WW I, affected a lot of countries. After the War, many treaties were signed, which were very unfavorable against some countries. Germany had the worst treatment of all of the countries of WW I. There were six important treaties that affected the countries that when went into War. The Treaty of Brest Litorsk, which talks about what is going to happen to Russia, the treaty of Lausanne’ that talks about the future plans, for what is going to happen to the Ottoman Empire, the treaty of Neuilly, which affects Bulgaria, the treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye, which made the Austro-Hungarian Empire split, also the treaty of serves which is a peace treaty of the Ottoman Empire and the Allies, and lastly the treaty of Trianon which formatted the new Hungarian Empire.
The Treaty of Brest Litorst, is a Treaty which deals with Germany and Russia. It was signed on Marched 3rd 1918. The treaty states, that Russian must give up economically important land. The land areas that were given up by Russian, was to exploited by Germany. These treaty affected Russia really bad, in the political outcome. Russia was in the process of a major governmental reform. Communism was spread all over the country, so Russia tried to use a New Economic Policy. The economy of Russia was really bad. The food was rationed. Farmers were only producing food for themselves, because they couldn’t produce anymore. The treaty also harmed Russian military. Russian’s army was under Lenin’s control and these resulted to a Civil War in Russia, between Reds and Whites. Russia suffered a lot from these treaties.
The treaty of Lausanne, affected the Ottoman Empire badly. The Empire was destroyed and what was left became Turkey as we know it today. The treaty was signed on June 24th 1923. This treaty basically recognized Turkey as new country and gave back some land which was taken from her by the Treaty of Sevres. The Treaty of Lausanne affected today’s Turkey well, because it made her an independent country. Before, the Treaty Turkey was not an independent country but during the negotiations it was recognized as a country. Turkey became independent on the 29th of October 1923. the Western power didn’t impose any preparation on Turkey because that would have destroyed the economy of the new country. Because of that, Turkey was able to build their own economy.The Western Powers didn’t impose any military limitations on Turkey which helped them built up their army with no limitations. Because of that, Turkey’s military gets much stronger and powerful. Kemal was a military officer before becoming the country’s leader. The treaty of Lausanne, affected Cyprus too. Turkey took a part of Cyprus, because Cyprus has a really good place in the Mediterranean.
The treaty of Neuilly is a treaty that is signed by Bulgaria. It was signed on the 27th of November, 1919 in France and was negotiated in the Paris Peace Conference. Bulgaria received the least land and was required to reduce its army to 20.000 men and pay reparation of $400 million. The treaty also surrenders Western Thrace to the Entente. Many Bulgarians were placed under the rule of Greeks when Bulgaria had to give up Western Thrace. The biggest economical problem that Bulgaria had to suffer was the $400 million that they had to pay for reparation. The treaty of Neville had many military outcomes too. Bulgaria had to surrender their land to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Also Bulgaria had to reduce its army to 20.000 men.
The Treaty of Saint Germain-en-Laye was signed by Austro-Hungary. It was signed on the 10th of September 1919. This treaty states that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is responsible and is held accountable for the destruction caused by the War. It also states that it is now the Republic of Austria. This policy destroyed Austro-Hungary and made five new countries out of that. The countries that were formed are the republic of Austria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland. This treaty also restricted the political Union with Germany and Austria had to refrain from jeopardizing its independence. This treaty opened new trading options with countries like Britain, France, and Italy. Austro-Hungary also had to suffer inflation, since they had to pay reparations to the Allies. As for their military section, they had to reduce their army to 30.000, so this made Austria unable to attack any country and attempt any conquests. They also diminished their railroad control which affected their mobilization speed. The only good effect that this policy had is that Hungary gained independence.
The treaty of Serves, was a peace treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Allies at the end of WW I. The treaty said that the Ottoman Empire shouldn’t be a part of Europe. The signatories of this treaty were Britain, France, Italy and Japan. It was signed on the 10th of August 1920 in Serves, France. This treaty also said that the Straits of the Dardanelles were to be controlled by the allies and that the kingdom of Hejaz should be an independent state. This treaty was never approved by the Ottoman Empire. It was cancelled during the Turkish War of Independence. This treaty would have affected the Ottoman Empire in political views in a bad way. The Ottomans would have lost a great deal of territory by the terms of this treaty. Also Turkey lost rights to Sudan and Libya. Mustafa Kemal succeeded in fighting for Turkish independence, which led the Allies to return to negotiating. This event forced the Allies to replace the treaty of the Serves with the Treaty of Lausanne. This covered a great territory to for the Turks. In economical views, the allies were in control of the empire Finances and the Empire would have to pay a public debt to Britain, France and Italy. The Allies almost destroyed the military of the Ottomans. The Ottoman Army was then limited to 50.000 men and the navy was to have only six torpedo boats. They also have forbidden the Empire from acquiring an air force.
Lastly the Treaty of Tranon issued that the Allies should reprimand Hungary following the separation from Austria and the formation of a new Hungarian Empire. This treaty was signed on the 4th of June 1920 in France. When this treaty was signed, it placed a lot of limitations of Hungary. Hungary’s territory was divided, without regard to Hungary’s population. They couldn’t have access to the sea and Hungary lost 72% of all its original territory. After this treaty the economy of Hungary was really bad. Hungary was the main supplier of wheat, rye, barley and other various goods. It produced 500% more goods than it needed for itself. The new borders cut off trade routes, which harmed their income from agricultural produce. Also, the unemployment levels were dangerously high and industrial output dropped by 65%. After the War, the Allies tried to disable the Hungarian navy and air force. The Hungarian army was to be restricted to 35.000 men and heavy artillery tanks and air force was to be maintained by Hungary. Also, no railroad would be built with more than one track due to the fact that railways at that time held a substantial strategic importance economically and military.
All of these treaties determined the future of many countries of WW I. I believe that all of the treaties were kind of harsh to the countries that lost the War. At the end only Turkey got something good of this. They didn’t have to pay anything and they were independent countries, Germany, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgaria sacrificed the most.
