Countries Present at the Paris Conference
On Saturday, January 18, 1919, the Paris Peace Conference opened at the headquarters of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. At least 32 allied supporters attended the conference. Peacekeepers are a diverse group. Some represent major world powers such as the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. While others speak for lower powers such as Belgium, Cuba, Siam (Thailand), and Czechoslovakia.
One major power that was not present at the meeting was Russia. Although Russian troops rarely win battles, if measured from the fallen soldiers the country contributes most. From August 1914 to the end of 1917, around 1.7 million Russian troops were killed. That number is about 30 percent of all Allied troops who died in World War I.
Despite strong reasons for including Russia in the negotiations, officials of France, Britain and the United States still did not invite representatives of the new Russian government to the Paris Peace Conference.
Since the Bolsheviks overthrew the Tsar government, the Allies have seen the Bolsevhik government as a threat. To justify Russia's exclusion at the conference, Chairman of the Clemenceau Council argued that the Bolsheviks had lost their right to sit at the peace table after withdrawing from fighting at the end of 1917 and negotiating a separate peace treaty with Germany a few months later.
Besides Russia, another country not present at the conference was Germany. Initially President Wilson and Prime Minister Lloyd George had the idea of inviting representatives of the government of the newly established German republic, but Clemenceau opposed the idea.
Formation of the Council of Ten
The Peace Conference in Paris was attended by 32 countries, but the most important decisions were inevitably taken by the main Allies (the United States, Britain and France) known as the Supreme Council. Out of respect for the lower powers, the main Allied Party stated that delegates from all Allied member countries recognized in the assembly could attend the weekly Plenary Conference, where issues related to the agreement would be discussed in a public forum.
Members of the Plenary Conference were also given the opportunity to form a commission entrusted to study and make recommendations on various aspects of peace settlement, such as the establishment of an international peacekeeping organization in the 14 points proposed by Wilson.
After some debate, the conference planners decided that the Supreme Council, named the Council of Ten, would consist of two representatives each from only five countries. This elite committee includes four prominent Western powers - France, Great Britain, the United States, and Italy - and one rising Eastern power - Japan.
French Targets in the Council of Ten
It is undeniable that no other country in the Council of Ten suffers more losses than France. Around 1.3 million French troops died in World War I, along with at least 400,000 French civilians. Not to mention the heavy infrastructure damage because it has been the main battleground for four years.
These conditions led Clemencau to insist on demanding Berlin to pay compensation for the losses suffered. However, there is another motive for Clemencau's ambition to weaken German power which for five decades has been a threat to France.
Based on France's past experience, Clemenceau wanted to ensure that Germany would not be strong enough to control his homeland. Therefore, he proposed severe terms of peace, so that it could weaken Germany's economy, military and territories. For Clemenceau, the ideal peace settlement not only disarmed the German navy, but also drastically reduced the number of its troops.
Next, Clemenceau wanted to reduce the size of German territory, by forcing them to release the Rhineland area, a part of Germany located west of the Rhine River. Finally, besides restoring the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine in France, Clemenceau wants the peacekeepers to add iron ore in western Germany and the coal-rich Saar Valley, as a form of compensation for hundreds of French mines and factories destroyed during the war and to forever weaken the industrial economy German.
Differences in Peace Objectives in Great Britain, Italy and Japan
Same with Clemenceau, Britain's main negotiator on the Council of Ten, Prime Minister Lloyd George, also hopes to reduce the capabilities of the German military, especially at sea. The desire came after Germany became Britain's main rival in the navy since the war had not yet begun.
Britain also wants payment of compensation from Germany. But unlike France, Lloyd George actually wants Germany to remain a viable economic power, both as a trading partner and as a force to counterbalance the Russian and French Bolsheviks. He believes that maintaining the balance of power on the continent is the best goal of British national peace and security.
Meanwhile, Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando, aims to strengthen his country's claim to the Austro-Hungarian territories promised by the London Treaty in 1915. Orlando never doubted that Italy deserved the spoils of war outlined in the secret Allied treaty. He considered it an appropriate compensation for the economic and human losses of the country during the war.
