The Economic Consequences of the Peace

Article 231 is the famous war-guilt clause in the Treaty of Versailles (1919) which formally concluded World War I. This article placed the principal blame for the war onto Germany, which was left with massive reparations and territorial losses.

An armistice is an agreement that puts an end to an armed conflict. The armistice that ended World War I was signed in November 1918.

The Big Four were the main victors at the Paris Peace Conference: Britain, France, the United States, and Italy. It was the leaders of these countries that set the terms of the postwar Treaty of Versailles (1919).

The term “Bismarckian” refers to the Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898). Bismarck unified Germany and became its Chancellor. “Bismarckian” refers either to his rule or political features such as diplomacy, a balance of power in international relations, and even a nascent welfare state.

Keynes compares the Treaty of Versailles to the “Carthaginian Peace” in reference to the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE). Rome was a victor over Carthage, and its harsh peace terms were meant to irreparably damage the losing side.

A closet drama uses the literary format of a play. However, it is meant to be read rather than performed.

The Dawes Plan was an American-led project for German economic recovery introduced in 1924. The plan offered Germany loans, restructured its Reichsbank (central bank), and sought to stabilize the German currency after it faced hyperinflation a year earlier. The plan was successful, and the 1929 Young Plan followed until the Great Depression that same year. These plans were not unlike the type of suggestions that Keynes made in this book about modifications to the Treaty of Versailles.

US President Woodrow Wilson issued the Fourteen Points in early 1918 in an address to Congress. These points included the general question of national self-determination and world peace through collective security arrangements. As Keynes suggests, these points were vague but served as the basis for the postwar settlement.

The Industrial Revolution is sometimes referred to as the First and Second Industrial Revolutions of the late 18th-early 19th and late 19th-early 20th centuries, respectively. These revolutions that originated in Europe describe technological advancements, industrialization, mass production, and urbanization that greatly changed the nature of societies at that time.

The League of Nations was an international peace organization that was established at the Paris Peace Conference but was replaced with the United Nations in 1945. The League had a poor record of accomplishment in the 1930s because it lacked the legal mechanisms to address such issues as the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria and the 1935 Italian invasion of Abyssinia (Ethiopia).

The term “Malthusian” refers to the work of an influential British demographer and economist Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834). Malthus examined the relationship between population growth and economic conditions. He argued that improved economic conditions lead to population growth which then worsens the overall quality of life.

The Paris Peace Conference was an international event that took place between January 18, 1919, and Jan 21, 1920. The meeting officially concluded World War II through the postwar settlement, the Treaty of Versailles (1919), and the establishment of an international peace organization, the League of Nations, a predecessor of the United Nations.

The Reichsbank was Germany’s central bank after its unification and until 1945.

The Ruhr Crisis (1923-1925) began when Germany was unable to pay its reparations due to the collapse of its economy. As a result, France and Belgium invaded and occupied an important industrial area in Germany, the Ruhr Valley. The Ruhr Crisis may be viewed as one of the outcomes of the Treaty of Versailles.

Self-determination was a key aspect of Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Peace Points. However, in practice, self-determination only affected European countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia that arose out of the dissolved Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Europeans continued to treat the former colonies paternalistically, as was the case with the British and French mandates in the Middle East or kept their colonies in Africa and Asia until the Cold War.