Settlement of the world after the first world war. Europe after the first world war

Published with the support of the MacArthur Foundation

Scientific auxiliary work on the manuscript was done by E.N. Orlova

ISBN 5-89554-139-9
© A.V.Malgin, A.D.Bogaturov, compilation, 1996, 2000
© S.I.Dudin, emblem, 1997

• Section II. THE INITIAL STAGE OF POST-WAR SETTLEMENT (1919 - 1922)
• Section III. FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE WASHINGTON ORDER IN EASTERN ASIA
• Section IV. STATUS QUO AND REVOLUTIONARY TRENDS (1922 - 1931)
• Section V. INCREASING INSTABILITY IN EUROPE (1932 - 1937)
• Section VI. DESTRUCTION OF THE WASHINGTON ORDER
• Section VII. CRISIS AND DECAY OF THE VERSAILLES ORDER (1937 - 1939)
• Section VIII. THE SECOND WORLD WAR AND THE FOUNDATIONS OF POST-WAR SETTLEMENT
• Main publications used

Section I. COMPLETION OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

• 1. Declaration of Russia, France and Great Britain on the non-conclusion of a separate peace, signed in London on August 23 (September 5) 1914.
• 2. Note of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional russian government P.N. Milyukov dated April 18 (May 1) 1917 on the tasks of the war, handed over to the allied powers through Russian representatives
• 3. Message of the Provisional Russian Government dated April 22 (May 5) 1917, transmitted to the ambassadors of the allied powers and clarifying the note dated April 18 (May 1)
• 4. Appeal of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies to the Socialists of all countries of May 2/15, 1917.
• 5. From the declaration of the Provisional Russian Government of May 5/18, 1917
• 6. Decree on Peace, adopted by the II All-Russian Congress of Soviets on October 26 (November 8) 1917.
• 7-11. The question of the Brest Peace
• 7. Declaration made by the authorized representative of the RSFSR L.D. Trotsky at a meeting of the political commission of the peace conference in Brest-Litovsk on January 28 (February 10) 1918.
• 8. From the peace treaty between Russia, on the one hand, and Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, on the other, signed in Brest-Litovsk on March 3, 1918.
• 9. From the speech of V. I. Lenin at the VII Congress of the RCP (b)
• 10. From the speech of LD Trotsky
• 11. From "Sketches of Russian Troubles" by A. I. Denikin
• 12. Agreement between the RSFSR and Romania on the cleansing of Bessarabia by Romania, concluded in Iasi on March 5, 1918 and in Odessa on March 9, 1918.
• 13. German-Finnish peace treaty, concluded in Berlin on March 7, 1918.
• 14. Telegrams exchanged between the President of the United States of America W. Wilson and the 4th All-Russian Extraordinary Congress of Soviets, read out at the meeting of the Congress on March 14, 1918.
• 15. Truce between the Allies and Germany, concluded in the Compiegne forest near Retonde on November 11, 1918.
• 16. Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the annulment of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, adopted in Moscow on November 13, 1918.
• 17. About "Turkish Armenia". Appeal of the People's Commissar for Nationalities I.V. Dzhugashvili-Stalin dated December 29, 1917 (January 11, 1918)
• 18. Decree of the Council of People's Commissars on "Turkish Armenia" of December 29, 1917 (January 11, 1918)
• 19. Resolution of the People's Commissariat for foreign affairs RSFSR on the non-recognition of Georgia as an independent state of December 24, 1918
• 20. Resolution of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the RSFSR on the abolition of decisions concerning the Ukrainian State, dated December 24, 1918 No.

Section I. COMPLETION OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

1. Declaration of Russia, France and Great Britain on the non-conclusion of a separate peace, signed in London on August 23 (September 5) 1914 1

[Plenipotentiaries: Russia - Benckendorf, France - P. Cambon, Great Britain - Gray.]

The undersigned, being duly authorized by their respective Governments, make the following declaration:

The governments of Russia, France and Great Britain mutually undertake not to conclude a separate peace during this war.

The three Governments agree that when the time comes to negotiate peace terms, no Allied Power will set any peace terms without the prior consent of each of the other Allies.

Note of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Provisional Russian Government P.N. Milyukov dated April 18 (May 1) 1917 on the tasks of the war, delivered through Russian representatives to the Allied Powers

On March 27 of this year, the interim government published an appeal to citizens, which contains a statement of the views of the government of a free Russia on the tasks of a real war. The Minister of Foreign Affairs instructs me to inform you of the aforementioned document and to make the following remarks.

Our enemies have recently tried to bring discord into inter-union relations, spreading absurd rumors that Russia is ready to conclude a separate peace with the middle monarchies. The text of the attached document best refutes such fabrications. You will see from it that the general provisions expressed by the interim government are fully consistent with those lofty ideas that have been constantly expressed until very recently by many outstanding statesmen of the allied countries and who have found themselves especially vividly expressed by our new ally, the great transatlantic republic, in speeches its president. The government of the old regime, of course, was not able to assimilate and share these thoughts about the liberating nature of the war, about creating solid foundations for the peaceful coexistence of peoples, about the self-determination of oppressed nationalities, etc.

But liberated Russia can now speak in a language that is understandable for the advanced democracies of modern mankind, and she is in a hurry to add her voice to the voices of her allies. The statements of the interim government, imbued with this new spirit of liberated democracy, of course, cannot give the slightest reason to think that the coup d'état has led to a weakening of Russia's role in the common allied struggle. Quite the opposite, the nationwide desire to bring the world war to a decisive victory has only intensified thanks to the awareness of the common responsibility of each and every one. This desire has become more real, being focused on a close and obvious task for all - to repel the enemy invading the very borders of our homeland. It goes without saying, as it is said in the reported document, the interim government, protecting the rights of our homeland, will fully comply with the obligations assumed in relation to our allies. Continuing to have full confidence in the victorious end of the present war, in full agreement with the Allies, it is absolutely confident that the issues raised by this war will be resolved in the spirit of creating a solid foundation for a lasting peace and that advanced democracies imbued with the same aspirations will find a way to achieve those guarantees. and the sanctions needed to prevent further bloody clashes in the future.

From the speech of L.D. Trotsky

We pin all our hope on the fact that our revolution will unleash the European revolution. If the insurgent peoples of Europe do not crush imperialism, we will be crushed — that is beyond doubt.

11. From "Sketches of Russian Troubles" by A. I. Denikin

What was the justification for the Brest-Litovsk tragedy?

The phrases of the Soviet rulers about "the already flaring fire of the world revolution, about negotiations" over the heads of the German generals with the German proletariat "" were only phrases intended for the crowd. The internal situation in Europe did not give any decisive basis for such optimism of the people's commissars. During the period of the Brest-Litovsk negotiations, however, a general strike took place, first in Austria, then in Berlin; the leader of the independent Social Democrats, Haase, spoke about the motives of the latter in the Reichstag: “The strike was not conducted for small economic gains, but served as a political protest with a highly ideological goal. The German workers were outraged that they had to forge chains to oppress the Russian brothers who had abandoned their weapons. " But this was only a short-lived outbreak, essentially using only a suitable pretext to settle accounts of the Social Democracy with its government. The Reichstag overwhelmingly approved the peace conditions with the majority abstaining from the Socialists and against the votes of the "independent".

Even less reason was Lenin's statement that the treaty was "just a respite, just a piece of paper that can be torn at any time ..." The Germans had real strength at that time and secured themselves sufficient guarantees and an advantageous strategic position to insist on the fulfillment of the treaty.

Perhaps, however, the Soviet government no longer had any resources at its disposal and the "obscene peace" was inevitable? Even soviet Headquarters could not agree with such a hopeless point of view. At the military council on January 22, the chief of staff of the Supreme Commander General Bonch-Bruevich insisted on the need to continue the struggle, pointing out new methods for it: the immediate removal of all materiel deep into the country, the rejection of continuous fronts, the transition to maneuverable actions in the most important areas to the vital centers of the country and broad guerrilla war... He saw the strength for this struggle in the new "workers 'and peasants'" army, in the national formations and in the surviving units of the old army.

One can have different opinions about the combat value of all these elements, but there is no doubt that the vast Russian expanses, enveloped by the uprising, would have swallowed up such colossal forces and means of the Germans, weakened already at the end, that their invasion into the depths of Russia would bring closer the catastrophe on the Western Front. ..

But for this, the Bolsheviks would have to temporarily abandon demagogic slogans and postpone the civil war.

Finally, at the very time when the Council of People's Commissars in stormy and panicky meetings discussed the cruel ultimatum of the Central Powers, the mood in the camp of the enemies was even more depressed. The German government, fearing a rupture, made every effort to contain the excessive demands of the headquarters. Count Czernin threatened that Austria would conclude a separate peace with Russia if the excessive demands of her allies upset the negotiations. Berlin, Kreutznach (Headquarters) and Vienna experienced days of agonizing expectation and fear, not considering it possible to wage a long war on the Eastern Front, even if against the crumbling army. And when, after a break in the negotiations, Trotsky arrived in Brest-Litovsk by January 7, “it was curious to see,” says Chernin, “what joy the Germans were overwhelmed with. And this unexpected, so violently manifested joy proved how hard it was for them to think that the Russians might not come. "

So, Germany needed peace at all costs. No intermediate forms of it (truce, "no peace, no war") could save the situation. The Council of People's Commissars also needed peace at whatever cost, at least at the cost of dismembering, humiliating and destroying Russia.

This motive was also quite frankly expressed in the council's appeal on the night of February 6 "To the entire working population of Russia" - an appeal justifying the council's consent to the peace demands presented to it by the central powers: "... we want peace, we are ready to accept a difficult peace, but we must be ready to resist if the German counter-revolution tries to finally tighten the noose on our council. "

Then just fight back!

“Placed by the people under the sign of peace,” the Soviet government was supposed to give peace, even if only illusory, otherwise it would be threatened with destruction. Death "in the order of the people's wrath" or by virtue of the German offensive and occupation of the capitals.

The motive for the self-preservation of the Soviet regime, which was set as the basis for the Brest-Litovsk action, never aroused any serious doubts among the Russian public. The question of another accusation of the people's commissars was somewhat different, which still evokes ambiguous attitudes towards itself. Some consider Brest-Litovsk just a comedy, played out to maintain decency, since paid agents of the German General Staff, including Lenin and Trotsky, could not fail to fulfill the demands of their employers. Others refuse to recognize this crime, perhaps not so much out of confidence in the named persons, but because of the consciousness of the enormity of the fact itself, mortal shame and deep pain for the desecrated national dignity of Russia ...

But the totality of the tragic circumstances of the relations between the Germans and the Bolsheviks created in me personally an intuitive deep conviction of the betrayal of the Soviet commissars. This conviction, inherent in wide circles of the Russian public, penetrated the people and intensified hatred of the Soviet regime.

Whatever the internal motives of the people's commissars, a formidable real fact stood before Russia in all its oppressive gravity: Brest-Litovsk ...

12. Agreement between the RSFSR and Romania on the cleansing of Bessarabia by Romania, concluded in Iasi on March 5, 1918 and in Odessa on March 9, 1918 1

[Plenipotentiaries: RSFSR - Rakovsky, Brasovan, Yudovsky, Voronsky and Muravyov, Romania - Averescu.]

(Extract)

Art. 1. Romania undertakes to cleanse Bessarabia within two months ...

Art. 2. Now, upon signing the agreement, the protection of Bessarabia passes into the hands of the local city and rural militia ...

Art. 3. Romanian subjects arrested in Russia are exchanged for Russian revolutionaries, officers and soldiers arrested in Romania.

Art. 4. Romania undertakes not to take any hostile military or other actions against the All-Russian Federation of Soviet Republics of Workers and Peasants and not to support such undertaken by other states.

