Treaty of Brussels



The Treaty of Brussels concluded the Great War and redrew the map of Europe. The Brussels Peace Conference convened in September of 1917 with the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Italy, Japan, Romania, Greece, and China representing the Entente. For the Central Powers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire came to the table. The Russians were excluded from the conference due to their ongoing civil war and lack of a unified government. A small delegation from the White Russian political arm did attend but did not participate. Smaller non-aligned delegations included Polish, Ukrainians, Serbians, Koreans, Irish, Arabs, Zionists, a variety of South American nations and a Papal delegation including Pope Benedict XV.

Entente Demands
In the first round of negotiations the Allied Powers presented their demands. France, having suffered the most damage of all the great powers presented first.

French Demands

 * 1) Annexation of Alsace-Lorraine
 * 2) Demilitarization of the Rhineland
 * 3) Harsh Reparations
 * 4) Restoration of Poland
 * 5) Restoration of Schleswig to Denmark
 * 6) Economic liberation of Luxembourg from Germany.
 * 7) Recognition of French Hegemony over Morocco
 * 8) French Mandate colonial control over former Ottoman territories in the Levant.
 * 9) Germany and the Kaiser to admit responsibility for the war.

It was clear to all present that France wanted revenge for the devastation and the privations they suffered during the war. It was, of course, not lost on the German delegation that the French demands were far more extreme than the basic demands they had made during the original secret peace negotiations. Some of the German delegation were so incensed they favored walking out. Cooler heads prevailed, however, and the Germans remained.

British Demands

 * 1) Limitation of German Naval Power
 * 2) Moderate Reparations
 * 3) New Zealand to be ceded to Australia
 * 4) Liberation of Belgium
 * 5) Liberation of Serbia
 * 6) Restoration of Poland

The British demands were much more conciliatory than those of the French. Their primary concerns were to limit German naval power and to preserve Belgium as a buffer state.

American Demands

 * 1) Open diplomacy with the League of Nations
 * 2) Free Trade
 * 3) Reduction of Armaments
 * 4) Russian Self-Determination and Inclusion
 * 5) Self-determination of nations
 * 6) Movement towards ending colonialism
 * 7) Liberation / Formation of Balkan national states
 * 8) Restoration of Poland
 * 9) Liberation of Belgium
 * 10) Japanese control over Shandong (former German territory in China)
 * 11) Guarantees of ethnic minority rights in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Though the Americans had barely taken part in the war, their status as one of the great powers, and their position of economic power in particular, secured them a featured role at the conference. Italy and Japan in particular grumbled at the Americans being placed before them in precedence given that they had participated in the war effort much more significantly.

President Wilson presented his grand diplomatic vision for the future of the world, but many of the points fell flat as the contradicted the interests of the other Entente powers as well as those of the Central Powers. Disagreements arose even between many of the smaller nations who were looking for territorial concessions and resented the idea of being forced to sign guarantees of minority rights.

Of Wilson’s points the most successful was the expansion of free trade.

Italian Demands

 * 1) Annexation of Trentino
 * 2) Annexation of Territories on the Dalmatian Coast
 * 3) Increased Colonial holdings in Africa and South Asia.

Italy presented fourth. Like France, they saw no reason to stick to the restrained territorial concessions they had agreed to in the initial secret negotiations and returned to the original concessions that the Allied powers had agreed to in order to entice them into the war on the Entente side.

Japanese Demands

 * 1) Territorial Control of Germany’s Pacific colonial territories
 * 2) Bring Manchuria and the German lease territory on the Shandong peninsula under Japan’s sphere of Influence
 * 3) International recognition of Japan as a Great Power exemplified in the approval of a Racial Equality Proposal.

The Fifth to present was Japan. The Empire of Japan had significant expansionist ambitions and was intent on competing for great power status.

Greek Demands

 * 1) Annexation of Bulgarian territory in Thrace
 * 2) Annexation of ancestral Greek territory in Asia Minor, including former Constantinople
 * 3) Annexation of the Dodecanese Islands
 * 4) Creation of a Greek-Armenian state of Pontus.

