Failure of the Security PolicyFailure of the Security Policy

Themes

Causes of the failure Versailles Peace as foundation for new conflicts The Versailles system The Treaty of Sèvres The mandate system The partition of German colonies

Versailles The Peace Conference started in Paris on January 18

1919

The conference ended on June 28, 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles which was effective by January 10, 1920

The Treaty was not ratified by the USA

Peace treaties as sources for new conflicts

The system of secret negotiations continued Indeed, previous Anglo-American negotiations were held

on the issue of:

- the destiny of the German Navy

- the introduction of the Mandate system

Versailles Treaty

Approved the USA scheme and adopted the Covenant

Introduced the new institute of the Mandate

Dealt mainly with the German question:

- boundaries

- disarmament

- war reparation

Versailles: borders and statehood

Alsace and Lorraine back to France The Saar region detached from Germany Northern Silesia to Poland Danzig (Gdansk) to Poland in order to ensure its

access to the sea

The Treaty of Sèvres The Treaty of Sèvres (August 10, 1920)(August 10, 1920)

The Ottoman were forced to renounce to all territories outside the Anatolian peninsula

Thracian and Aegean island were given to Greece Armenia was declared to be independent within

boundaries to be defined later Kurdistan was to become an independent polity Turkey's finance were to be put under the control of

France, UK and Italy Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits were put under

international control

The Treaty of Sèvres revised: the Treaty of LausanneThe Treaty of Sèvres revised: the Treaty of Lausanne

Turkey led by Mustapha Kemal refused to acknowledge a defeat that it hadn't experienced

Followed a declaration of war against Imperial and Western troops present in Anatolia (Italy, UK, France,

Germany, USA) April 1920: establishment of the Turkish Republic March 16,1921 Anti-colonial Treaty between Turkey

and USSR, which implied the end of Armenian national aspirations

July 24 1923: Lausanne Treaty

The Mandate systemARTICLE 22. To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of

the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the well-being and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilisation and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in this Covenant. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position can best undertake this responsibility, and who are willing to accept it, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as Mandatories on behalf of the League.

The Mandate systemARTICLE 22. The character of the mandate must differ according to

the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions, and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory.

The Mandate systemARTICLE 22.

Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave trade, the arms traffic, and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than police purposes and the defence of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other Members of the League.

The Mandate systemARTICLE 22.

There are territories, such as South-West Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centres of civilisation, or their geographical contiguity to the territory of the Mandatory, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the Mandatory as integral portions of its territory, subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of mandate, the Mandatory shall render to the Council an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the Mandatory shall, if not previously agreed upon by the Members of the League, be explicitly defined in each case by the Council. A permanent Commission shall be constituted to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatories and to advise the Council on all matters relating to the observance of the mandates.

The Mandate system

It was previously negotiated between USA and UK It satisfied French and British colonial ambitions Allowed the expansion of South Africa and Australia Confirmed Japanese hegemony on the Pacific Ocean At the same time introduced the idea of

decolonisation in International agendas

The Mandate system

The mandates were divided into three distinct groups (A,B, C) based upon the alleged level of development each population had achieved at that moment

They were given different timing in accessing full independence

The Mandate system: Class A

territories formerly controlled by the Ottoman Empire that, according to the text were deemed to

"... have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a Mandatory until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory."

The Mandate system: Class A

It included: Palestine Syria Mesopotamia

The Mandate system: Class B

were all former (German territories) in West and Central Africa

According to the Allied Powers it was expected to require a greater level of control by the mandatory power:

"...the Mandatory must be responsible for the administration of the territory under conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience and religion."

The mandatory power was forbidden to install military or naval bases within the mandates

The Mandate system: Class B

It included: Ruanda-Urundi (now Rwanda and Burundi) Cameroun Togoland (now Togo) Tanganyika (now Tanzania)

The Mandate system: Class C

Dealt with territories that were considered to be "best administered under the laws of the Mandatory

as integral portions of its territory“

it included only former German possessions:

The Mandate system: Class C

It included:German New Guinea

German Samoa

Nauru

South Pacific MandateGerman South-West Africa (Namibia)

The mandates in Africa Namibia was given to South Africa Tanganyika was given to Great Britain Cameroon was divided between France and Great

Britain Togo and Benin were given to France Italy was excluded from the party

The Mandate in the Pacific Marshall, Caroline, Marianne to Japan Japanese control over Shantung (Shandong), in spite

of USA hostility Eastern New Guinea to Australia

The Mandate in the Middle East

Installed new dynasties (Hashemite and Saudi) Affirmed British hegemony over Persia (Iran) UK in Palestine and Iraq France in Syria (and Lebanon) First step toward the birth of the State of Israel

(Balfour plan of 1917) Marked the beginning of the Palestinian issue

The Mandate in the Middle East

1915 Hussein, the sharif of Mecca, started secret negotiations with GB

Hussein offered anti-Ottoman rebellions in exchange for access to the Royal Crown

1916 Hussein proclaimed himself king and started a revolt in the Hejaz against Ottoman rule

1917 the UK with Arab support occupied Aqaba and controlled Damascus that was put under the control of Faisal Hussein's son

The Mandate in the Middle East

Hussein called for the official acknowledgement of its sovereignty over the Arab nation

16.5.1916 with the Sykes-Picot secret agreement GB and France (with Russian assent) had already divided the region into areas of influence

2.02.1917 the Balfour plan put in the agenda the creation a Jew state in Palestine

1920: The Sanremo conference made official the partition of those territories with the Mandate system

Foreign Office,November 2nd, 1917.

Dear Lord Rothschild,I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet:"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country".I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation.Yours sincerelyArthur James Balfour

Balance of power under the Mandates

Syria: Faysal expelled from Damascus Power in the hand of an elite of landlords, traders and

religious authorities 1922 from the Palestinian Mandate the UK carved out a

fifth entity: Trans-Jordan Amir Abdallah and a coalition of Bedouin chiefs were put in

charge of the territory From them started the Hashemite dynasty

A war without winners and defeated?

winnerswinners::- USA

- UK

- Japan

- Finland and Baltic States

A war without winners and defeated?A war without winners and defeated?

DefeatedDefeated:

– Germany and Austria

DissatisfiedDissatisfied:

– Italy

– France