Art. 5. Russia undertakes to provide Romania with a surplus of grain located in Bessarabia after satisfying the needs of the local population and Russian military units ...

Art. 7. In the event of a forced retreat of the Romanian army from Romanian territory, it finds refuge and food on Russian territory.

Art. 8. In the event of parallel actions against the central states and their allies, contact is established between the highest Russian military command of the Russian Soviet armies and the Romanian ones.

Art. 9. For the settlement of any potential arises between Romania and The Russian Federation The Soviet Republics of workers and peasants of misunderstandings formed international commissions in Odessa, Kiev, Moscow, Petrograd, Iasi and Galati from representatives of Russia and Romania, England, France and the United States.

Alsace-Lorraine

The High Contracting Parties, recognizing as a moral obligation to rectify the injustice caused by Germany in 1871 both to the law of France and to the will of the population of Alsace-Lorraine, torn away from their fatherland, in spite of the solemn protest of its representatives at the Assembly in Bordeaux, have agreed on the following articles:

Article 51. Territories ceded to Germany by virtue of the Preliminary Peace, signed at Versailles on February 26, 1871, and the Frankfurt Treaty of May 10, 1871 1, are returned to French sovereignty from the date of the armistice on November 11, 1918.

The provisions of the Treaties establishing the outline of the border before 1871 will come into force again ...

Article 80 Germany recognizes and will strictly respect the independence of Austria within the boundaries to be established by the Treaty concluded between that State and the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; it recognizes that this independence cannot be alienated without the consent of the Council of the League of Nations.

Article 81. Germany recognizes, as the Allied and Associated Powers have already done, the complete independence of the Czechoslovak state, which will include the autonomous territory of Rusyn south of the Carpathians. It declares its consent to the boundaries of this state, as they will be determined by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers and other interested states.

Article 82. The border between Germany and the Czechoslovak state will be determined by the former border between Austria-Hungary and the German Empire, as it existed on August 3, 1914.

Article 83. Germany renounces, in favor of the Czechoslovak state, all of its rights and legal grounds for part of the Silesian territory ...

Article 87. Germany recognizes, as the Allied and Associated Powers have already done, the complete independence of Poland and renounces in favor of Poland all rights and legal grounds in the territories bounded by the Baltic Sea, the eastern border of Germany, defined as stated in Article 27 of Part II ( Borders of Germany) of this Treaty, up to a point located approximately 2 kilometers east of Lorzendorf, then by a line running to the acute angle formed by the northern border of Upper Silesia, approximately 3 kilometers northwest of Simmenau, then the border of Upper Silesia, to its meeting with the former border between Germany and Russia, then this border up to the point where it crosses the course of the Neman, following the northern border of East Prussia, as defined in Article 28 of the above-mentioned Part II ...

Article 102 The Principal Allied and Associated Powers undertake to establish from the city of Danzig, with the territory specified in Article 100, the Free City. He will be placed under the protection of the League of Nations.

Article 104. ... Include the Free City of Danzig within the customs border of Poland and take measures to establish a free zone in the port.

To provide Poland, without any restrictions, the free use and operation of all waterways, docks, pools, embankments and other structures on the territory of the Free City necessary for the import and export of Poland ...

Article 116. Germany recognizes and undertakes to respect, as permanent and inalienable, the independence of all territories that were part of the former Russian empire by August 1, 1914 ...

The Allied and Associated Powers formally stipulate the rights of Russia to receive from Germany all restitutions and reparations based on the principles of this Treaty.

Article 119. Germany renounces, in favor of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, all of her rights and title to her overseas possessions.

Article 160 At the latest, as of March 31, 1920, the German army shall not have more than seven infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions.

From this moment on, the total strength of the army of the states forming Germany should not exceed one hundred thousand people, including officers and non-combatants, and will be exclusively intended for maintaining order on the territory and for the border police.

The total number of officers, including staff of the headquarters, whatever their structure, will not have to exceed four thousand ...

German Big General base and any other similar formations will be disbanded and cannot be restored in any form ...

Article 173 All kinds of general compulsory military service will be abolished in Germany.

The German army can be built and recruited only through voluntary recruitment.

Article 175 ... Newly appointed officers must undertake to be on active service for at least twenty-five years without interruption ...

Article 180. All land fortifications, fortresses and fortified places located on German territory west of the line drawn fifty kilometers east of the Rhine will be disarmed and demolished ...

The system of fortifications of the southern and eastern borders of Germany will be preserved in its present state.

Article 181. After the expiration of two months from the date of entry into force of this Treaty, the forces of the German navy shall not exceed in armed courts:

• 6 battleships of the "Deutschland" or "Lothringen" type,
• 6 light cruisers,
• 12 counter-destroyers,
• 12 destroyers,
• or an equal number of replacement vessels constructed as specified in article 190.

They should not contain any submarines.

Article 183. Upon the expiration of a two-month period from the date of entry into force of this Treaty, the total number of persons involved in the German navy and employed both in the crews of the fleet, in coastal defense, in the semaphore service, and in coastal administration and coastal services, including officers and personnel of every rank and of every kind, must not exceed fifteen thousand people.

The total number of officers and "Warrant-officers" should not exceed one thousand five hundred.

Within two months from the entry into force of this Treaty, personnel exceeding the above-mentioned strength will be demobilized ...

Article 191. The building and acquisition of any submarine ships, even commercial ones, will be prohibited by Germany.

Article 198. The military forces of Germany shall not include any military or naval aviation ...

III. Action plan

The restoration of the regime of order in Russia is a purely national matter, which the Russian people themselves must carry out.

However, we must give him the means for this and help his healthy elements: support them by encircling the Bolshevik armies; provide them with our material and moral support.

The encirclement of Bolshevism, begun from the north, east and south, should be supplemented with:

In the southeast, actions taken from the Caspian Sea region to ensure the effective closure of the two main groupings of national forces (the armies of Denikin-Krasnov and the Ural army).

In the west, through the restoration of Poland, which is militarily capable of defending its existence.

Eventually, through the occupation of Petrograd and in any case through the blockade of the Baltic Sea.

The direct support that should be given to the Russian national forces consists, above all, in the supply of the necessary materiel, in the creation of a base where these forces could continue their organization and from where they could then begin their offensive operations.

In this regard, there is a need for the occupation of Ukraine.

The actions of the Entente should, therefore, be directed mainly towards the implementation: the complete encirclement of Bolshevism, the occupation of Ukraine, the organization of the Russian forces.

IV. Implementation

The Entente is capable of fulfilling this program.

1.Co rin g a l o f l s h e s m a

A. Connection Denikin - Kolchak.

The task of establishing communication between the armies of Denikin and the Ural armies, which is so important for the unification of Russian national forces, falls on England.

It has the necessary funds in the field, in the Caucasus, in Macedonia and Turkey.

B. The restoration of Poland must be the work of the Polish army.

France can organize this army and, with the assistance of Allied naval transport, transfer 6 infantry divisions being formed in France.

For the safety of communications of the Polish army on the Danzig-Thorn line, it is necessary to occupy the area of \u200b\u200bthe lower Vistula with inter-allied forces, consisting of one or two infantry divisions, to be created mostly at the expense of American troops.

B. Actions to blockade the Baltic Sea coast can easily be carried out by the British Navy.

As for possible operations in the direction of Petrograd, they can be planned as the end of the offensive of the Estonian troops, which recently resumed from the area of \u200b\u200bRevel and Narva. To make it possible, it is enough to provide our support to the forces created in this area by gene. Yudenich.

2. O c c u p a c i s U c r a n s

It falls to the lot of the allied armies in the East.

Against the Bolshevik army, which is fragmented and lacking in materiel, Berthelot's army, consisting of three French infantry divisions, three Greek infantry divisions, with the support of the Romanian army, reinforced by the 35th Italian division, equipped with modern weapons that we can give it in in large numbers, it can penetrate the heart of Ukraine, liberate the Donets, where the invasion has already begun, and capture Kiev and Kharkov.

3.O rg and nis and z and I r u s k and x s and l

This organization continues in northern Russia (British command) and in Siberia (Gen. Janin and Gen. Knox).

However, in southern Russia, the bulk of the national forces should be created for an offensive against Moscow with the help of the armies of Denikin-Krasnov, local troops recruited in Ukraine, Russian prisoners to be repatriated from Germany to this area.

V. Conclusion

For the Entente powers there is a vital need to overthrow him [the Soviet government. - Comp.] As soon as possible, and the duty of solidarity arises to carry out joint efforts for this purpose.

In implementing the action plan, which they must approve, the participation of each of them can be determined as follows:

• actions in northern Russia and in the Baltic Sea region;
• participation in the intervention in Poland;
• actions in southeastern Russia in order to unite the Siberian forces with the armies of Denikin and Krasnov;
• the organization of these armies.

United States

• actions in Poland (leadership of inter-allied actions).

• actions in Siberia and Ukraine;
• organization of the Polish army.

• participation in actions in Ukraine.

An agreement must be reached as soon as possible, bearing in mind: setting the principle of intervention in Russia, clarifying the distribution of tasks, ensuring the unity of the leadership.

This agreement should be the first step towards organizing peace.

Cannes Resolutions

When, by decision of the Supreme Council of January 10 of this year. Russia was invited to participate in the Genoa Conference, it was informed of the resolutions adopted by the Supreme Council in Cannes on January 6, but the invitation itself was not conditioned by the adoption of these resolutions or any other requirements.

However, the Russian delegation, proceeding from the conviction that with a correct and consistent interpretation of the Cannes Resolutions, ground could be found for mutual understanding and resolution of controversial issues between the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and Western European countries, in the very first plenary session of the Genoa Conference, stated that it accepts in principle provisions of the Cannes Resolutions, while retaining the right to amend them and propose new paragraphs. According to the delegation, three main theses of the Cannes Resolutions serve as the basis for agreement on controversial issues: 1) recognition of full sovereignty for each nation in establishing systems of property, economy and administration in its country; 2) legislative, judicial and administrative support of personal and property rights those foreigners who wish to go to Russia for economic activities, and 3) recognition of the principle of reciprocity in the fulfillment by all governments of their obligations and in compensation for losses incurred by foreign citizens, as explained in a press release prepared by ministers and experts in Cannes, on the official the nature of which was indicated by the first minister of Great Britain in his parliamentary speech of April 3 this year.

Conditions for future work

Proceeding from the general provisions indicated in the introduction to the memorandum, the representatives of the governments of Europe gathered at the conference should have focused on the question of the means necessary to raise the productive forces of Russia, and not on the ways of satisfying the claims of Russia's creditors, as is done in the memorandum ...

At the same time, the delegation considers it necessary to note that the authors of the London memorandum, outlining in the second chapter the necessary guarantees for the economic work of foreign capital in Russia, sharply deviate from paragraph 1 of the Cannes Resolutions, seeking to impose on Russia certain internal legislation that is alien to its current build, under the pretext of creating "conditions successful work»Foreign capital to introduce in Russia a system of capitulations that would encroach on its sovereignty. Most a shining example this is Art. 24th memorandum, seeking to establish the judicial extraterritoriality of foreigners, as well as the entire organization of the Russian debt commission, the plan of which is set out in Appendix 1, which, if implemented, would undoubtedly turn into an organ of foreign control over the entire economic life of the Russian Republic, like the one established by the Versailles Treaty reparation commission.