The Greeks were the next to present. The Greek delegation was led by Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, who was one of the most skilled diplomats at the entire conference.

Romanian Demands

 * 1) Annex territory formerly lost to Bulgaria
 * 2) Annex Transylvania from Austria-Hungary
 * 3) Reparations to be paid for oil and industrial material seized by the Central Powers during the war.

Next the Romanians presented their demands. They had been enticed into the war by the Allies with promises of territorial concessions and now they expected the Allies to make good.

Chinese Demands

 * 1) Return of Chinese territory to Chinese control
 * 2) End of colonial interference in Chinese internal affairs

Lastly the Chinese presented. They were largely ignored by all but President Wilson as most of the Entente powers and their allies had vested interests in continuing the status quo in China.

Central Powers Response
After the first round of presentations, the real negotiations began. During the power games that followed, most of the smaller nations were ignored and their demands were given little weight. After the fact, this would lead to bitter feelings and internal strife in many of these nations whose people felt that they had suffered the hardships and sorrows of war only to be betrayed by their allies and/or their own governments who failed to secure the rewards they felt entitled to.

German Response
The initial German response was stormy as it was clear to them that some among the Entente representatives were out to humiliate Germany. The Germans were prepared to agree to the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine and the liberation of Belgium, as they had known from the beginning these would be the unavoidable. They further agreed to the financial liberation of Luxembourg and to recognize the French protectorate of Morocco. Since the restoration of Poland was a unanimous demand of the Allied great powers, the Germans also acceded to this demand, recognizing that it was inevitable.

The Germans initially refused all other demands largely to establish that they would not be dictated to and still retained walk-away power. In further negotiations, however, the Germans would agree to allow referendums in Schleswig to determine which country they would belong to. In addition, Germany would agree to pay moderate reparations to France and to temporary limitations on German naval power. In addition, Germany would retain most of its overseas colonies, including the lease territory on the Shandong peninsula in China.

Austrian Response
The Austrians agreed to cede Galician territories to a restored Poland, Trentino to Italy, to pay minor reparations to Romania, and the liberation Serbia. They refused Italy's other territorial demands. Britain, France, and the USA would refuse to press these claims and as a result they simply fell by the wayside. President Wilson’s advocacy for the creation of Slavic and Slovak states were also largely ignored by the other Allies and gained no traction.

Bulgarian Response
The Bulgarians had little leverage and thus would lose some Thracian territory to Greece as well as be forced to give up their territorial gains in Macedonia, which returned to Serbia. This result was not well received by the Bulgarian people and left the country politically unstable.

Ottoman Response
Initially President Wilson supported the preservation of the new Ottoman Turkey under the helm of the Young Turk movement. Things would turn badly against the Ottomans, however, when reports began to circulate of the atrocities perpetrated against Greek and Armenian minorities. Reports of the Armenian Genocide were confirmed and all support for the Ottomans dried up.

This would lead to the British and French partitioning the Ottoman Empire’s former Arab territories into colonial Mandates. France would receive Syria and the UK would receive Palestine and Transjordan. The Ottomans would manage to successfully resist Greek demands for Istanbul and territory on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor.

Closing and Aftermath
With the negotiations finished and the Treaty signed, the Brussels Peace Conference drew to a close. There were few clear winners, and many parties left feeling slighted or cheated or both. The Treaty preserved the German and Austrian Empires, though both would face serious internal challenges in the next decade. The British and Americans probably fared the best out of the Treaty, although much of President Wilson's grand agenda would go unrealized.

Nations Restored, Liberated, or Created by the Treaty

 * Second Polish Republic
 * Kingdom of Belgium
 * Duchy of Luxembourg
 * Kingdom of Serbia
 * Kingdom of Hejaz and Nedj
 * French Mandate in Syria
 * British Mandate in Palestine and Transjordan
 * Finland
 * Estonia
 * Latvia
 * Lithuania