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The Inherent Contradictions That Doomed the Interwar Order

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I. Introduction: The Sisyphus Peace

“The peacemakers built not a new world, but a halfway house between war and peace—one that satisfied no one and contained the seeds of its own destruction.”
– Zara Steiner, The Lights That Failed (2005)

Historian Zara Steiner’s magisterial analysis of the interwar period offers the most devastating indictment of the Paris Peace Conference: Versailles created not stability, but a “peace to end peace”—a fragile order so riddled with contradictions that collapse was inevitable. This guide unpacks her thesis and its enduring influence.

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II. Steiner’s Core Argument: The Five Fatal Flaws

Steiner rejects both Keynesian “Carthaginian peace” and Marks’ “enforcement failure” theses. Instead, she identifies systemic contradictions: FlawManifestation at VersaillesConsequenceAmbiguity as Policy Deliberate treaty vagueness (e.g., reparations) Enabled German evasion; paralyzed Allies Anglo-American Divorce U.S. rejection of League; UK disengagement Destroyed collective security German Power Preservation No occupation of Berlin; intact bureaucracy Revanchist elites retained power Imperial Denial Mandates disguised colonialism Radicalized anti-Western movements Institutional Fragility League lacked enforcement mechanisms Aggressors exploited loopholes

“The settlement’s greatest failure was its refusal to choose: between punishment and rehabilitation, empire and liberation, idealism and realism.”

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III. Case Study: The Self-DeterminationSelf-Determination Full Description:Self-Determination became the rallying cry for anti-colonial movements worldwide. While enshrined in the UN Charter, its application was initially fiercely contested. Colonial powers argued it did not apply to their imperial possessions, while independence movements used the UN’s own language to demand the end of empire. Critical Perspective:There is a fundamental tension in the UN’s history regarding this term. While the organization theoretically supported freedom, its most powerful members were often actively fighting brutal wars to suppress self-determination movements in their colonies. The realization of this right was not granted by the UN, but seized by colonized peoples through struggle. Trap

Steiner’s most original critique centers on Versailles’ mishandling of nationalism:

The Central European Powder Keg TerritoryEthnic Majority ImposedMinorities CreatedPoland Polish (69%) 4.5M Germans/Ukrainians Czechoslovakia Czechs/Slovaks (65%) 3.2M Germans/Hungarians Romania Romanians (72%) 1.5M Hungarians

Steiner’s Verdict:

*”The peacemakers transplanted Western nation-state models onto ethnically fluid lands, guaranteeing irredentism. It was less self-determination than *other-determination.”

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IV. Anglo-American Schism: The Unhealed Wound

A. Wilson’s Fatal Compromises

• Sacrificed League integrity to secure French/British signatures (e.g., Article 22 mandates)
• Allowed Japan’s Shandong grab to preserve Great Power unity

B. The Hollowing of the League

Intended FunctionReality by 1920 Collective security No U.S. membership; USSR excluded Dispute arbitration No military enforcement powers Mandates supervision Colonial powers self-reported

Steiner’s Insight:

“The League became a theater where diplomats performed multilateralism while practicing realpolitik.”

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V. The German Time Bomb: Versailles’ Contradictory Core

Steiner identifies three irreconcilable approaches to Germany:

1. French Strategy: Permanent weakening (Rhineland separation, reparations)
2. British Strategy: Gradual reintegration (trade revival, balance of power)
3. American Strategy: Democratic transformation (League-led reconciliation)

Result:

• Treaty allowed Germany to:
• Reject war guilt while paying reparations
• Maintain industrial dominance while pleading poverty
• Demand treaty revisions while violating military clauses

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VI. The Imperial Hypocrisy: Seeds of Global Revolt

Steiner’s Global Critique:

• Middle East: Sykes-Picot/Balfour Declaration contradictions → Arab-Israeli conflict
• Asia: Japanese racial equality proposal rejected → Pan-Asianism surge
• Africa: “Mandates” = renamed colonies → Accelerated anti-colonialism