Foreign intervention

Not content with this severance of relations with Soviet Russia, the Entente powers began military intervention and the blockade, completely openly supporting local uprisings created by their own agents (Czechoslovakians, Don and Kuban Cossacks, White Guards in Siberia, Yaroslavl, etc.) and reinforcing the military actions of the armies of Kolchak, Denikin, Yudenich, Wrangel, etc. by sending their own military forces to the north of Russia, to the Black Sea and the Caucasus. In fact, it has been established that the Soviet government, even in the first months of its existence, easily coped with attempts to revolt local dissatisfied elements, and only where these elements were organized and actively supported by the allied governments, which supplied them with money, ammunition, uniforms and military instructors, these sporadic and small uprisings turned into whole fronts civil waraccompanied by wild excesses, like the destruction of entire villages, the ugly Jewish pogroms and similar atrocities. The military expertise categorically asserts that without the indicated intervention of foreign powers, individual local uprisings in Russia could never have assumed the character of a devastating civil war, why the guilt and responsibility of the allied governments for organizing and supporting the civil war in Russia, for causing colossal losses to the Russian people and state subject to the slightest doubt ...

The share of this responsibility for all this falls on those neutral countries that, having provided hospitality to counter-revolutionary elements for the preparation of conspiracies against Russia on their territory, the recruitment of participants in civil wars, the purchase and transit of weapons, etc., at the same time took part in boycott and blockade of Russia. The need for desperate self-defense imposed by foreign intervention and blockade, the Soviet government was actually forced to intensify the rate of nationalization of industry and trade, as well as to apply to the owners of foreign property in Russia those measures of liquidation of enterprises, confiscations or free nationalization of property that were introduced into international use as new " usus ”by the belligerent - and just most of all - the Allied governments. However, the Soviet government never applied measures to restrict the personal and property rights of foreigners only because the state of defense against intervention gave it this right. These measures were applied only insofar as the interests of public safety and welfare required it, in particular, the implementation of the plan for the nationalization of industry and trade, which inevitably followed from new economic and legal relations and from the need to hastily reorganize production and distribution within the framework of an isolated state cut off from any world by the blockade. ... And here the Soviet government used only the right, indisputably belonging to any state, to attract public duties and the right to dispose of the property of its own and foreign citizens when the vital interests of the country required it.

The intervention and blockade by the allied powers and the civil war they supported for more than three years caused Russia losses that far exceeded the possible claims against it on the part of foreigners who suffered from the Russian revolution. In addition to the sequestered abroad and exported from Russia gold and a number of reserves and goods, the Russian state is demanding compensation for destroyed by military operations railways, bridges, rolling stock, port and other structures, sunken ships, as well as factories, factories and numerous property of private citizens - both houses in cities and peasant estates in villages. In addition, it demands the return of its military and merchant fleet, which had been taken away by the Allied Powers directly or by the White Guard armies under the protection of the Allied Powers. Along with these claims, expressing direct damage to the state and private economy of Russia, a long list of losses, both to the nationalized industry and to the private economy, caused by military operations in the territory occupied by foreign and White Guard armies, and compensation to many hundreds of thousands of civil war invalids and families is subject to satisfaction. dead.

These losses of the Russian people and the state give a much more indisputable right to compensation than the claims of the former owners of property in Russia and Russian loans belonging to nations that won the world war and received colossal contributions from the defeated, while their claims are made against a country ravaged by the war. , foreign intervention and desperately fighting for its own existence in those state forms that it considers the only possible for itself.

It is most strange to hear the demand for compensation for losses incurred by citizens of states that unsuccessfully fought against Russia from the lips of representatives of governments who used during the war the right to confiscate the private property of citizens of the opposing side on their territory and approved this right by the Treaty of Versailles even for peacetime, imposing, except Moreover, the entire population of the defeated state is property liable for losses caused to the victors by the military actions of its government.

Jung's plan

[The second reparations plan for Germany, developed by a committee of experts chaired by the American financier Owen Young, was approved at an international conference in The Hague in January 1930]

Expert committee report

(Extract)

Instead of the existing transfer protection system, which contains semi-political control, restricting Germany's initiative and the possible (adverse) impact on (her) credit, we propose a system of annuities that are significantly lower than those established by the Dawes plan, subordinate to the new and flexible conditions ... This system gives Germany the desired exemption from foreign interference and control ...

The new plan will enter into force on 1 September 1929 with a total of 37 annuities of 1,988.8 million Reichsmarks each until 31 March 1966.

In the future, Germany will continue to make the payments shown in the following table, as there will be no special regulations for these years.

1966/67 g.	......... 1607,7		1977/78 g.	......... 1685,4
1967/68	......... 1606,9		1978/79	......... 1695,5
1968/69	......... 1616,7		1979/80	......... 1700,4
1969/70	......... 1630,0		1980/81	......... 1711,3
1970/71	......... 1643,7		1981/82	......... 1687,6
1971/72	......... 1653,9		1982/83	......... 1691,8
1972/73	......... 1662,3		1983/84	......... 1703,3
1973/74	......... 1665,7		1984/85	......... 1683,5
1974/75	......... 1668,4		1985/86	......... 925,1
1975/76	......... 1675,0		1986/87	......... 931,4
1976/77	......... 1678,7		1987/88	......... 897,8

Merchant ships

Start " cold war»

§ 32. Consequences of war. Post-war peace settlement

The consequences of the war. The second world War left a stamp on the entire history of the world in the second half of the 20th century.

In contrast to the First, in the Second World War, most of the loss of life fell on the civilian population. In the USSR alone, at least 27 million people died. In Germany, concentration camps were destroyed16 million people. 5 million people became victims of war and repression in Western European countries.For every person killed in hostilities, there were two wounded or captured. To these 60 million lost lives in Europe must be added the many millions who died in the Pacific and other theaters of World War II.

During the war years, tens of millions of people left their former places of residence. 8 million people were herded to Germany from various European countries as a labor force. After the capture of Poland by Germany, over 1.5 million Poles were expelled from the so-called native German. territories. Tens of thousands of Frenchmen were expelled from Alsace-Lorraine. Millions of people fled from war zones. After the end of the war, huge masses of the population began to move in the opposite direction: the Germans were evicted from Poland and Czechoslovakia, from the former Prussia, etc. post-war years millions of people became refugees. IN1945 at least12 million Europeans were recognized« displaced persons ",who have lost contact with their native places. An even greater number of people were knocked out of their usual living conditions, lost their property, lost their citizenship and profession.

The material losses of the war period are enormous. On the European continent, thousands of cities and villages were turned into ruins, factories, factories, bridges, roads were destroyed, and a significant part of vehicles was lost. Agriculture was especially hard hit by the war. Huge areas of agricultural land were abandoned, the livestock population was reduced by more than half. In the first post-war years, famine in a number of countries was added to the hardships of the war. Many economists and scientists, politicians then believed that Europe was not able to recover in any short time, it would take decades.

Simultaneously with the economic, demographic and social problems in the countries liberated from Nazi domination, the political problems of the revival of Europe arose. It was necessary to overcome the political, social and moral consequences of totalitarian regimes, to carry out the restoration of statehood, democratic institutions, political parties, to create new constitutional norms, etc. The primary task was the eradication of Nazism, fascism, punishment of the perpetrators of the bloodiest war in the history of civilization.

The situation in post-war Europe and in the world as a whole was complicated by the fact that in place of joint collective actions of countries anti-Hitler coalition came the split of the world into two systems, began confrontation with the USSR and USA,the two most strong powers... Conflict relations between the two great victorious powers in the common struggle against Hitlerite Germany were determined by ideological differences, a different approach to solving current problems, to the prospects for peaceful development. The question was harshly posed - communism or capitalism, totalitarianismor democracy.but in the first post-war years, the great powers acted within the framework of agreementsabout the post-war world, determined by the decisions they made in the final phase of World War II.

Post-war peace settlement. The most important agreements on post-war problems were reached at the Crimean (February 1945) and Potsdam (July-August 1945) conferences of the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain. At these conferences, the main lines of the policy of the victorious powers towards Germany were determined, including territorial issues concerning Poland, as well as issues of preparation and conclusion peace treaties with Germany's allies - Italy, Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Finland. Forthe implementation of preparatory work for a peaceful settlement was established by the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), representing the main powers. Peace treaties prepared forParis Peace Conference, entered into force in 1947. (an agreement with Austria was concluded later, in 1955).

Settlement in relation to Germany. The decisions of the Allies in relation to Germany provided for her long occupation and ALLIED control, the purpose of which was: “German militarism and Nazism will be eradicated, and the Allies, in agreement with each other, now and in the future, will take other measures necessary forso that Germany will never again threaten its neighbors or the preservation of world peace. "

The territory of Germany was divided into occupation zones: the eastern zone was controlled by the military administration of the USSR, and the three western zones were respectively controlled by the occupation authorities of the USA, Great Britain and France. Berlin was also divided into four zones.

The commanders-in-chief of the armed forces of the four powers became members of the control council, which was to be guided by the basic political and economic principles in implementing the goals of the occupation of Germany: complete disarmament and demilitarization of Germany, the elimination of its war production, the destruction of the National Socialist Party and all Nazi institutions and all Nazi propaganda; war criminals were to be arrested and brought to justice, Nazi leaders and the leadership of Nazi institutions were to be arrested interned, members of the Nazi party were to be removed from public and semi-public positions and from their respective posts in important private enterprises. The Allies also agreed to decentralize the German economy in order to eliminate the excessive concentration of economic power in the form of cartels, syndicates, and trusts. Taking into account “the need to maintain military security. freedom of speech, press and religion, the creation of free trade unions will be allowed.

Thus, the policy of the powers in relation to Germany provided for denazification, democratizationand decartelization.

It was assumed that the occupation authorities would create conditions for the democratic development of Germany as a whole. However, the split of Germany into eastern and western zones, between which the border of two warring systems lay, stretched for many decades.

In 1949. on its territory two states arose: in the western zones of the Federal Republic of Germany and in the eastern zone of the German Democratic Republic. Thus, a peace treaty with Germany was not concluded and the conflicts of the two systems took place along the border between the two German states. Only in 1990, in connection with the unification of Germany, both the occupation and the quadripartite agreements regarding Germany ceased to operate.

The question of a peace treaty with Austria. The question of peace treaty with Austria.The reason was the confrontation between the two world powers. The USSR strove for Austria to maintain neutrality and the obligation not to enter into military-political blocs. Such an agreement, as well as an article on the inadmissibility of the Anschluss, that is, the absorption of Austria by Germany, just as it took place on the eve of World War II, were recorded in the peace treaty and the Austrian constitution. In 1955, this made it possible to end the conflict with the signing of a peace treaty.

The question of a peace treaty with Japan. An important part of the new post-war structure of international relations was peaceful settlement in the Far East.After the surrender of Japan on September 2, 1945, the country was occupied by American troops, and the commander-in-chief of these troops, General MacArthur, actually exercised sole control of the occupation administration. It was only at the end of the year that the Far Eastern Commission of representatives of 11 states and the Union Council of representatives of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and China were created.

The contradictions between the USSR and the USA over the post-war structure of Japan turned out to be very sharp. The United States took the path of preparing a separate peace treaty without the participation of the USSR and a number of other interested countries, including the People's Republic of China,which was formed in October 1949 as a result of the victory of the revolution.

In September 1951, a conference was held in San Francisco to conclude a peace treaty with Japan. The organizers of the conference did not heed the amendments and additions made by the delegation of the USSR and a number of other participants in the USSR. They sought clear formulations on the issues of territorial settlement, the adoption of an article on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Japan, the prohibition of Japan to join "military alliances, etc. and other participants in the conference were not taken into account.The USSR, Poland and Czechoslovakia refused to join the treaty.

The question of a peace treaty between the USSR and Japan remained unresolved.

Creation of the UN. The creation of the United Nations has become an integral part of the peaceful post-war settlement. The UN was created at the final stage of World War II at a conference in San Francisco (April 25 - June 26, 1945). Initially 51 states participated in its creation, all members of the anti-Hitler coalition. The UN Charter entered into force on October 24, 1945. This date is celebrated as OOH Day.

