Paris Bully Convention

Evaluate the successes and failures of the Paris Peace conference in creating a stable European Community in the post WWI era.

The Paris Peace Conference was a meeting between all of the allied victors to negotiate some sort of punishment for the defeated nations. This conference created a series of treaties for the defeated countries of the central powers. These treaties created new countries and reshaped which is now modern Europe. However, this conference did not create a stable Europe; President Wilson failed to invoke what he wanted to happen with this reformation and transformed this conference into a vengeful peace agreement. Without the United States say in this conference, this conference failed as a disastrous organization which later on collapsed.

The treaty of Brest-Litovsk was a treaty that was signed during the First World War. It was a treaty which signified the resignation of Russia from the war. The treaty was very harsh upon the Russians due to the mass amount of land loss which was economically important. Countries such as Ukraine, Lithuania and Estonia were formed due to this treaty and Russia went into an economic crisis which left them crippled and unable to tend to international affairs. Russia was not accepted into the Paris Peace Conference (PPC) due to the rise of communism which was every nations fear at the time. Russia was neither helped by other nations even though they signed a treaty which crippled them instantaneously.

The Treaty of Lausane dealt with the Ottomans which gave Turkey independence and took land from them. This treaty, is said to be the most lenient treaty towards an ally of the Central Powers in which Turkey was given independence, Disarmament of the areas Bosporus and Dardanelles and there was no penalization in which was seemed unfair because they were responsible for the Armenian Genocide. Greece felt somewhat ridiculed when they found out about this and protested instantly. This made Europe unstable due to the fact that the enemy, of the Allies, was given a slap on the wrist and let free with a treaty which somewhat benefitted them economically.

The treaty of Sevres dealt with the Ottoman Empire as a whole. This treaty signified the breakdown of the Ottoman Empire into the Modern Day Middle East. There were many attempts by the allies to ratify this treaty mainly due to the Ottoman war for independence which put the allies in a mixed and confusing state on how to deal with this issue. The treaty made it so that the Allies were in control on the Empire’s finances in which free trade was enabled in which the allies’ goods could pass through transit tax free. Like all other countries, the Ottomans army was to be reduced to 50,000 men with a limited navy and forbidden air force. The treaty, however, backfired in which Turkey attacked the Greeks and forced them to give back the port of Smyrna in which the allies grew weary and changed the treaty to the Treaty of Lausanne. This made Europe unstable because Turkey felt hatred towards the allies and put them on shaky terms.

The treaty of Neuilly dealt with Bulgaria and was signed on November 27th, 1919. The treaty made them pay with reparations exceeding 400 million dollars, the surrendering of the Aegean Coastline and Thrace to Greece and the reduction of Bulgaria’s army to 20,000 men. The Bulgarians felt strongly attached to these parts and carried a heavy, vengeful grudge against the allies which later on turned into the occupation of these territories in WWII. They carried such a grudge mainly due to the amount of Bulgarians which were put under Greek rule. This was not a successful action of those attending the PPC because Bulgaria felt too attached and violated their human rights. Bulgaria became vengeful which proved to be fatal in WWII.

The treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye dealt with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and was signed on the 10th of September 1919. This treaty split the Empire into two halves, Austria and Hungary. The treaty stated that they would be held accountable, like Germany, to be the sole cause to WWI. They were treated equally to Germany where they were forced to pay reparations exceeding their own GDP which is fairly harsh. Their army was to be reduced to 30,000 men and much of their high income areas were stripped from them throwing them into a mass inflation. This treaty made Europe unstable because it put Austria in a paralyzed position where they could not muster any strength nor pay off their reparations. It created a feeling of hate towards the Allies which like all other Central Powers, proved to arise in WWII.

In conclusion, the series of treaties proved to be unfair towards the defeated Central Powers. A strong vibe of resentment and vengeance surged through the countries because of the economic impairment in which they were in a state of high inflation and the loss of nationalism. These treaties were extremely harsh and asked for another war in the sense that vengeance would arise through the voices of strong political leaders who fed off the intense suffering such as Hitler and Mussolini. The Paris Peace Conference proved to be a mistake that hid behind the Allies blind spot which was covered by greed only for them. Everyone wanted a part of the Central Powers resources, and everyone got some which put them in a crippled state in which they felt patronized and destroyed their self-determination.