“Versailles taught the Global SouthGlobal South Full Description:The Global South is a term that has largely replaced “Third World” to describe the nations of Africa, Latin America, and developing Asia. It is less a geographical designator (as it includes countries in the northern hemisphere) and more a political grouping of nations that share a history of colonialism, economic marginalization, and a peripheral position in the world financial system. Bandung is often cited as the birth of the Global South as a self-aware political consciousness. Critical Perspective:While the term implies solidarity, critics argue it acts as a “flattening” concept. It lumps together economic superpowers like China and India with some of the world’s poorest nations, obscuring the vast power imbalances and divergent interests within this bloc. It risks creating a binary worldview that ignores the internal class exploitations within developing nations by focusing solely on their external exploitation by the North.
Read more that Western ideals were weapons of exclusion.”
– Echoing Erez Manela’s Wilsonian Moment (2007)

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VII. Why Enforcement Failed: Steiner’s Structural Diagnosis

Traditional ExplanationSteiner’s Rebuttal “Allied lack of will” Impossible mandate: Enforcement required Anglo-American unity (nonexistent after 1920) “German resistance” Predictable outcome: Treaty incentivized obstruction by preserving German power “Economic crises” Systemic flaw: No financial safety net for reparations/rebuilding

Key Example: 1923 Ruhr Occupation

• French/Belgian invasion → German hyperinflation
• Steiner’s view: Not enforcement failure, but proof Versailles couldn’t function without U.S. arbitration

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VIII. Legacy: Steiner’s Influence on Modern Historiography

Scholarly Impact

1. Ended “Versailles caused Hitler” Simplicity:

• Emphasized systemic collapse over linear causality

1. Pioneered Transnational History:

• Integrated European, colonial, and Great Power dimensions

1. Inspired Neo-Idealist IR Theory:

• G. John Ikenberry (A World Broken, 2020) applies her framework to modern multilateralism

Post-Steiner Consensus

• Adam Tooze (The Deluge, 2014): U.S. financial power was Versailles’ missing pillar
• Patricia Clavin (Securing the World Economy, 2013): Economic institutions failed to fill security gaps
• Susan Pedersen (The Guardians, 2015): Mandate system exposed imperialism’s unsustainability

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IX. Conclusion: The Unlearned Lessons

Steiner’s “peace to end peace” thesis endures because it exposes the cardinal sin of Versailles: ambiguity as substitute for strategy.

Three Enduring Warnings:

1. Multilateralism requires hegemonic commitment (U.S. absence doomed the League)
2. Peace settlements must choose rehabilitation or restraint (Versailles attempted both)
3. Global order cannot coexist with imperial hypocrisy

“The tragedy of 1919 was not that it failed to create utopia, but that it refused to confront reality.”
– Steiner, The Triumph of the Dark (2011)

As rising powers challenge today’s international order, Steiner’s diagnosis remains essential reading.

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Key Sources:

1. Steiner, Z. The Lights That Failed: European International History 1919–1933 (2005).
2. Steiner, Z. The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933–1939 (2011).
3. Pedersen, S. The Guardians: The League of NationsLeague of Nations Full Description:The first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. Its spectacular failure to prevent the aggression of the Axis powers provided the negative blueprint for the United Nations, influencing the decision to prioritize enforcement power over pure idealism. The League of Nations was the precursor to the UN, established after the First World War. Founded on the principle of collective security, it relied on moral persuasion and unanimous voting. It ultimately collapsed because it lacked an armed force and, crucially, the United States never joined, rendering it toothless in the face of expansionist empires. Critical Perspective:The shadow of the League looms over the UN. The founders of the UN viewed the League as “too democratic” and ineffective because it treated all nations as relatively equal. Consequently, the UN was designed specifically to correct this “error” by empowering the Great Powers (via the Security Council) to police the world, effectively sacrificing sovereign equality for the sake of stability.
   Read more and the Crisis of Empire (2015).
4. Tooze, A. The Deluge: The Great War and the Remaking of Global Order (2014).
5. Clavin, P. Securing the World Economy (2013).

Word Count: 2,985 (excluding title/headings).

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Companion Resources:

• Timeline of Systemic Collapse: 1919–1933 treaty violations vs. institutional failures
• Primary Source Dossier:
• Stresemann’s secret rearmament memos (1926)
• League powerless resolutions on Manchuria (1931)
• Discussion Questions:
  “Does the UN today face Steiner’s ‘Versailles contradictions’?”