The UN Charter contains its goals: maintaining international peace and security, suppressing acts of aggression, resolving international disputes by peaceful means, developing friendly relations between nations, implementing international cooperation in resolving economic, social and humanitarian problems, promoting and developing respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms foreveryone, without diff ichiyarace, gender, language and religion. The main organs of the UN are the General Assembly and the Security Council, the International Court of Justice, a number of specialized councils and other intergovernmental organizations. The General Assembly meets annually, and the Security Council is a permanent body charged with the responsibility of keeping peace. The Security Council includes 5 permanent members (USA, Russia, Great Britain, France, China) and 6 non-permanent members, which are replaced every two years. An important principle in the activities of the Council, which made it possible to preserve this organization in the conditions of the post-war confrontation between the great powers, was the principle of unanimity of the five permanent members when making decisions to suppress aggression "and maintain peace (the so-called veto right, that is, the right to reject any decision with which I do not agree one of the members nyagraters). Important institutions of economic stabilization were also created under the auspices of the UN: the International Monetary Fund and the International Bank for Development Reconstruction. Thus, at the end of the war and soon after its end, the foundation was laid. forcontinuation of cooperation of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in the post-war years. With all the sharp clashes of interests between the USSR and the United States, in the first post-war years they had to fight within the framework of the established international organizations and agreed decisions. Nuremberg Trials. Among the post-war problems of settlement, a special place was occupied by the Trials of the main war criminals. On Nuremberg trialsthe main Nazi war criminals were charged with conspiracy against peace by preparing and waging wars of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The tribunal sentenced 12 of the accused to death and the rest to various terms of imprisonment. This process was not only a punishment for the main war and Nazi criminals. He became a condemnation of Fascism and Nazism, the world community. This was the beginning of the process of cleansing Europe from fascism. In Germany, in the first post-war years, more than 2 million trials took place over military and Nazi criminals, the administrative apparatus was cleared of them, judicial system and the education system.

In little Belgium, after the liberation, more than 600 thousand cases of cooperation with the occupiers were opened for consideration and about 80 thousand sentences were passed.

In France, more radical measures were taken: 120 thousand sentences were passed on collaborators, of which about a thousand were deaths. The leader of the fascist regime Laval was executed, and Pétain was sentenced to life imprisonment.

In Holland, more than 150 thousand cases of those arrested on charges of collaboration with the Germans were considered.

However, the purges in different countries were not always consistent. Thousands of Nazis and collaborators not only escaped punishment, but also remained in their posts in the administration, courts, and the education system.

Many war criminals took refuge in Latin American countries. However, with all this, a process of repentance and cleansing from the filth of fascism began in Europe.

Beginning of the Cold War After World War II, the two great powers, the USSR and the United States, proved to be the most powerful militarily and economically and gained the greatest influence in the world. The split of the world into two systems and the polarity of the political course of the two great powers could not but affect international relations this period. The ideological confrontation separating these two powers has generated an atmosphere of hostility on the world stage, and in the internal life of these countries - the search for an enemy. Dissent in both countries was seen as a manifestation of subversion. As a result, such an ugly phenomenon as “McCarthyism. - prosecution of citizens on suspicion of anti-American activity. In the USSR, such an atmosphere was one of the features of the totalitarian regime. The two great powers have adopted the concept of a two-pole world and violent confrontation.

An influential American journalist then called these conflicts the "cold war." The press picked up this phrase, and it became the designation of the entire period of international politics up to the end of the 80s. biennium Churchill's speech in the USA. Usually in historical works the original date of the turn in the foreign policy of the United States and Western countries is considered to be the speech of the former Prime Minister of Great Britain Winston Churchill, which he delivered in the presence of the American President, Mr. TrumanMarch 5, 1946 in. campusFulton. The presence of G. Truman should have emphasized the special significance of this event. Otherwise, why would the president fly to the very center of the United States, to a provincial town to listen to a speech, the content of which he was familiarized with in advance? It was also no coincidence that at this time in Canada, the process against Soviet agents had already begun under the suppression of the United States. W. Churchill's speech in Fulton is considered the beginning of the Cold War. Churchill said that "iron curtain"separated Eastern Europe from European civilization and the Anglo-Saxon world should unite in the face of the communist threat.

The opposition of the interests of the two great powers was revealed in the practical implementation of the decisions of the allies on post-war problems, especially on the Polish borders, on the composition of the Polish government, in the German settlement, etc. Confirmation of communist parties in power in Eastern Europe in 1947-1948, partisan movement in Greece and other foreign policy events in the United States were viewed as a communist expansion. This is where the US foreign policy doctrines of "containment" and "rollback" of communism emerged. Soviet propaganda did not remain in debt and denounced the expansion of American imperialism.

The arms race was the most important area of \u200b\u200bconfrontation and potential conflict between the two great powers and their allies. There is an opinion that the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August 1945 was not only the last act of World War II, but also the first act of the Cold War, after which the arms race began on the principle of "challenge-response", "shield and sword".

INThe USSR began to speed up the creation of its atomic bomb. Its first Test was successfully completed already in 1949.The USA tested a hydrogen bomb in 1952, and the USSR - a year later. The United States created strategic bombers, and the USSR created intercontinental missiles. The means of anti-aircraft defense and anti-missile systems were improved. The competition between the two systems in various spheres of military production continued until the very leaders of these countries realized that the number of warheads exceeded the level of defensive sufficiency. The accumulated number of bombs could destroy the globe several times.

The creation of military-political blocs has also become an area of \u200b\u200b“competition. two great powers. It began with US military material aid to Greece and Turkey at the beginning of 1947, which were threatened by "communist pressure".

Marshall Plan. on providing multi-billion dollar aid to countries Western Europe was intended to strengthen the stronghold of capitalism in Europe. The USSR and the socialist countries refused this assistance, fearing the threat of enslavement by American imperialism.

In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was created, which initially proclaimed the security of the Western powers from the possible revival of Germany. Germany joined NATO in 1955. In 1955, a military-political alliance was created under the leadership of the USSR - the Warsaw Pact Organization (OVD)

Thus, the confrontation between the two great powers became a confrontation between two military-political blocs. The logic of confrontation led the world further and further into the quagmire of the growing threat of nuclear war.

Another important sign of the Cold War is the split between the world and Europe. With the formation of communist regimes in the countries of Central and Southeast Europe by the beginning of 1948, with the victory of the Chinese revolution and the formation of the PRC in October 1949, the formation of the "world socialist camp" was basically completed. The border between the two "camps", as the split of the world into two irreconcilable socio-economic systems was then called, ran in Europe through the territory of Germany along the line of the western and eastern occupation zones, in the Far East along the 38th parallel in Korea and in Southeast Asia in Vietnam, where, since 1946, French troops have fought a war against the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, which liberated itself from the Japanese invaders on its own.

Although the two great powers managed to avoid a direct military clash (the threat of mutual nuclear annihilation held back), military conflicts nevertheless took place, and the main and most dangerous escalation of the Cold War into a Hot War was the Korean War (1950-1953).

QUESTIONS AND TASKS:

1. Tell us about the consequences of the war, compare with the consequences of the First World War.

2. What are the main features of the Yalta-Potsdam system? What are the reasons for the collapse of the anti-Hitler coalition?

3. How was the post-war peace settlement organized?

4. What is the difference between the post-World War II United Nations and the pre-war League of Nations?

5. What is the significance of the Nuremberg trials of the main war criminals and trials of Nazis and collaborators in other countries?

6. What are the reasons and essence of the so-called "cold war"?

7. What contradictions were shared by the two great powers - the USSR and the USA?

8. What political blocs were formed after the Second World War?

On November 11, 1918 at 11 o'clock in the morning, 101 artillery volleys thundered in Paris. fireworks, which heralded the end of the war. 1st world war - coalition. The Entente fought against Germany and its allies.

On November 11, early in the morning in the forest near Compiegne (Compiegne Forest) in France, an armistice was signed with Germany on the headquarters train of the commander of the Entente forces, Marshal Foch. Thus ended this 51-month war. This war was the most terrible in the history of mankind at that time, about 10 million people died, led to the fact that about 20 million people were injured, became disabled, used weapons of mass destruction, gases. Destruction of cities, villages, famine, disease, revolution. This was the result of this enormous tragedy that humanity has experienced.

In international relations, it was necessary to create a new system. When an armistice agreement was signed, and then a peace treaty was concluded, then, in principle, no one wanted a repetition of this tragedy. Everyone was thinking about how to make the world no longer experience the horrors of a world war. In international relations, it was necessary to create such a system of cooperation between states in order to ensure a lasting peace in the future.

However, the peace turned out to be fragile, it lasted only 20 years, after which the second world war began, even more terrible than the first.

Why politicians, statesmen tried to prevent a new war, but did it happen? To answer this question, it is necessary to consider the balance of political forces in the world after the end of the war, and find out whether all the contradictions that led to the outbreak of the world conflict have been eliminated?

So, the alignment of forces by the end of 1918.

A new huge state appeared on the political map of the world - Soviet Russia, which proclaimed a new way of development. The policy of Soviet Russia created serious problems for the Western countries.

Major changes have also taken place within the Western world. Now, after the end of World War I, the United States is nominated as a contender for world domination. The United States has enriched itself unheard of during the war years; it has become, in fact, one of the most important creditors in the world. The United States entered World War I in 1917. When, in the summer of 1917, US President Woodrow Wilson announced that when the war was over, we would be able to force England and France to join our opinion, since by that time they would be in our hands financially. The United States believed that with the help of economic leverage it would be possible to force its allies in Western Europe to obey the opinion of the United States.

On January 8, 1918, Woodrow Wilson laid out the American program to the world. Those. the Americans put forward the idea of \u200b\u200ba peaceful settlement, became the main initiators of the end of the war. This American peace program is known in history as Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points. Here, the United States tried to take into account only its own interests, and financial issues here played an important role. Wilson proposed after the end of the war the creation of a new international organization that would oversee the maintenance of peace throughout the world. He proposed the creation of the League of Nations. Those. peace, re-negotiation of borders on controversial issues, freedom of trade and peace in the face of the League of Nations. Here are the main points of the 14 points.

This is what the United States put forward as the basis for signing the armistice. To a certain extent, they managed to realize this.

But we must bear in mind that the Western allies, above all England and France, were by no means going to share the US claims to world leadership. England and France are the winners in the 1st World War, they did not want to give up their victory to anyone. Each of them claimed a leading position in Europe and in the world. Let us recall the political map of the world at the beginning of the 20th century. These were the states that controlled half of the world, these were giant colonial empires. In this case, these countries did not want to yield to the United States.

Both the United States, Britain and France were striving to achieve maximum results from the results of the end of the 1st World War.

As for Germany. Germany lost this war. But not everything is so simple. German troops on the battlefield, in principle, did not lose the war. German troops were in foreign territories. Not a single Entente soldier trampled on holy German soil. In this case, for many Germans, such a catastrophic ending of the war was unexpected. The German generals did not admit the thought of defeat, they were preparing to at least fight another winter, and in this case what happened in the Compiegne forest was perceived as a blow of a huge force to national pride.

Why did Germany so hastily signed this agreement on November 11, 1918? Because a revolution has begun in Germany. More about her later. And for the German leadership it was important to save the army from complete defeat, to prevent the transformation of German territory into a theater of military operations, which would bring ruin to the country. Moreover, the Armistice of Compiegne was not an unconditional surrender. This is not what Germany then signed in 1945 in Reims.

The signing of the Compiegne Armistice, however, obliged Germany to fulfill the following conditions: the Germans had to urgently withdraw all their troops from the occupied territories. To evacuate within 2 weeks the troops and from the territory of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, from Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Romania, and from the border in the west, were to be brought in from the left bank of the Rhine. German troops could not be withdrawn only from the territory of Russia, but until the replacement of these troops by the Entente.