However, France, Britain and America were not too impressed by Italy's efforts in the war. Lloyd George and Clemenceau in particular "assumed the Italians did not fight seriously".
In addition, in January 1919, most of the new territories that Orlando wanted were no longer under Austrian or Hungarian control, including the Dalmatian coast and the Adriatic port of Fiume (now Rijeka, Croatia). Instead, the region has become part of the developing country of Yugoslavia, which was originally known as the Kingdom of Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia. The Serbs had also fought bravely during the war, so that France, Britain and America were reluctant to accommodate Italy's wishes.
Like Orlando, representatives of Japan, Sutemi Chinda and Keishiro Matsui, Tokyo's ambassadors in the United Kingdom and France, have an interest in strengthening their territorial claims. The Japanese government wants a peace conference to support the takeover of German territorial and economic rights in the northern Chinese province of Shandong, which has been occupied by Japanese troops since expelling Germany in 1914. Chinda and Matsui also hope that the Council of Ten will validate their country's claims in the province, even in the face of strong protests from China
Although Japan only took a small role in combat during World War I and suffered the fewest losses compared to other members of the Council of Ten, Britain quietly approved the takeover of Shantung in return for its naval assistance in the Mediterranean in 1917.
Points of the Versailles Agreement
Negotiations have indeed begun since January. However, the first point adopted at the conference was not the resolution of the German problem, but the formation of the League of Nations which was only completed on 28 April 1919. Therefore the issue of Germany was only raised in March 1919.
This month, many complicated issues regarding the terms of peace remain unresolved. Therefore Wilson, Lloyd George, and Clemenceau decided to streamline the decision-making mechanism of the chair of the conference, by rejecting the proposals of every other member except for these three people and Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando, known as the Council of Four. Following is the resolution of the German problem set out in the Versailles Agreement:
Free German territory
Germany lost its colony and most of its own territory in the agreement: West Prussia, part of East Prussia, Schleswig, Upper Silesia, Danzig, and Memel. Alsace-Lorraine also returned to France. The newly formed League of Nations as part of the agreement, took control of the Saar region and the entire Rhineland region was occupied for 15 years.
The agreement also said that Germany could not unite with Austria. The territorial loss cut Germany's total population by 10 percent.
Military Restrictions
One of the first issues addressed by the "Council of Four" was what military resolution should be set for Germany. They were determined to prevent Germany from waging another war, so that all the members of the council wanted the agreement to suppress German military power.
In the end they left a military that looked more like a police than an army. According to the military provisions formulated by the council, German conscription must be abolished and the army limited to only 100,000 people.
German combat strength was also severely restricted after the use of military aircraft, heavy artillery, tanks or poison gas guns was banned. Only a handful of German factories were authorized to produce weapons, ammunition, and other war materials.
Every weapon shop must be destroyed immediately. Council Four also agreed that the German navy should be limited to only 15,000 people and must not have submarines. The entire German fleet itself was eventually sunk.
German Compensation Payment
According to Article 231, Germany was forced to admit mistakes because it started a war and had to pay heavy fines. The Germans call it the Article of Confession of War. The German fine is 266 Goldmark, equivalent to around 63 billion U.S. dollars. at that time.
German officials were shocked and angry when they heard the demand. Leading experts at that time also protested that payment in Germany in very large amounts could damage the global economy.
Nevertheless, France and Britain still insisted on demanding payment. The agreement includes a clause which states that Germany can be further punished if it fails to pay on time. Although Germany felt betrayed, they were forced to sign or risk greater punishment.
German Foreign Minister Hermann Muller and Colonial Minister Johannes Bell finally went to France to sign the agreement. The agreement was signed on 28 June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles and ratified in the General Assembly Session on 9 July 1919.
Although it was signed, the Treaty of Versailles continued to be criticized by the German people. They continued to complain that it had been "dictated" to them and violated the spirit of fourteen Wilsson peace points. In addition to paying such compensation costs demand sacrifices that can destroy their economies.
In the years after it was ratified, the Versailles Agreement was revised and amended, much of this change favored by Germany. A number of concessions were made in Germany and in 1938 only the article on territorial settlements remained.
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