Treaty of Versailles

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William Orpen - The Signing of Peace in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was the historically disastrous end to the historically disastrous World War I.

While it may have made the "victors" feel better, it also put the "losers" in a hopeless position of having to make onerous reparations. The "losers" then developed a nationalist sentiment that led to an even bloodier war.

Contents

[edit] Revanche

The Treaty was signed in the Palace of Versailles, a place of great historical significance to the nation of France. As it was the site of France's final humiliation during the Franco-Prussian War,[1] it was the perfect venue for Georges Clémenceau to put the proverbial boot to Germany.

The newly-formed Weimar Republic had little option but to agree to terms dictated by France and 30 other countries.[2]

[edit] Terms

The terms of the treaty were not as onerous as the terms the German Empire had dictated to Russia.[3] But no one remembers that because Germany had to give it all back, as per the Treaty of Versailles. Some of the terms included:

  • Germany was forced to restrict the size and equipment of its military until it was little more than a paramilitary police force (well, to the extent to which they complied with the obligations at least).[4]
  • Germany was forced to pay reparations to the victors, crippling the national economy.[5] Guess when it was finally paid off? 2010.[6]
  • Germany was forced to turn over all of its colonial possessions to the Allies or local governments and to give up treaty privileges with many countries.[7]
  • Kaiser Wilhelm II was to be put on trial for "a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties."[8]
  • Germany was forced to take the blame for the whole war even happening.[5] This is the War Guilt Clause,[wp] and historians largely agree that it was the most damaging one, but it was seen as necessary by the lawyers of the victorious powers as the basis for making Germany liable for reparations.[9]
  • Germany was to deliver to the French government no less than 10,000 goats.[10]

[edit] Rache

The utter humiliation of Germany and the German people (especially when combined with the Great Depression) was a significant contributing factor to the rise of Adolf Hitler.[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Die Proklamation Des Deutschmark Kaiserreiches by Anton von Werner (France held a grudge.)
  2. Read the original New York Times article
  3. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Yale University
  4. Treaty of Versailles, Section V, BYU
  5. 5.0 5.1 Treaty of Versailles, Section VII, BYU
  6. Why Did World War I Just End?, TIME
  7. Treaty of Versailles, Part IV, BYU
  8. Treaty of Versailles, Part VII, BYU
  9. Also, Germany was pretty much the only losing power around that had any money: Austria-Hungary had already dissolved, the Ottoman Empire was clearly little more than a dead letter, none of their successor states were able to cough up reparations (and some, like Czechoslovakia, were essentially part of the victorious powers), and neither could Bulgaria.
  10. Treaty of Versailles, Annex IV, BYU
  11. Holocaust Encyclopedia: Treaty of Versailles, 1919, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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