However, the withdrawal of a huge army from the occupied territories was very tight in terms of time, and Germany could not fulfill this. Germany did not fit into the terms of the armistice, and twice these terms were postponed, until February 17, 1919.

Already during this period, contradictions began to arise in the camp of the winners. In many ways, they were related to the economy. The point was that it was necessary to solve the problem of the post-war order in the West, economic recovery, it was necessary to find sources and resources. The Entente powers tried to solve their economic problems at the expense of German reparations. The Americans began to talk about the debts that Europe owed the United States. Moreover, the United States was not at all satisfied with the ruin of Germany; Washington opposed excessive reparation payments. Contradictions began to arise between Europe and America.

On the other hand, Europe was categorically against the US idea of \u200b\u200bfreedom of the seas and open markets, equal opportunities. Freedom of the seas and equal opportunity - this is an idea Woodrow Wilson put forward as provisions for a peace settlement. Europeans were afraid to open markets and allow the freedom of the seas for the United States.

As a result, considering the balance of power after the end of World War I, we can say that no one was able to win at that moment. The United States has failed to fully realize its goals. England and France retained the status of great powers, they continued to struggle for leadership not only on the European continent, but also outside it.

After the Compiegne Armistice, Germany lost the ability to influence solutions to world problems.

How does a truce differ from a peace treaty?

A truce is the end of hostilities. The peace treaty is the end of the war.

In this case, after the signing of the armistice agreement, it was also necessary to sign a peace treaty. To this end, on January 18, 1919, a peace conference was opened in Paris ( Paris Peace Conference). On it, in principle, 3 tasks were solved:

1. 1) Development and signing of a peace treaty with Germany
2. 2) Achieving a peace settlement and signing a peace treaty with Germany's allies
3. 3) The problem of the post-war device.

Conference participants. It was attended by over 1000 delegates from 27 countries. Conferences of this magnitude have never been held in history. In the conference not participated: Germany, Germany's allies, Soviet Russia.

So, on January 18, 1919, the Paris Conference opened. At the opening of the conference, French President Raymond Poincaré expressed the idea that many shared at that time: Gentlemen, exactly 48 years ago the German Empire was proclaimed in the hall of the Palace of Versailles, and today we are gathered here to destroy and replace what was created that day.

Those. it was about destroying the empire.

The intentions of the victorious powers pursued goals that were supposed to redraw the political map of Europe and the world. The most bloodthirsty position was taken by France. The French leadership wanted to dismember Germany and throw this state back to the position it had before the Frankfurt Peace, i.e. to turn Germany into that conglomerate of principalities and free cities, as it was before. The French wanted to draw a new state border with Germany, which was supposed to pass through a natural barrier, which, as it were, separated France from Germany, along the Rhine. At least Marshal Foch clearly told reporters that the border should pass only along the Rhine. Even then, the French were afraid of Germany, realizing that Germany's potential, not only economic, but also human, is much higher than that of France. France feared that Germany would someday begin revenge.

In the east and south of Europe, France wanted to create a kind of counterbalance to Germany from among the new states that arose on the ruins of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was about uniting those countries that had just appeared, as a counterweight to Germany. It was about Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia.

France sought to demand from Germany colossal reparations and the withdrawal from Germany of all its colonies.

Those. the task was to undermine the economic strength of its neighbor and create opportunities for France's claims to the leading state in Europe.

In this case, we can say: you never know what the French wanted, they really want a lot. But it must be borne in mind that behind the shoulders of the French delegation was the most powerful army in Europe. In this case, France went to the conference confident in its strength.

England. England's situation is different. England was a naval power. She intended to consolidate her naval superiority. England sought to preserve all those German colonies that the British managed to capture from Germany, plus the Turkish colonies. At the same time, the British were very frightened by the French. In this case, the task of the British was also to moderate France's claims to European and world leadership. The British were frightened by the fact that France was seeking to strengthen its position in Eastern Europe, primarily in the Balkans.

USA. USA on The Paris Conference based their tactics on Woodrow Wilson's 14 points. They tried to prevent the complete defeat of Germany, they feared the growth of Britain's sea power, they tried to solve post-war economic problems by obtaining debts from European countries. By the way, the debts were $ 10 billion.

An important task was pursued by the Americans at the conference: the creation of the League of Nations. It was supposed to be an international organization that would oversee the maintenance of peace throughout the world.

Along with France, England, the USA, 2 more countries tried to play an important role. This is Italy, which was trying to get something all the time. The Italian organization was very talkative. On one occasion, they even left the meeting room in protest. But no one even noticed their departure. The Italians received little from the Paris Peace Conference.

And Japan, which was also part of the Entente. The Japanese hoped to achieve some territorial gains in Asia. The Japanese were the most silent delegations, but got everything they wanted.

The rest of the conference participants did not play an independent role.

So, these 5 states were trying to decide the future of the world.

From these five countries, 2 delegates were nominated, who made up the so-called Council of Ten, which was supposed to solve the main problems at the conference.

English and French were approved as working languages. The Japanese also had to speak either English or French. Perhaps that's why they were silent.

In this case, French Prime Minister Georges Clemonso was elected as president of the conference. He was a 77-year-old man with a large bald head, bushy eyebrows, and a walrus mustache. His hands were affected by eczema, so he always wore gloves. He was resourceful and often resorted to rude tabloid expressions. When there was no quorum, he turned to the English delegation and said: call your savages. It was about the representatives of Canada and Australia.

His colleague in the leadership of the conference was US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, Italian Prime Minister Orlando, adviser to Emperor Sai Re Ji of Japan.

The work of the conference was erratic. A number of important meetings were even left without minutes. In this case, the role was played by the same Clemonso, who said: to hell with the protocols.

Ultimately, this deprived historians of important sources for the work of this conference. As for the work itself, it began, as always, with disagreements. And above all, this affected the creation of the League of Nations. The fact is that Woodrow Wilson planned the creation of the League of Nations as a priority matter for the Paris Peace Conference and demanded the adoption of the charter of the League of Nations, on the basis of which peace treaties with Germany and its allies were to be developed later. The adoption of the charter of the League of Nations meant for France and Great Britain, as well as Japan, that they could lose all their ambitions in relation to the defeated state, i.e. will make it difficult for them to discuss territorial and economic problems. This conflict situation ended with the creation of a special commission for the League of Nations, headed by Woodrow Wilson himself.

The second problem that caused disagreement was the fate of the German colonies. All the participants in the conference were of the same opinion that the colonies should be taken away from Germany, there were no disputes here. Disputes have already arisen in another: who will get these colonies then. And again nothing was decided. From the very beginning, a very tense situation was created, which could generally disrupt the Paris Peace Conference. Woodrow Wilson even stated that he was going to leave her. This caused everyone's alarm, but the deadlock was not broken until 10 days later, when Woodrow Wilson announced that he had developed the charter of the League of Nations.

On February 14, 1919, by the scheduled date, Wilson in a solemn atmosphere presented to the peace conference the draft charter of the League of Nations. He said: this is our agreement of brotherhood and friendship. And all the conference participants in their speeches congratulated themselves on the creation of an instrument of peace. In principle, the conference approved the charter League of Nations.

The most important principles of international law were fixed in the charter of the League of Nations. The rejection of wars was declared as a way of resolving international conflicts.

The definition of the aggressor and victims of aggression was given. Sanctions against the aggressor were assumed.

The so-called principle of the mandate for the administration of territories, which were in colonial dependence on the defeated states, was introduced. Those. it was on this principle of the mandate that the mandated territories of the colonial possessions of Germany and Turkey were to be distributed.

Thus, the approval of the charter of the League of Nations eliminated the motives that seemed to hamper the discussion of the peace treaty, and it seemed that now the conference would begin to work actively. Moreover, even the main characters considered that their mission was accomplished, and by the beginning of the discussion of the actual terms of the peace treaty with Germany, they left Versailles. Woodrow Wilson sailed to the USA, pleased with himself, accompanied by an artillery salute. After that David Lloyd George went to London. Orlando left for Rome.

Clemonceau left Versailles and was assassinated by an anarchist. Clemonso ended up in a military hospital.

And now, at this moment, the main serious problems of the peace treaty with Germany were to be worked out by the foreign ministers. They had to solve in many respects territorial issues, issues of the future borders of states. The atmosphere in the course of the conference was again heated. And in the end, everyone gathered again at Versailles.

In mid-March 1919, Clemonso, Wilson, Lloyd George, Orlando were again in Versailles. And again, fierce disputes broke out between them. We can say that the conference was again on the verge of collapse, it reached a dead end.

It broke the deadlock only on March 25, 1919. On March 25, English Prime Minister David Lloyd George (he was a master of compromises, could find proposals acceptable to all states) left for a while to rest in the suburbs of Paris, to the residence of the French kings of Fontainebleau. And here in Fontainebleau, on March 25, he drew up a memorandum, which was addressed to Wilson and Clemonso. He tried to accommodate various disagreements, he was a very flexible politician. He also proposed France's demands, but not all; tried to take into account the interests of all. The essence of the proposals: to prevent the dismemberment of Germany.

As for the security of France, he proposed creating a demilitarized zone on the border with France, where there would be no troops, the Ruhr area; to return to France Alsace and Lorraine, lost during the Franco-Prussian war; allow the French to use the Saar coal basin for 10 years (this is the territory of Germany). The French wanted to annex this territory to themselves, but Lloyd George offered only for 10 years.

Some border regions of Germany are transferred to Belgium and Denmark.

Poland should be allowed to reach the Baltic Sea, to create a Polish corridor that would allow Poland to have access to the Baltic. This is the so-called Danzig corridor. But in this way, the territory was taken away from Germany.

Avoid excessive demands for reparations.

This proposal of Lloyd George aroused violent indignation both Clemonso and Wilson's threats to leave for America again. In the end, however, it was possible to reach a compromise based on the proposal of Lloyd George, written in Fontainebleau.

After lengthy discussions, the leaders of the leading countries felt that this was the only way out of the situation.

After it was possible to agree on the main provisions, the draft peace treaty with Germany was ready at the end of April 1919. The German delegation was invited to Versailles so that they could receive the draft peace treaty.

The Germans actually hoped not only to receive a draft peace treaty, they counted on negotiations, they prepared for these negotiations very carefully, they rented a whole mansion in Paris, installed a radio antenna on the roof so that they could quickly communicate with Berlin. But the negotiations did not work out.

At the head of the German delegation was the German Foreign Minister Count Brockdorff. On May 7, 1919, he was handed a draft peace treaty at Versailles. At the same time, it was said that German comments must be submitted in writing within 15 days.

The German delegation immediately understood how harsh the terms of the peace treaty were. The very atmosphere of the delivery of the contract was indicative. The treaty was presented in the White Hall of the Palace of Versailles. This is the throne room of Louis 14. In the place where the throne once stood, 5 armchairs were placed. The main protagonists of the Paris Conference were seated in these chairs. Georges Clemonceau took the floor and said harshly: gentlemen, the deputies of the German state, this is no place for unnecessary words, you have imposed a war on us, we are taking measures to prevent such a war from happening again. The hour of reckoning has come. You asked us for peace, we agree to provide it to you.

The secretary presented the contract to Brockdorff. And the Germans realized that there would be no negotiations. They also realized how cruel the peace treaty itself was. After the Germans received the draft, protest demonstrations swept across Germany. Minister Scheidemann on May 12, 1919, annoyed from the balcony, declared: let the hand of the one who signs this treaty dry up. The Germans were not going to sign this treaty. The German Foreign Minister said that no one would have the conscience to sign this treaty, since it is impracticable.

The Germans took the treaty negatively, because they did not feel that they were defeated in this war. German diplomats have compiled 17 notes on individual provisions of the draft. Basically, the Germans sought to get support from the United States here, referred to the 14 points of Woodrow Wilson, and tried to revise the principles of the Paris Peace Treaty. But the French did not allow the revision. Clemonso took a very decisive position. On June 28, he announced that if Germany does not sign a peace treaty, then France is ready to continue the war. In other words, France put forward an ultimatum, and Germany had no choice but to accept the ultimatum demands and sign this treaty.

