Britain did, however, want enough reparations to enable her economy to recover fully. Britain wanted a secure Empire with a strong army and navy, but most importantly, to make sure there was a balance of power in Europe to hopefully prevent another war. It was also British foreign policy to set up the League of Nations to aid this commitment to peace in Europe.
In a number of ways, Britain’s foreign policy interests were secured. The Treaty of Versailles did bring about an end to the war for twenty years, which was one of Britain’s aims, and it would have been too big of an aim to hope for peace for more than this amount of time.
The Treaty also set up the League of Nations that would end warfare throughout the world by settling disputes by peaceful means. The most important article here was Article 16 which stated that if any member resorted to war, other states should impose economic sanctions and if necessary, take military action. In theory, it was thought that no aggressor would risk war, therefore creating a peaceful Europe. This was known as collective security. The league had some success in the 1920’s and it was able to resolve minor disputes and it did ‘promote a wide range of humanitarian and economic activities.’
The British wanted to demilitarise Germany, and the Treaty did achieve this until the Treaty of Rapallo in 1922. The German army was reduced from millions to only one hundred thousand men. Their fortress was dismantled and she was deprived of artillery, tanks and an air force. All wartime guns and weapons were melted down into scrap metal. The German navy was once second only to Britain, but this situation was changed as her navy was reduced to only thirty- six ships and they were banned from having any submarines. All of this helped to make Britain feel more secure and under far less of a threat from Germany. As Germany had been stopped from manufacturing any tanks, aircraft or heavy artillery, Britain did not have to compete in an arms race against her.
Britain’s Empire was also strengthened by the Treaty of Versailles, and that of Germany was greatly reduced as she had to give land to Belgium, France, Denmark and Poland, and hand over all of her colonies, Britain gaining most of her African colonies, East Africa and the Cameroon’s. Overall, Germany was deprived of about 13.5% of its territory before the war, which amounted to around seven million people. After this, the British Empire “amounted to nearly one quarter of the world’s land surface”(Farmer. A. Britain: Foreign and Imperial Affairs1919-39. Access to History.) making it the largest Empire in the world.
Another foreign policy interest for Britain was trade throughout Europe, and this was secured and there was no great trade deficit due to the Treaty, and it may actually have eliminated competition from Germany which would help British manufacturers.
Article 231 of the Versailles Treaty did satisfy British foreign policy interests and also please the British people, therefore gaining Lloyd George support. This was the ‘War Guilt Clause’ which stated, “…Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for all the loss to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war…”
However, German people viewed the terms of the Treaty in a very bad light, which did not secure British foreign policy interests as David Lloyd George did not want to anger Germany into getting revenge. Germany initially signed the Armistice based on Wilson’s fourteen points, which the Treaty did not reflect. It was felt in Germany that they had been made a scapegoat by other countries for all that had happened in the war. This feeling lead to a great deal of unrest in Germany from 1919 until 1922. Returning soldiers formed armed gangs, such as the ‘Freikorps’ who attacked people in the streets and in march 1920 they made an attempt to seize power. There were many murders including that of a government minister who had signed the Armistice. A number of extremist political parties were set up at this time, including the German Workers’ party which Hitler took over in 1921, basing his support on the hatred many German people felt over the Terms of the Treaty, ultimately leading to the outbreak of the second World War.
Although on the surface there seemed to be no real problem with trade, Britain’s share of world trade declined steadily in the 1920’s and Britain had a poor trade record due to the loss of markets in Latin America and the Far East.
Up until 1922 the Treaty of Versailles effectively reduced the Germany Army and stopped conscription. However, the power of the Treaty was undermined with the agreement between Germany and Russia in the Treaty of Rapallo. One of the most relevant clauses here is the military agreement between the two states, which allowed Germany to avoid disarmament clauses and bypass the Versailles terms. It meant that Germany could station troops in Russia for training in the air force, for the use of tanks and military equipment. The Treaty also gave Germany an opportunity to trade with Russia for their raw materials in return for Germany’s industrial expertise.
The reparation payments decided on in the Treaty were viewed by Lloyd George to be far too excessive, they came to £6 600 000 000. This proved to be ineffective and a ridiculous estimate as Germany found it impossible to repay. The British economist JM Keynes felt that Germany would only become poorer, thus more bitter towards the allies. This would ultimately cause another war. However, the Treaty did not weaken Germany sufficiently to prevent aggression in the future, it simply angered them.,
There were a number of weaknesses in the League of Nations, created by the Versailles Treaty, one of the main weaknesses being their decision not to allow Germany to join until 1926. This obviously angered Germany at being isolated. The League was criticised for having too little real influence, and the main decisions were only discussed and settled by the main powers of Britain, France and Italy, and Germany when it was allowed to join. This does not satisfy the British foreign policy aim of power being spread evenly across Europe. It was also a disadvantage that the United States did not join the League and the only members to be present throughout the League’s life were Britain and France. The League was viewed in a bad light due to the fact that it was set up by the Treaty of Versailles. Countries decided to act in their own interests and not for the league. It seemed that Europe was not a very secure place and states were prepared to use aggression against each other, which could not be effectively deterred as the League had no armed forces of its own.
Instead of uniting Europe, the Treaty of Versailles had the effect of dividing Europe into states that wanted to preserve the Treaty and those who wanted a revision of the Treaty. This is show by the fact that, after only 6 years in existence, the Treaty of Locarno was needed to settle some of Germany’s grievances, to welcome Germany into the League of Nations and to guarantee western frontiers. Britain and France also agreed to end the occupation of the Rhineland five years ahead of schedule. The fact that the treaty had to be changed in the first place suggests that it had many weaknesses and little effectiveness.
Even after the Treaty of Versailles, the French were still insecure as to their position in Europe and the prospect of further attack from Germany. Lloyd George disliked the harshness of Clemenceau towards Germany, as he felt that an insecure France was dangerous. In July and August 1926 Chamberlain tried to persuade Briand to remove some of his troops from the Rhineland. This shows a disagreement in Anglo- French relationships, which Britain would rather of avoided. The occupation of the Ruhr also highlights this dislike of French actions by Britain, as the British Government adopted a policy of ‘surly neutrality’, trying without success to resolve the crisis.
In conclusion the statement “the Versailles peace settlement failed to secure British foreign policy interests” can be view in two ways. In a number of way I feel that this statement is true, as through hindsight we know that the second world war occurred and it can be argued that this was largely a consequence of the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles, and it was said by the military commander- in – chief of the allied armies, Marshal Foch, ‘This is not peace. It is and armistice for twenty years.’ However, it did satisfy some of Britain’s foreign policy interests as a relative amount of peace was secured for twenty years, and it would have been too optimistic to have hoped for this to last over a long period of time. The Treaty did secure Britain’s position in Europe in Economic and military terms and its empire was very large and powerful.
