The Potsdam Peace Conference
With the war finally over, the Central Powers’ representatives gathered together in Berlin. Their goal was to create a new world order in which they were the masters. Fortunately, the Germans had already planned their terms since the beginning. Using the listed goals of the Septemberprogramm, the Germans were ready to present their terms to the Allied delegates. Austria, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman empire also drew up their terms, for they had desired territorial ambitions and settling old scores.
In June 1919, the Allied delegates arrived. They were housed in various hotels across the city. Once they settled down, negotiations started. Unlike the other delegates, the French weren’t allowed to negotiate directly. They were only allowed to respond in writing. For the delegates themselves, they started fearing the worst.
Romania
The first country that was to be dealt with was Romania. While it had already signed a treaty in 1918 where they both lost and gained land, there were a few loose ends that needed to be tied up. This time, around the issue of northern Dobruja. While the southern part had been annexed by Bulgaria, the rest were administered in a condominium by the Central Powers. Now was the time to settle the issue once and for all.
In the resulting treaty of Charlottenburg, the territory of Northern Dobruja was to be annexed by Bulgaria. She was also required to pay war reparations to each of the victorious nations. The passes of the Carpathian Mountains would be assigned to Austria-Hungary, allowing for an invasion to be easier should the two be at war in the future.
Though it wouldn’t be a puppet state, Germany would have considerable political influence over the country. German civil servants would be stationed in Romania and be given the power to veto any decisions made by the Romanian cabinet. They’d also be able to fire Romanian civil servants at will and would oversee every Romanian ministry allowing Germany to keep a close watch on the political situation within the country. Despite this, the country would be part of the Austro-Hungarian sphere as long as German economic and material interests were guaranteed.
But more importantly for Berlin, the Romanians would also be forced to lease their oil wells to Germany for 90 years through 2 companies. This would give Germany access to Romanian oil until 2008, To secure transport, Romanian shipyards were put under German control. Austria-Hungary and Germany also signed a law of control of navigation on the Danube River which flowed from Alsace-Lorraine to the Black Sea.
Despite all this, the Romanians did gain territory even though they lost. As part of the treaty, the Central Powers accepted Romanian right to control the former Russian territory of Bessarabia. However, they would provide no military support forcing Romania to stake its territorial claims on its own. This would prevent Romania from becoming landlocked by Bulgaria by giving it access to the Black Sea.
The treaty was signed by Alexandru Marghiloman, a pro-German Prime Minister appointed by King Ferdinand.
Northern Dobruja (Beige) would later be ceded to Bulgaria
Serbia
The second nation to be dealt with, was the country that started this whole mess: Serbia. For Austria and Bulgaria, they wanted revenge for whatever injustices the country had inflicted upon them from assassinating heir to the thrones or taking rightful territory.
In the resulting treaty, Serbia was to cede Vardar Macedonia and all lands east of the Morava river, including the city of Nis, to Bulgaria. Whatever was left of the shrunken country would be turned into an Austrian puppet with the Obrenovic dynasty back on the throne.
Greece
The third country to suffer a similar fate is Greece. As punishment for joining the Entente, Greek Macedonia was ceded to Bulgaria while the Eastern Sporades and Eastern Aegean islands were handed over to the Ottomans. Among the annexed areas was the city of Thessaloniki, now renamed Salun. The island of Crete was to be leased to Germany as they desired a naval base in the Mediterranean.
The Greek army and navy were severely curtailed and its air force was dissolved. Whatever large ships the Greeks had were to be turned over to the Bulgarians.
Italy
With the 3 smaller nations dealt with, the Central Powers were preparing to present terms to the Italians. Even though it was part of the Triple Alliance at the beginning, Italy had switched sides to gain more Italian lands. For the Austrians and Germans, the announcement was seen as a backstabbing betrayal for which there must be punishment. And a huge punishment was what they were about to get.
In the peace treaty, Italy’s army was to be reduced to just 75,000 men. They were banned from having an air force and all their dreadnoughts were to be handed over to Austria. Also, the provinces of Lombardy and Venetia were declared demilitarized zones where Italian troops were forbidden from being stationed there except the Austrians. In the Aegean, the Dodecanese islands were handed over to the Ottomans. They were to also pay huge war reparations which would be used for paying off debts and allocating veterans’ pensions.
But there was one thing the Central Powers couldn't decide on: What to do with their colonies?
For starters, the Italians had only held on to the coastal cities while the rest of the land was controlled by the Senussi tribes. Despite that, the leader of the Senussi had signed a peace treaty with the Entente and never resumed fighting again. Thus, the idea of an independent Libya was not on the table. But on the other hand, the Ottomans didn’t have the capabilities to take over Libya at this time.