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. Moreover, it was signed by the new German Foreign Minister Müller, and the Minister of Justice Bern. They put their signatures on this agreement. And after them the representatives of other powers put their signatures.

A few years later they wrote: 60 million Germans instantly fell to their knees. France brought Germany to its knees before all of Europe, and the Germans now could only watch as freight trains went west, taking away reparations. For Germany, it was a shame and a trauma. In Germany, mourning ensued, flags were lowered.

France was jubilant. Residents of Paris took to the streets, sang the Marseillaise, hugged, kissed.

The main provisions of the Versailles Peace Treaty:

Territorial moments:

Alsace and Lorraine returned to France. The Saara coal basin became the property of France for 15 years. After these 15 years, it was proposed that the population of the Saara coal basin express their attitude towards the future, hold a plebiscite (referendum) about which country they want to belong to.

3 regions of Germany were transferred to Belgium.

Part of northern Germany was transferred to Denmark.

Poland received part of Upper Silesia.

Czechoslovakia also received part of Silesia.

Danzig (Gdansk) passed into the control of the League of Nations and was declared a free city. But Poland got access to the Baltic Sea. As a result, East Prussia with the city of Konigsberg was separated from Germany. It is worth paying attention to this, since then in 1939 this issue will already be actively discussed.

In 1939, another problem will be discussed, this is the territory of Lithuania. The fact is that the German city of Mener (now Kleiner)?) First came under the jurisdiction of the victorious powers, and from 1923 it was transferred to Lithuania. This is Klaipeda, the largest port in Lithuania, a typical German city.

The left bank of the Rhine was occupied by the Entente troops for 15 years, the territory from the Rhine to the western border.

The right bank of the Rhine, about 50 km wide, was declared a demilitarized zone. It was forbidden to deploy troops and military facilities there.

The German colonies were divided between 3 Entente states. They were received by England, France, Japan.

The number of the German army was limited to 100 thousand people.

The German navy was only allowed 36 large ships. The submarine fleet was prohibited. Military aircraft and tank troops were prohibited.

Germany had to pay reparations for 30 years, and the amount of these reparations itself was not determined, they had to be determined by a special reparation commission.

These conditions gave rise to bouts of great joy in Paris. The lights were on. In the evening, huge beams of three national colors were sent from the Eiffel Tower. Crowds of people, torchlight procession, the sounds of the Marseillaise.

What was the fate of the peace treaties of Germany's allies?

In World War I, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria (it is always in all wars against Russia), Turkey fought on the side of Germany. But by the time the peace treaties were actually being worked out, Austria-Hungary no longer existed. Therefore, peace treaties were signed separately with Austria and Hungary.

On September 10, 1919, a treaty with Austria was signed at the Saint-Germain Palace. All of these contracts are of a standard nature.

Austria transferred part of its territory to Italy, Czechoslovakia, Hungary.

The Austrian army was numbered at 30 thousand people.

Military and merchant fleets were transferred to the Allies. Austria was losing the ability to have a fleet.

Austria was forbidden to unite with Germany, the so-called Anschluss was forbidden.

On November 27, 1919, in the city of Ney, an agreement was signed with Bulgaria... Bulgaria also transferred part of its territory to neighboring states: Romania, Yugoslavia, Greece.

Bulgaria also transferred its entire fleet to the Allies.

The armed forces were nominated in the composition of 20 thousand people.

What is the size of the Petrovsky Stadium? 24 thousand people. Those. the entire Bulgarian army could be accommodated at our Petrovsky stadium.

Hungary... On June 4, 1920, a peace treaty with Hungary was signed at the Grand Trianon Palace of Versailles.

Hungary was deprived of a significant part of its territory, it really suffered: Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, many territories of Romania - northern Transylvania. This area was inhabited by Hungarians and was rich in oil.

70% of its territory and 50% of the population of Hungary ceded to neighboring states.

The Hungarian army was limited to 30 thousand people.

Hungary signed a rather tough, humiliating peace treaty.

Turkey... On August 10, 1920, in the city of Sevres in France, an agreement was signed with the Sultan government of Turkey. Under this treaty, the Ottoman Empire was divided. Part of the territory was transferred under the mandate administration of England, part of France.

Turkey is not part of Asia Minor at the time, it was a colossal empire.

England received Palestine, Trans Jordan, Iraq.

France got Syria, Lebanon.

The Turks lost all their possessions in the Arabian Peninsula.

The Turks were to cede part of their territory to Greece in Asia Minor.

Turkey has lost 80% of its territory.

The straits of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles were declared open to the ships of the Entente. In peacetime and wartime, international control was established over these straits.

International control was established over Turkey. Objectively speaking, Turkey has become a semi-colony of Western Europe.

The Treaty of Sevres with Turkey was the final act of the Versailles system of peace treaties.

The Versailles Peace for a long time consolidated the contradictions between the victors and the vanquished. Contradictions between the allies also began to appear during this period.

The League of Nations was proclaimed at the Paris Peace Conference. Its charter was signed by 44 states.

• Political significance
• Economic significance
• Military significance
• Demogrophic significance
• Public
• New ideologies

The First World War itself and its results, in short, were of great historical importance for the subsequent development of not only European states, but the whole world. First, it forever changed the world order that existed before it. And secondly, its outcome became one of the prerequisites for the emergence of a second world armed conflict.

Politics

The war was of the greatest importance for the further political interaction of the countries.
After the war, the political map of the world has changed quite a lot. Four large empires disappeared from it at once, which played a significant role in world politics. Instead of 22 European states at the end of the military confrontation, there were 30 countries on the continent. New state formations appeared in the Middle East (instead of the Ottoman Empire, which ended its days). At the same time, in many countries the form of government and political structure have changed. If before the start of the war there were 19 monarchical states and only three republican states on the European map, then after its end the first became 14, but the number of the second increased immediately to 16.
The new Versailles-Washington system, formed to a greater extent taking into account the interests of the victor countries (Russia did not enter there, as withdrew from the war earlier), had a huge impact on further international relations. At the same time, the interests of the newly formed states, as well as the countries that suffered defeat in the war, were completely ignored. And even, on the contrary, the young states had to become obedient puppets in the struggle against the Russian Bolshevik system and the German desire for revenge.
In a word, the new system was completely unjust, unbalanced, and, consequently, ineffective and could not lead to anything other than a new large-scale war.

Economy

Even with a brief examination, it becomes clear, but the First World War was of no less importance for the economies of all countries that took part in it.
As a result of the hostilities, large territories of the countries lay in ruins, settlements and infrastructure were destroyed. The arms race has skewed the economy in many industrialized countries towards military industry, to the detriment of other areas.
At the same time, the changes affected not only the largest powers, which spent colossal sums on rearmament, but also their colonies, where production was transferred, and from where more and more resources were supplied.
As a result of the war, many countries abandoned the gold standard, which led to a crisis in the monetary system.
Almost the only country that benefited from the First World War is the United States. Observing neutrality in the early years of the war, the states accepted and fulfilled the orders of the belligerent parties, which led to their significant enrichment.
However, despite all the negative aspects in the development of the economy, it is worth noting that the war gave an impetus to the development of new technologies, and not only in the production of weapons.

Demography

The human losses of this prolonged bloody conflict were estimated in the millions. Moreover, they did not end with the last shot. Many died due to their wounds and the outbreak of the Spanish flu ("Spanish flu") pandemic in the post-war years. The countries of Europe were literally drained of blood.

Social development

In short, the First World War was also of considerable importance for the development of society. While men fought on numerous fronts, women worked in workshops and industries, including those that were considered exclusively male. This is largely reflected in the formation of women's views and rethinking their place in society. Therefore, the post-war years were marked by mass emancipation.
Also, the war played a huge role in strengthening the revolutionary movement and, as a consequence, in improving the position of the working class. In some countries, the workers sought to realize their rights through a change of government, in others, the government and the monopolists themselves made concessions.

New ideologies

Perhaps one of the most significant results of the First World War was that it made possible the emergence of new ideologies, such as fascism, and gave a chance to gain a foothold and rise to new level the former, for example, socialism.
Subsequently, many researchers have repeatedly argued that it is precisely such large-scale and protracted conflicts that contribute to the establishment of totalitarian regimes.
Thus, we can say that the world after the end of the war was completely different from the one that entered it four years earlier.

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Introduction

1. Consequences of the First World War for the countries of Western Europe

2. Creation of new states in Europe after the First World War

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The First World War is one of the key events in world history. She determined the world evolution of all subsequent time. For four years, there has been a real revolution in the economy, communications, national organization, in the social system of the world.

The First World War gave a modern form to the national question. It brought to the arena of social life the masses of the people who had not actually participated in world history before. It gave an unprecedented impulse to the technical revolution, while at the same time it opened the unprecedented depths of the humanitarian fall, which man proved capable of despite all the achievements of civilization.

It actually destroyed the optimistic culture of Europe, smashed all the achievements of the century after the post-Napoleonic world, made violence a legitimate instrument for resolving international disputes and an instrument of social change. She left behind an unprecedented bitterness of peoples, splashing out into the alienation of the 1920s and 1930s and the bloody drama of World War II.

Called the Great, the First World War left wounds that even time can hardly drag out. In France, Germany and Britain there is no city or village where there would be no monument to those who did not return from the Great War.

In this war, two million Russian soldiers, two million Frenchmen, two million Germans, one million Englishmen and uncountable hundreds of thousands from various countries and corners of the earth - from New Zealand to Ireland, from South Africa to Finland, were killed. And the survivors became part of what would later be called the "lost generation."

Consequently, the relevance of this topic is beyond doubt.

The purpose of the work is to briefly reveal the consequences of the First World War for the countries of Europe.

The work consists of an introduction, main part, conclusion and a list of used literature.

1. Consequences of the First World War for the countries of Western Europe

In August 1914, the world did not yet know how grandiose and catastrophic the war declared on the first day of the last summer month would become. No one had ever known what innumerable sacrifices, calamities and upheavals it would bring to humanity and what an indelible mark it would leave in its history. And no one at all imagined that it was precisely those terrible four years of the First World War - as it was named afterwards - that, in spite of the calendars, were destined to become the true beginning of the 20th century.

The First World War is one of the largest armed conflicts in the history of mankind.

INoyna began in Europe between the Austro-German bloc and the coalition of England, France, Russia. It lasted 4 years, 3 months and 10 days (from August 1, 1914 to November 11, 1918), pulled into its orbit 38 states of the world. Military operations took place in Europe, the Far and Middle East, Africa, the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.

The reasons for the war were the uneven economic and political development of the capitalist countries, which led at the beginning of the 20th century to a change in the balance of power in the world arena and rivalry between the largest Western countries for markets, sources of raw materials, and the redistribution of an already divided world.

At first, the war engulfed 8 European states: Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the one hand, Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia and Montenegro, on the other. Later, most of the countries of the world were involved in it. In total, 4 states participated in the war on the side of the Austro-German bloc, 34 states on the side of the Entente (including 4 British dominions and the colony of India, which signed the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919).

By its very nature, the war was aggressive and unjust on both sides; only in Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro did it include elements of a national liberation war.

The goals of the great powers in the First World War: France sought to return the lost Alsace and Lorraine, the banks of the Rhine and preserve their colonies.

