resources for the Central powers to pay this.

Also the Allied powers created an isolated Germany- cut off from the rest of the world politically, socially, as well as economically. Furthermore, the military of the Central Powers were cut down drastically. For example, Germany's army would be reduced to a meager 100, 000 men while Austria and Hungary and Bulgaria had to suffer similar circumstances as well as a limit to the navy and air force. What upset the Central powers most about these agreements was that the Central powers were forced into this. They had virtually no choice in these decisions. Hence the Central Powers were furious about this.

Germany was especially outraged with her new military limit, reparations, and foreign occupation. For the Central powers were under the influence that they would function through Wilsons 14 points. Thus the Central powers (especially Germany) were forced to undergo the humiliation of an Allied punishment. This led to an increasing Central aggression towards the Allied powers despite the fact that the writers of the Paris Peace Treaties were well-intentioned to create an agreement for the best of the world. Conclusively, the writers and founders of the Paris Peace Treaties, despite their efforts to bring a lasting peace to the world, made a variance of unforeseen mistakes in their toil. For the uncountable amounts of varying ethnic groups could not be easily separated without annoying at least someone- and since the Central powers were the losers, logic suggested that it would be them.

Secondly, Frances increasing insecurity towards Germany that dated back decades caused for it to demand Germany to be paralyzed forever. This as well as other forms of Allied punishments caused for increased Central power animosity towards the Allied powers. Therefore, the intent of peace treaties was well intentioned initially, and the criticism of them was undeserved in that there was nothing that anyone could do else without the impossible of power seeing into the future Bibliography 1. (Handout) Latin, Antony. The Consequences of the Versailles Settlement. 2. (Handout) Sharpe, Alan.

Part I: The Post War Settlement. 3. Wolfson, Robert. Years of Change: European History 1890 - 1945. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1978, pp. 183 - 192.

Research essay sample on The Paris Peace Treaties