In East Africa, nobody wanted Eritrea and Italian Somaliland. While there had been hopes of Abyssinia joining the war against Italy, it didn’t materialize due to empress Zewditu’s coup. Therefore, the Central Powers had no options but to let Italy retain her African colonies.
France
It was now France's turn to take the blows. As it was previously mentioned, the French weren't allowed to negotiate verbally and could only reply through writing a response. With that disadvantage, the Germana drew up hard terms designed to cripple France's war-making capabilities.
In the treaty of Potsdam, France was to cede the western slopes of the Vosges region, the iron mines of Briey-Longwy & the land of Arlon. All fortresses on its western frontiers were to be destroyed. Calais would become a German naval base putting them within only 32 kilometers of striking distance on Britain.
Its army was reduced to 100,000 men, the navy was to be reduced in tonnage and personnel and were banned from having an air force. It was to pay 10 billion German marks as a war indemnity, with further payments to cover veteran’s funds and to pay off all of Germany’s existing national debt as well as sign a trade agreement putting France in economic dependence on Germany. All of this was to prevent French rearmament and make the French economy dependent on Germany, and end trade with the British Empire thus ending a continental European threat towards the Reich.
In the colonial game, France was to cede the following colonies:
- Guangzhouwan
- Indochina
- Ivory Coast
- French Dahomey
- Gabon
- French Congo
- Ubangi-Shari
- French Somaliland
- Madagascar
- The Comoros Islands
- Reunion Island
- French Pondicherry
- Wallis and Futuna
- New Hebrides Islands
- New Caledonia
- French Polynesia
In the case of Morocco, the French protectorate status was to end and the country becoming independent again. This time, the Germans would help the Moroccans in modernizing the country up to western standards.
An Artificial End
Belgium was completely at the mercy of the Germans. It had refused to let their troops through their territory, forcing an invasion. Now it was going to pay a heavy price for rejection.
Belgium would hand over control over all Belgian railways, military and naval bases and Belgium would not be allowed to have a standing army. The cities of Liège and Verviers would be annexed into Prussia with Antwerp and the Flemish coast being put under German administration giving it a better outlet into the Atlantic. The Belgian province of Luxembourg, as mentioned, would be reintegrated into Luxembourg and thus into Germany. Belgium would be territorially compensated through the France cession of a strip of territory running from Dunkirk to Boulogne-sur-Mer.
To make things worse, Belgium was forced to hand over the Congo colony to Germany. The two ports of Oostende and Zeebrugge were to become German naval bases.
Plans for Belgium would be guided by German Flamenpolitik “Flemish Policy”. The Flemish policy was used to exploit the linguistic divisions of Belgium between the Dutch-speaking Flemish in the West and the French-speaking Walloons in the East by discriminating towards the Flemish. Under this policy, the Germans supported various Flemish autonomist movements, sponsored the Dutchification of the University of Ghent and intensified relations with the neighboring Netherlands.
By March of 1917, Belgium had been split into two administrative areas: Flanders and Wallonia with capitols in Brussels and Namur respectively. By decree of January 3, 1915, the French city of Fumay and the surrounding region which had a Walloon minority was annexed into Wallonia. Under the leadership of the Raad van Vlaanderen “Council of Flanders” a German puppet parliament, these administrative areas further kept contact between Flemings and Walloons to a minimum.
The 2 states were to be tied together in the same as Austria-Hungary with a Hohenzollern on the throne. Prince Adalbert of Prussia would take the former Belgian throne and become King of the newly-named 'Flanders-Wallonia'. The new state would become a single but federal kingdom, Adalbert would renounce all rights to the German throne and convert to Catholicism, and the states of Flanders and Wallonia would have a high degree of autonomy.
Adalbert I of Flanders & Wallonia
The King of the Ashes
Out of all the major Entente nations, Britain was the only one that didn’t face humiliating terms. While the island was secure, the had lost control of the Suez Canal. Even though they could carry on fighting, the strikes and protests clamoring for peace by 1919 were too great to ignore. Thus, they prepared for what the Germans would demand.
Surprisingly, they were presented with light demands. They were to accept all the previous treaties Germany made with each nation, hand over Kuwait and Cyprus to the Ottomans in exchange for getting the canal back, and were to restore all German colonies to Germany.
Some nations weren’t appreciative of the last part. Japan, South Africa, and Australia had captured some of the German colonies and didn’t like having to give them up. It only took Britain signing the treaty that convinced them to follow suit.
One by one, the Dominions and Allies of Britain signed the treaty. With the peace conference over, hostilities came to an end in November 1919. The war was now officially over.