Versailles Peace Settlement

Versailles Peace Settlement (1919–23) Sometimes referred to as the Paris Peace Settlement, a collection of peace treaties between the Central Powers and the Allied powers ending World War I. The main treaty was that of Versailles (June 1919) between the Allied powers (except for the USA, which refused to ratify the treaty) and Germany, whose representatives were required to sign it without negotiation.

Another treaty, that of St Germain-en-Laye (September 1919), was between the Allied powers and the new republic of AUSTRIA. A third treaty, that of Trianon (June 1920), was with the new republic of HUNGARY, in which some three-quarters of its old territories (i.e., all non-Magyar lands) were lost to Czechoslovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia, and the principle of reparations again accepted. The treaty of Neuilly (November 1919) was with BULGARIA, in which some territory was lost to Yugoslavia and Greece, but some also gained from Turkey; a figure of £100 million reparations was agreed, but never paid. These four treaties were ratified in Paris during 1920. A fifth treaty, that of Sèvres (August 1920), between the Allies and the old OTTOMAN EMPIRE, was never implemented as it was followed by the final disintegration of the empire and the creation by Mustafa Kemal ATATÜRK of the new republic of Turkey. The treaty was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne (July 1923), in which Palestine, Transjordan, and Iraq were to be mandated to Britain, and Syria to France. Italy was accepted as possessing the Dodecanese Islands, while Turkey regained Smyrna from Greece.