After World War I, did the Allied powers ever talk about a break-up of Germany?

by DonCaliente

Germany wasn't even half a century old in 1918. You could argue that its creation was one of the factors leading to the Great War. Breaking up Germany (and of course Prussia in different parts, like Brandenburg, Silesia, Posen, etc.) would return the equilibrium in Europe to the pre-1871 state. This would have benefited France, the UK and Russia a lot in my opinion.

PM_ME_HISTORY_FACTS

Yes there was but it wasn't a "big deal". It was predominantly France who wanted this (See: Fischer, Conan. The Ruhr Crisis, 1923–1924 (Oxford U.P., 2003)). On the other side was the US who were more reconciliatory and who were increasingly having a lot of influence.

Ultimately, the Treaty of Versailles focused on reparations, changes in borders (Austria-Hungary was split and Germany did have to cede a lot of territory to e.g. Poland) and the creation of the League of Nations (essentially a forerunner of the UN) as a peacekeeping organisation which, despite being heavily influenced by Wilson's 14 Points, was not joined by the US (initially), weakening it considerably and meaning that again, France felt more vulnerable. This led to France being especially enthusiastic about enforcing the reparations, leading to the occupation of the Ruhr (see the Fischer reference above) - this led to incredible hardship for the German population there and did not add to the popularity of the Treaty of Versailles (to put it mildly).

Remember that Russia had left WWI in 1917 and was so not part of any of the negotiations. Russia was not Russia but the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic at this stage (after the Bolshevik Uprising 1917). The UK, being on an island, was less threatened by Germany and had for example, less populist outrage over German war atrocities (France, being right next to Belgium, was for example, very very angry about German actions in Belgium and while the UK had taken in many refugees, was less angry as a whole). This is in addition to the UK having a strong Navy (which enforced the Allied Blockade of Germany, arguably swinging the war towards an Allied Win after the lack of progress on the Western Front). So the UK felt less personally threatened and while not friendly to Germany, was swayed by Wilson's 14 Points also. The UK (and the US) were instead responsible for a lot of the relief work in Germany after the war. Save the Children for example was founded to provide help to Germans affected by the Blockade. A lot for he focus in those movements (rather than high politics) was on the women and children who were suffering after the war. This is then the image of the "child" as the innocent victim first became a Big Deal in relief work. (See: Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism, Michael Barnett, Ithaca, NY, Cornell University Press, 2011)

For more details on the specific negotiations around the Treaty of Versailles/League of Nations, which I'm not an expert on, see *The Guardians: The League of Nations and the Crisis of Empire, Susan Pedersen, Oxford, OUP Oxford, 2015. * See also: The Politics of Hunger: The Allied Blockade of Germany, 1915-1919. By C. Paul Vincent. Ohio University Press, Athens (Ohio) and London, 1985; pp. viii, 191. This gives more of an overview of British politics of how they felt less threatened by Germany particularly.