1. France and Policy of Collective Security
HST 332: Age of Dictators, Europe

2. Outline
Clemenceau and Versailles
The Failure of Collective Security

3. Clemenceau and Versailles
Permanently weakening Germany
Military pre-conditions of the Armistice
Military clauses in Treaty of Versailles
Occupation of western approaches
Collective security against German resurgence
League of Nations
Allies in the “shatter zone”

4. Permanently weakening Germany
Military pre-conditions of the Armistice
Military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles
100,000 man army
No machine guns, tanks, barbed wire or chemical weapons
Limited navy to coastal defense
No air force
Occupation of the Rhine bridgeheads for 15 years (to 1935)
Territorial diminution of Germany
Saarland independent for 15 years
Attempt to pull the Rhineland out of Germany

5. Collective security League of Nations Allies in the “shatter zone”
Alliance against aggressive war
Participation in re-drawing map of Near East
Allies in the “shatter zone”
Military intervention
Aid to Romania in putting down Hungarian Soviet government
Aid to Poland in Russo-Polish War of 1920
Participation in partition of Turkey
Nation-building
Czechoslovakia
Hungary
Yugoslavia

6. The Failure of Collective Security
Americans refuse to enter into an alliance
U.S. Senate denies Treaty
U.S. banks - with government backing - demand repayment of French war loans
The Reparations Crisis
Germans are uncooperative on reparations
Reluctantly accept London Ultimatum
Failure to pay in 1922, reinforced by American pressure to repay loans, causes Poincare government to occupy Ruhr to take reparations “in kind”, as was France’s right under both the Armistice and Versailles

7. The Ruhr Occupation French troops enter along with Belgians
French use of colonial troops is greatly resented
There is some violence, put down violently
Germans begin (generally) passive resistance
Unions declare general strike
Government agrees to pay workers as if they were working and firms as if they were earning
This commitment causes hyperinflation, making it impossible for Germany to pay and internationalizing the Crisis
French extract only a portion of what they are owed

8. The Ruhr Occupation
American and British opinion is opposed to Occupation
Sponsored by the American government, Charles Dawes proposes a way out of the conflict
January 1924
French forces withdraw
Germans introduce new currency
German budget - supervised by the Amis - makes provisions for reparations to France

9. The Aftermath
The French can claim victory, but they were really sold short by their Allies
It is clear that military enforcement of the Versailles provisions will not be allowed if Germany pretends to “plays nice”
Rising pacifist tide and resistance to new military spending led to “soft” methods of collective security
Power projection in eastern Europe
Kellogg-Briand Pact making the waging of aggressive war a crime under international law