World War 1
World War 1 was fought between the Central Powers and Allied Powers.
Contents
Antecedents
Following the Ottoman defeat in the First Balkan War, and as Kamil Pasha prepared for peace negotiations, the Raid on the Sublime Porte saw the Committee of Union and Progress seize power. This new militarist government found the German Empire to be a natural ally against its geopolitical rival, Russia.
Pacific Theater
Western Theater
Eastern Theater
Conclusions
German Empire
In the final days of the war, Max von Baden declared the abdication of Wilhelm II and transferred power to Ebert. The Weimar Republic emerged as the legitimate government of Germany.
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles were:
- continental land cessions, the most important of which were:
- Alsace-Lorraine to France
Pomerelia to Poland (the Polish Corridor)
Danzig released to direct administration by the League of Nations as the Free City of Danzig
- demilitarization
- colonial cessions
UK claimed German East Africa (Deutsch-Ostafrika) (DOA); this became Tanganyika
Belgium claimed a small part of DOA adjacent to Belgian Congo; this became Ruanda-Urundi
UK consolidated German South West Africa (Deutsch-Südwestafrika) into the colony of South Africa
Pacific territories were partitioned in the South Seas Mandate
Japan claimed the portions of German New Guinea north of the equator.
UK consolidated most of the portions south of the equator into the colony of Australia
German Samoa was specifically consolidated into the colony of New Zealand
- liability for the war
- the Ruhr was occupied and managed as an extractive colony by France to pay the reparation
The restrictions on naval power would be effectively terminated by the Anglo-German Naval Agreement.
Austro-Hungarian Empire
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was handled separately, as several new states were declaring independence or being propped up in the former territory. First, Austria was addressed in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1919.
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Importantly, because the League of Nations was baked into this treaty, the U.S. refused to ratify it. This required a second, bilateral peace treaty in the U.S.-Austrian Peace Treaty of 1921.
In the meantime, Hungary had unilaterally demilitarized and invited peace negotiations to begin. Czechoslovakia, Serbia, and Romania instead took this as an opportunity to restart the war. France supported the invasion with intent to make the territory cessions permanent, as part of propping up a Little Entente. Horthy was coerced to sign the Treaty of Trianon, also known as the Dictate of Trianon. The terms were:
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Ottoman Empire
The Armistice of Mudros ceased hostilities on the eastern front and allowed an occupation by British, French, and Italian armies to begin. Mehmed VI was generally accommodating to their demands.
The Treaty of Sèvres included severe concessions. Mustafa Kemal Pasha established a provisional government in Ankara and refused to ratify the treaty; hostilities resumed as the Turkish War of Independence.