Great Britain - crush the main rival in Europe and the colonies. Austria-Hungary - End Serbia and the Pan-Slavic movement in the Balkans, led by Russia. Germany - crush France and eliminate it as a competitor in Europe, oust England from Europe and seize her colonial possessions, gain access to the raw materials of Russia. Austro-hungary - preserve the multinational empire, suppress the national liberation movement of the Slavic peoples, seize the territories liberated by Turkey Balkan Peninsula. Italy - to seize part of the Turkish possessions in Africa, to achieve an advantage in the Balkans, to strengthen its influence in the Mediterranean Sea. After much hesitation, she entered the war on the side of the Entente. Russia - to expel Turkey from the Balkans and consolidate their presence there, to put under their control the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits, to support the national liberation struggle of the Slavic peoples.

This war raised the question of the further coexistence of various peoples and states in a new way. And in the human dimension, its price turned out to be unprecedentedly high - the great powers that were part of the opposing blocs and took on the brunt of the hostilities lost a significant part of their gene pool.

The historical consciousness of the peoples turned out to be so poisoned that for a long time it cut off the path to reconciliation for those of them who acted as opponents on the battlefields. The world war "rewarded" those who passed through its crucible and survived, even if they were driven inside, but constantly reminded of themselves with fierceness. Man's faith in the reliability and rationality of the existing world order was seriously undermined.

On November 11, 1918, an armistice was concluded in Compiegne, endingThe First World War - a conflict unheard of in the history of mankind, which ended in the complete defeat of Germany and its allies.

The ending First world war was withthe most significant event in the world in2- th decadeXXcentury... This event was awaited by many millions of peoples of the war-torn states, and ordinary people pinned great hopes on it. After the horror with massive bombing, gas attacks, with so many deaths that no war had ever known, people wanted peace.

World War I was one of the main reasons for the collapse of the four empires - German, Russian, Ottoman empires and Austria-Hungary, the latter two being separated. One can, of course, argue about whether this disintegration was a foregone conclusion, as well as who was right and who was wrong. But these disputes themselves are now of interest only to the scientific community. Much more interesting is the question of what were the consequences of the First World War for humanity in general and for Europe in particular.

As a result, the political map of the world changed significantly, the so-called Versailles-Washington system of international relations was approved. It was based on the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 and other agreements and treaties concluded at the Washington Conference (1921-1922). These documents consolidated the redivision of the world in favor of the victorious powers. Germany, having ceased to be a monarchy, is cut off territorially and economically weakened. Under the Versailles Treaty the territory of Germany has decreased by 70 thousand square meters. km, she lost all the few colonies; military articles obliged Germany not to introduce military service, to dissolve all military organizations, not to have modern species weapons, pay reparations. The map of Europe was thoroughly redrawn.

The composition of the main actors in world politics has changed: the revolution in Russia excluded the country from the number of influential countries of the world. The countries of the Quadruple Bloc were defeated and dropped out of the ranks of the countries that determined world politics. Weakened the positions of Britain and France due to the growing influence of the United States and Japan.

New states arose on the territory of Europe: the Polish Republic, the Czechoslovak Republic, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1929 - Yugoslavia), Austria, Hungary, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, which radically changed the balance of power in Eastern Europe. The violation of the ethnic principle during the establishment of the borders of the new states and the ambitions of their leaders have turned this region into a permanent hotbed of tension.

The borders of modern Europe were 70% formed as a result of the First World War. Under the Versailles Peace Treaty, Germany:

She returned Alsace-Lorraine to France (within the boundaries of 1870).

Transferred to Belgium - Malmedy and Eupen counties.

Transferred to Poland - Poznan, parts of Pomorie and other territories of East Prussia; southern part of Upper Silesia (1981); (at the same time: the original Polish lands on the right bank of the Oder, Lower Silesia, most of Upper Silesia - remained with Germany).

G. Danzig (Gdansk) was declared a free city.

G. Memel (Klaipeda) was transferred to the jurisdiction of the victorious powers (in 1923 - annexed to Lithuania).

Transferred to Denmark - the northern part of Schleswig (in 1920).

Transferred to Czechoslovakia - a small area of \u200b\u200bUpper Silesia.

The Saar region came under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years.

The German part of the left bank of the Rhine and a strip of the right bank 50 km wide were subject to demilitarization.

Military actions have led to the destruction of the economies of many countries. Indeed, in all the belligerent countries, democracy was curtailed, the sphere of market relations narrowed, giving way to strict state regulation of the sphere of production and distribution in its extreme statist form, i.e. state intervention in production and its regulation increased significantly.

The First World War led to a significant deterioration in the lives of people. The civilian population, suffering from incredible hardships with which they put up in the first years of the war, in the conditions of protracted hostilities, began to fight not only for their rights, but also against the forces that unleashed this war. They wanted big changes: more justice, more equality, more democracy. A new stage of the national liberation struggle of the peoples who were in colonial dependence began. The process of politicization of this struggle has intensified. As a result, revolutions broke out in some countries (Russia, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Slovakia), in others, reforms were carried out (England, France, USA). A fascist dictatorship was established in Italy. War and revolutions led to the collapse of monarchies: of 41 ruling dynasty in Europe after the end of the war, only 17 remained.

The results of the First World War were the February and October revolutions in Russia and the November revolution in Germany. Following the October Revolution in Russia, revolutions of a socialist character swept through Finland, Germany, Hungary; in other countries there was an unprecedented upsurge of the revolutionary movement, and in the colonies - an anti-colonial movement.

The creation of democratic republics with a more just social order was the main goal of the revolutionary forces. But there were also those who, under the influence of the October Revolution in Russia, sought to establish the dictatorship of the proletariat in the form of Soviet power. But nowhere in Europe except Russia has this goal been achieved. The most important was the German Revolution of 1918-1919, the establishment of the Weimar Republic in the country.

Tensions in international relations persisted. In the 1920s, the great powers tried to strengthen this system. The position of Germany was eased. She was accepted into the League of Nations, and the burden of reparations was reduced. Western countries recognized Soviet Russia.

The consequences of the war were catastrophic for the national economy of most countries. They resulted in widespread long-term economic crises, which were based on gigantic economic imbalances that arose during the war years. In the 20-30s. The twentieth century, the world was shaken by two powerful crises - the post-war 1920-21, and the most difficult in the history of world capitalism - the crisis of 1929-33.

As a "war of economies", the First World War led to a crisis to one degree or another, all the belligerent countries. The situation was especially difficult in the defeated countries (Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy). Living standards fell so low that discontent grew into revolutionary movements. In 1924 - 25. there was a “partial stabilization of capitalism. A short period of stability and prosperity gave way in 1929 to the most severe global crisis of overproduction, which hit the rapidly developing countries (USA, Germany) the hardest.

A common economic crisis is a mismatch between the flow of manufactured goods and the purchasing power of the population (i.e., overproduction of goods). Countries emerged from such crises through a natural reduction in production (bankruptcy or forced closure of enterprises), lower prices due to a reduction in production costs (for example, an increase in the working day and a reduction in wages) and the cessation of capital investments. As a result, gradually production is compared with consumption (supply with demand) and a new rise begins.

At the end of the 20s. The industry experienced a change in the technical and technological base, which led to a too large increase in production, which was impossible to reduce using the old methods without receiving a powerful social outburst of indignation. That is why the new crisis has become so protracted and painful.

There have been economic crises before. This one turned out to be unique in terms of the depth of the decline in production, in terms of the scale of coverage of the world economy and in duration. The reason for this is the breakdown of the world economy after the First World War. Western governments were unprepared to deal with such a scourge. They could not even achieve coordinated action to combat the crisis, although all were its victims. The crisis has caused severe social consequences... Unemployment has become massive and long lasting.

Reduced demand for food has worsened the situation for farmers. A similar fate befell small traders and artisans. The middle class was also under the threat of ruin: employees, doctors, teachers. In such conditions, people's moods began to change. Disappointment arose in the existing order. The political influence of those parties and movements that advocated its demolition began to grow. Among them were both communists and fascists. Political stability is also a thing of the past. The search for ways out of the crisis began. In some countries, as a result, fascism came to power, in others, democratic reforms were carried out.

The socio-political and socio-economic consequences of the First World War for the main participating countries are summarized in the appendix.

The crisis also affected international relations. The Western countries, having failed to find ways to jointly combat the crisis, tried to shift its burden onto each other. This weakened their ability to jointly maintain world order.

Thus, the First World War, without resolving any of the previous contradictions, gave rise to new serious contradictions that caused subsequent military conflicts and then a new world war.

2. Creation of new states in Europe after the First World War

The countries of Western Europe have always played a prominent role in world politics and economics. This primarily applies to England, Germany, France, Russia. In 1900, the balance of forces in world industrial production was as follows - England accounted for 18.5%, France 6.8%, Germany 13.2%, and the USA 23.6%. Europe as a whole accounted for 62.0% of all industrial production in the world.

After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Czechs and Slovaks united and created an independent state - Czechoslovakia... When it became known in Prague that Austria-Hungary had requested peace, on October 28, 1918, the Prague National Committee took over power in the Czech and Slovak lands and created a Provisional National Assembly from representatives of various parties. The meeting elected the first president of Czechoslovakia - Tomáš Masaryk. The borders of the new republic were determined at the Paris Peace Conference. It included the Czech lands of Austria, Slovakia and Transcarpathian Ukraine, which were previously part of Hungary, and later part of Silesia, which is part of Germany. As a result, about a third of the country's population was made up of Germans, Hungarians and Ukrainians. Major reforms were carried out in Czechoslovakia. The nobility was deprived of all privileges. An 8-hour working day was established and social security introduced. Land reform eliminated German and Hungarian large landholdings... The 1920 Constitution consolidated the democratic system that had developed in Czechoslovakia. As one of the most developed industrial countries in Europe, Czechoslovakia was distinguished by a relatively high standard of living and political stability.

On October 31, 1918, the Emperor of Austria-Hungary and at the same time King of Hungary Charles IV instructed the Hungarian Count M. Karoji to form a government of democratic parties. This government was guided by the Entente and tried to keep Hungary within its pre-war borders. November 16, 1918 Hungary was proclaimed a republic. But democracy in Hungary did not succeed. The Hungarian communists called for a revolution and began to set up Soviets across the country along the lines of the Russian model. The Entente "helped" them to come to power, in an ultimatum demanded the liberation of the territories that were now to be transferred to Hungary's neighbors. The ultimatum was perceived in the country as a national disaster. The government and Karolyi himself resigned. It seemed that there was only one way out of this crisis - to try to rely on the help of Soviet Russia. This could not have been done without the communists. On March 21, 1919, they and the Social Democrats united and bloodlessly proclaimed the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Banks, industry, transport, large land holdings... Communist leader Bela Kun became People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and proposed an "armed alliance" with Russia. This call was supported in Moscow. Two Red Armies tried to break through to each other, the Hungarian, while pushed back the Czechoslovak troops and entered the Transcarpathian Ukraine. But their connection never happened. On July 24, the offensive of the Czechoslovak and Romanian armies began. On August 1, the Soviet government resigned, and soon Romanian troops entered Budapest. Power in Hungary passed to anti-communist groups, which, in addition, spoke out for the restoration of the monarchy in Hungary. Under these conditions, parliamentary elections were held in 1920. The Soviet republic fell, Miklos Horthy came to power. He banned the Communist Party. In the summer of 1920, the new government signed the Trianon Peace Treaty. According to it, Hungary lost 2/3 of its territory, 1/3 of its population and access to the sea. 3 million Hungarians ended up in neighboring states, and Hungary itself received 400 thousand refugees. The foreign policy of Horthy Hungary was unequivocally aimed at restoring Hungary within its former borders. Her relations with her neighbors were constantly strained.

