It was impossible to give every national group self-determination. Most of the new states contained dissatisfied minorities who continued to create problems.
Britain and France didn’t gain anything from the treaty of St Germain, but Italy gained land. Italy got Trentino, South Tyrol, Trieste, Istria and several Dalmatian islands.
Austria accepted the breaking up of the Austria-Hungarian Empire and didn’t rebel against any of the terms of the treaty.
Treaty of Neuilly
The treaty of Neuilly, dealing with Bulgaria was signed on 27 November 1919.
Bulgaria’s army was limited to 20,000 men, four torpedo boats and no air force. It lost land to Yugoslavia, Romania and Greece, but gained land from Turkey. Bulgaria had to pay £100 million (2.25 billion francs) in reparations.
Fear of German resentments over the loss of lands led them to be occupied by the Nazis in WW2.
Treaty of Trianon
The Treaty of Trianon was signed on 4 June 1920 to punish Hungary.
Hungary was allowed 35,000 soldiers and three patrol boats. It had to pay 200 million gold crowns. Hungary agreed to pay reparations, but the collapse of Hungary’s economy in the early 1920s meant nothing was ever paid. The Austria-Hungarian Empire was dismantled. Land was given to Yugoslavia, Romania and Czechoslovakia.
A communist state under Bela Kun was established in 1919. He was overthrown later in the year and a military dictatorship was set up under Admiral Horthy.
The Hungarians continued to resent a settlement that left up to 3 million Magyars (Hungarians) under foreign rule.
Treaty of Sèvres
The Treaty of Sèvres signed on 10 August 1920 was the peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the Allies at the end of WW1.
Turkey’s army was limited to 50,000 soldiers, seven sailboats and six torpedo boats. Turkey didn’t have to pay any reparations. Smyrna and Eastern Thrace were lost to Greece. In Europe Turkey was only left with the small area around Constantinople. Rhodes and the Dodecanese Island were given to Italy. The straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus were opened to ships of all nations.
The Ottoman Empire was split up. Arabia was made independent. Turkey’s other possessions in the Middle East were made League of Nations mandates and allocated to France and Britain. An independent Armenian State was to be created. The Allies could keep troops in Turkey to ensure the treaty was obeyed.
The Turks were so outraged by the terms of the Treat of Sèvres that the Sultan’s government was overthrown in an uprising.
Italy gained land and Britain and France were allocated mandates.
The Turks rebelled the treaty and there was an uprising led by Mustapha Kemal. Rather than fighting Kemal, the Allies agreed to amend the Treaty of Sèvres. This led to the signing of the Treat of Lausanne in July 1923. In the Treaty of Lausanne Turkey recovered Smyrna and Eastern Thrace from Greece. All foreign troops left Turkey. Turkey regained control over the Straits. No limits were placed on Turkey’s armed forces.
Sayan Dutta Chowdhury 9C
