a. / How far was the desire to punish Germany the main motive of the Allies in deciding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles? Explain your answer. / [12]
Points to Note when writing a Structured Essay Question:
- Each answer for each part question is at least 1.5 sides of foolscap paper long.
- Apart from the given factor, you have to explain 2 to 3 other factors (depending on the topic involved).
- Explaining IS NOT just copying the factor down. Explaining IS WRITING DOWN THE FACTOR AND SHOWING HOW THE FACTOR (IN THIS CASE – PUNISHING GERMANY) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR (IN THIS CASE – DECIDING THE TERMS OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES)
- The weighing portion (or how far) is where you weigh how far the given factor is the main motive/most or least important/etc as compared to the 1 or 2 other factors
The desire to punish Germany was one the motives of the Allies in deciding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. However, there were other motives for the Allies in deciding the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. These included the desire for peace and to prevent war from happening again.
One of the terms of the treaty was the war guilt clause. The war guilt clause was clearly designed to punish Germany because accepting the blame for starting the war would mean that Germany was guilty of starting World War I and would then have to accept any punishment given to it. The Allies also made Germany pay huge sums of reparations to the Allies for war damage, as part of the war guilt clause. This was clearly designed to cripple the German economy and prevent Germany from recovering its strength in the near future.
At the same time, Germany’s armed forces were cut down in terms of men and weapons, crippling its armed forces and making it vulnerable. Germany also had land taken away from it and its overseas colonies were taken away and re-distributed to various Allied countries to run under the mandate system. These terms were designed to punish Germany by reducing the country’s power in terms of size and military might. Furthermore, when deciding on the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, Britain and France were quite insistent on punishing Germany, especially France who wanted to cripple Germany’s military power so as to prevent Germany from invading it again.
However, the Allies also decided on some terms of the treaty in order to prevent war from happening again. The Allies wanted to set up the League of Nations to promote collective security as a means to prevent future war. Countries were expected to participate in collective disarmament and reduce their weapons. Although Germany’s armed forces and weapons were cut, it was part of the overall plan to reduce weapons globally, so the terms of the treaty concerning the reduction of Germany’s armed forces and weapons were not designed to solely punish Germany.
b. / “The lack of an armed force was the main reason for the weakness of the League of Nations in the 1920s”. How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. / [13]
Points to Note when writing a Structured Essay Question:
- Each answer for each part question is at least 1.5 sides of foolscap paper long.
- Apart from the given factor, you have to explain 2 to 3 other factors (depending on the topic involved).
- Explaining IS NOT just copying the factor down. Explaining IS WRITING DOWN THE FACTOR AND SHOWING HOW THE FACTOR (IN THIS CASE – LACK OF AN ARMED FORCE) IS RESPONSIBLE FOR (IN THIS CASE – THE WEAKNESS OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS)
- The weighing portion (or how far) is where you weigh how far the given factor is the main motive/most or least important/etc as compared to the 1 or 2 other factors
The lack of an armed force was one the reasons for the weakness of the League of Nations in the 1920s. However, there were other reasons for its weakness such as membership within the League of Nations and attitudes towards the League of Nations. (Apart from the Given Factor, mention the Other Factors you will be using in your essay)
The League had no army or police force which meant that if a country had acted against the League of Nations, the League could only punish it through economic sanctions. This would mean that the League members would stop trading with the offending state until it backed down. However, members states were not always willing to take this course of action because it harmed their own economies. As a result of a lack of armed force, the League did not have the strength to force major powers to accept its decisions, making it weak and powerless and allowing offending countries to continue their actions.
Attitudes to the League of Nations worldwide were not helped by the fact that signing the peace treaties at the end of the war meant accepting the League. The treaties were not popular and the League was affected by this unpopularityas many countries did not support it. Furthermore, countries who had agreed to the League, like Britain and France, did not take the League seriously and conducted businesses among themselves without considering the views of the League, which made it weak and powerless. The USA, who had insisted on having the League, was not a member. Many countries felt that since the USA was not a member despite its insistence on the League, they did not need to take the League seriously. As a result, the League was not taken seriously and was weak and powerless.
The League’s membership was another big weakness for the League. Not only did the USA not join, but Germany, Austria and Hungary were not allowed to. The exclusion of the defeated nations in World War One did not make it focussed on peace either. This was resented by Germany and contributed towards the outbreak of World War Two in the future. Germany also resented the fact that the League had been put in charge of its former colonies. It was also possible for countries to join and leave the League quite easily which resulted in a constant shift of member states making it difficult for countries to take the League seriously. Furthermore, nations left the League if they felt it was not helping them or when the League objected to their actions. The League was thus weak because it had very little control over its own actions.