She was in a difficult position and Austria... In Austria, on October 30, 1918, the Provisional National Assembly and the State Council, a coalition government led by Social Democrat Karl Renner, assumed power. The Provisional National Assembly abolished the monarchy. Emperor Charles IV, who succeeded the deceased Franz Joseph in 1916, became the last Habsburg on the Austrian throne. The terms of the peace treaty, which Austria was forced to sign, were unusually difficult for her. For centuries, the emerging economic ties of Austria with Hungary and the Slavic lands were artificially severed, the country lost access to the sea. Vienna, renowned as the capital of a huge empire and rivaling in grandeur with London and Paris, became the capital of a small state. Having become almost a purely Austrian-German state, Austria naturally began to gravitate towards Germany. But these connections were also limited. This became a breeding ground for the growth of nationalist and fascist attitudes.

The Yugoslavian peoples, which were part of Austria-Hungary, united around Serbia and created on December 4, 1918 Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes... However, the Serbs sought to occupy a leading position in this state. At the same time, they did not want to reckon with the interests of other peoples, very different from each other, despite their common origin (Croats and Slovenes - Catholics, Macedonians, Montenegrins and the Serbs themselves are Orthodox, some of the Slavs adopted Islam, the Albanians are non-Slavs, professing in the majority Islam). This almost immediately made the national question the main source of political instability. At the same time, the main contradiction was between the Serbs and Croats - the two largest peoples of the country. The authorities tried to suppress any discontent. The country became known as the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was supposed to symbolize the "national unity" of the population. In response, Croatian nationalists killed the king in 1934. Only in 1939 the ruling regime decided to make concessions on the national question: it announced the creation of an autonomous Croatian region.

Lost independence and divided in the 18th century Poland for more than a century she fought for the restoration of her state. The First World War created the conditions for achieving this goal. The restoration of the independent Polish state is associated with the name of Jozef Pilsudski. Observing the growth of contradictions between Russia and Austria-Hungary, he came up with the idea of \u200b\u200busing these contradictions to achieve his goal. He offered the Austrians the services of a revolutionary underground to fight Russia. With the outbreak of the First World War, Pilsudski was able to form Polish national units, which already in 1914 entered the battle with the Russian army. The retreat of the Russian army from Poland in 1915 contributed to the growth of Pilsudski's influence, which caused alarm among the Germans and Austrians, who least of all thought about Polish independence. They assigned Pilsudski only the role of a tool in the anti-Russian struggle. The February revolution in Russia and the recognition by the new government of the right of the Poles to independence changed the situation. Pilsudski even thought about going over to the side of Russia, and for a start he stopped cooperation with the Austrians and Germans. They did not stand on ceremony with him: he ended up in a German prison. But this episode further contributed to the growth of his authority in Poland and, no less important, made him an acceptable figure for the Entente as the leader of Poland, whose restoration of independence became inevitable. The German revolution made it possible to proclaim the independence of Poland, and it also liberated Pilsudski.

Arriving in Warsaw, becoming the head of the resurgent Polish state, he concentrated all his energy on creating an efficient Polish army from scattered units and detachments, which, in his opinion, was to play a decisive role in defining the boundaries of the Polish state. Poland's western borders were defined at the Paris Peace Conference. Pilsudski tried to recreate the eastern ones in the form in which they were in 1772, when in addition to the Polish lands proper, it included all of Belarus, Lithuania, part of Latvia and the Right-Bank Ukraine. Such plans could not fail to meet opposition from the peoples inhabiting these territories. They also contradicted the principle of self-determination of peoples, which was the basis for the post-war reconstruction.

In December 1919, the Supreme Council of the Entente established the “Curzon Line” as the temporary border of Poland in the east, which ran along the approximate border of residence of Poles, on the one hand, and Ukrainians and Lithuanians, on the other. However, relying on the support of France, which saw a strong Poland as a reliable counterbalance to Germany in the east, Pilsudski could ignore this decision. This was also facilitated by the weakness of the states that had just proclaimed their independence (Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus) after the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Polish troops consistently established control over Galicia (this part of Ukraine was part of Austria-Hungary before World War I), the Vilnius region of Lithuania, and in May 1920 occupied Kiev. After the signing of the peace treaty, in March 1921, the Soviet-Polish border passed east of the "Curzon Line", and the western part of Ukraine and Belarus became part of Poland. Soon the Poles again seized the Vilna region from Lithuania. This is how the borders of Poland, in which a third of the population were non-Poles.

In 1921, a constitution was adopted that proclaimed Poland a parliamentary republic. In foreign policy Poland, being in an alliance with France since 1921, pursued an anti-German and anti-Soviet policy.

Independence was granted on December 31, 1917 Finland... Already in January 1918, the left-wing Social Democrats and the Finnish Red Guard tried to establish Soviet power. They captured the capital of Finland, Helsinki, industrial centers in the south of the country, created a revolutionary government, which concluded a treaty of friendship with Soviet Russia. In addition, after the proclamation of independence, units of the Russian army remained on the territory of Finland, supporting the revolution. The Finnish government moved to the city of Vasa on the shores of the Gulf of Bothnia and began to form a national army, entrusting this to the former Russian general K.G.E. Mannerheim. The presence of Russian troops gave Finland an excuse to ask for help from Germany. In early April 1918, about 10,000 German soldiers landed in Finland. The revolutionaries were defeated. But the country turned out to be dependent on Germany, plans for the proclamation of Finland as a kingdom and an invitation to the throne of a German prince were discussed. After the defeat of Germany in the First World War, a republic was proclaimed in Finland, German troops left the country. Before the formation of elected bodies of power, the new state was headed by Mannerheim. Soviet-Finnish relations remained for a long time tense.

Territory of the future independent Lithuania already in 1915 it was occupied by German troops. Under the auspices of Germany, the Lithuanian Tariba (Assembly) was created there, headed by A. Smetona. On December 11, 1917, she proclaimed the re-establishment of the Lithuanian state. The independence of Lithuania was recognized by Germany, forcing Soviet Russia to recognize it according to the Brest Peace. However, after the Armistice of Compiegne, the Red Army invaded Lithuania, Soviet power was proclaimed there, Lithuania and Belarus were united into one Soviet republic. Negotiations began on its federal union with Soviet Russia. These plans did not come true. The Vilnius region was captured by Polish troops, and the Red Army was driven out of the rest of Lithuania with the help of volunteer detachments consisting of the remnants of the German army. In April 1919, the Lithuanian Tariba adopted an interim constitution and elected A. Smetona as president. All the decrees of the Soviets were canceled. However, the power of Smetona at first was purely nominal. Part of the country's territory was occupied by the Polish army, the north of Lithuania was controlled by German troops, relations with Soviet Russia remained unsettled. The Entente countries were suspicious of new governmentseeing her as German henchmen. It was decided to send the newly formed Lithuanian army to clear the territory of German detachments, then, on the basis of anti-Polish interests, it was possible to settle relations with Soviet Russia. An agreement was signed with her, according to which the Vilna region was recognized as Lithuanian.

In the Soviet-Polish war, Lithuania adhered to neutrality, but Soviet Russia handed over the Vilnius region to it, from which the Polish troops were driven out. However, after the retreat of the Red Army, the Poles again seized the Vilna region, and there were continuous clashes between the Polish and Lithuanian armies. Only in November 1920, with the mediation of the Entente countries, was an armistice concluded. In 1923, the League of Nations recognized the fact of the annexation of the Vilnius region to Poland. Kaunas became the capital of Lithuania. As compensation, the League of Nations agreed with the seizure of Memel (Klaipeda) by Lithuania on the coast of the Baltic Sea - German territory that came under the control of France after the World War. In 1922, the Constituent Seimas adopted the Constitution of Lithuania. It became a parliamentary republic. An agrarian reform was carried out, during which large landholdings, mostly Polish, were eliminated. About 70 thousand peasants received land as a result of this reform.

Territory of the future independent republics Latvia and Estonia by the time of the October Revolution, it was only partially occupied by German troops. Soviet power was proclaimed in the rest of Latvia and Estonia, but in February 1918 the German army captured this territory as well. According to the Brest Peace Treaty, Soviet Russia recognized the separation of Latvia and Estonia. Germany planned to create a Baltic Duchy here, headed by one of the representatives of the Prussian Hohengdollern dynasty. But after the Armistice of Compiegne, Germany transferred power in Latvia to the government of K. Ulmanis, and in Estonia to the government of K. Päts, who proclaimed the independence of their states. Both governments consisted of representatives of democratic parties. Almost simultaneously, an attempt was made to restore Soviet power here. Units of the Red Army entered Estonia. The Estland Labor Commune was proclaimed, the RSFSR recognized its independence. On the initiative of the government of the RSFSR of Estonia, part of the territory of the Petrograd province with a predominantly Russian population was transferred.

In Latvia, a Provisional Soviet Government was created from the Latvian Bolsheviks, which turned to the RSFSR for help. The Red Army established control over most of Latvia. Then the creation of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Latvia was proclaimed. In the struggle against the Soviet troops, the governments of Ulmanis and Päts were forced to rely on the help of the German army, and after its evacuation, on volunteer detachments consisting of the Baltic Germans and soldiers of the German army. From December 1918, aid to these governments began to come from the British; their squadron came to Tallinn. In 1919 soviet troops were supplanted. Reorienting to the Entente and creating national armies, the governments of Ulmanis and Päts drove out the German troops.

In 1920, the RSFSR recognized the new republics. They held elections to the Constituent Assembly and adopted constitutions. Agrarian reforms played an important role in stabilizing the internal life of these states, as in Lithuania. Large land holdings, which belonged mainly to German barons, were liquidated. Tens of thousands of peasants received land on favorable terms. In foreign policy, these states were guided by England and France.

Conclusion

The First World War ended with the defeat of Germany and its allies. The Paris Peace Conference of 1919-20 prepared treaties with the defeated countries. The following were signed: the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919 with Germany (June 28), the Saint Germain Peace Treaty of 1919 with Austria (September 10), the Neuilly Peace Treaty of 1919 with Bulgaria (November 27), the Trianon Peace Treaty of 1920 with Hungary (June 4), the Sevres 1920 peace treaty with Turkey (August 10).

The conference decided to establish the League of Nations and approved its charter, which included part of into peace treaties. Germany and its former allies were deprived of significant territories, forced to pay large reparations, and significantly limit their armed forces.

The post-war peace "settlement" in the interests of the victorious imperialist powers was completed by the Washington Conference of 1921-22. Treaties with Germany and its former allies and agreements signed at the Washington Conference amounted to the so-called. Versailles-Washington system of the world. As a result of compromises and deals, it not only failed to eliminate the contradictions between the imperialist powers, but significantly intensified them.

Output. The First World War became an important milestone in the development of mankind. It proved the unity of the world and initiated fundamental changes in the economy, domestic political life, international relations, culture, and most importantly, in the consciousness and behavior of people.

For all the tragedy of what happened, the First World War served as a starting point for radical changes in politics, economy and public life not only in Europe, but also throughout entire continents.

List of used literature

1. Zagladin N.V. Recent history foreign countries XX century. A guide for the teacher / N.V. Zagladin, H.T. Zagladin, I.M. Ermakova. - M .: Russian word, 2006 .-- 318 p.

2. Zayonchkovsky A. M. The First World War / A. M. Zayonchkovsky. - SPb .: Polygon, 2000 .-- 878 p.

3. History of the First World War 1914-1918. / Ed. I.I. Rostunov. - in 2 volumes. - Moscow: Nauka, 1975.

4. Projector D.М. World wars and the fate of mankind: Reflections / D.M. Proektor. - M .: Mysl, 1986 .-- 320 p.

5. Utkin A.I. The First World War / A. I. Utkin. - M .: Algorithm, 2001 .-- 592 p.

6. Pole G.B. The World History. World wars of the twentieth century. Causes and consequences. The First World War / G.B. Polyak, A.N. Markova. - M .: BEK, 2004 .-- 210 p.

7. Wikipedia: World War I. [ Electronic resource]. Access mode: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWI/

8. World wars. The first world war. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: http://www.petrograd.biz/worldwars/

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