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The Treaty of Versailles 28th June 1919
Introduction
By 1918 Germany was being defeated in most areas of the war. German people were hungry,
war weary and demanded peace. The German government eventually asked for an armistice, and
at the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918, cease-fire began.
The problem of peace remained. Many people hoped that a peace settlement would prevent
war from happening again, President Woodrow Wilson thought that he had the answer to all
Europes problems. He stated his views in Fourteen Points.
Wilsons Fourteen Points
On January 8th, 1918, Wilson outlined his peace proposals to the American
Congress. These became known as the Fourteen Points and Four
principles.
On November 5th, 1918, Wilson sent a note to the Germans. The Germans agreed
to an armistice and expected a peace settlement to be based upon the Fourteen points.
Of the fourteen points these were the most important:
- There were to be no secret treaties between powers like the treaties that had helped to
cause the First World War. (Open Diplomacy)
- Seas should be free in peace and in war to ships of all nations (Freedom of Navigation)
- The barriers to trade between countries such as custom duties should be removed (free
trade)
- All countries should reduce their armed forces to the lowest possible levels
(Multilateral disarmament.)
- The national groups in Europe should, wherever possible, be given their independence.
Wilson supported the idea of National Self-Determination, whereby a nation had the right
to self-government.
- Russia should be allowed to operate whatever government it wanted.
- Territorial changes:
Germany should give up Alsace-Lorraine and any lands taken away
during the war.
The Italian frontier should be readjusted.
Belgium should be evacuated.
Poland should be given an outlet to the sea.
- The defeated nations should not be made to pay for the war as a whole.
- A League of Nations should be formed to protect world peace in the future.
Most of the points are very general: not all of them stated specific changes. Britain
and France looked upon the points as being too impractical, they thought that Wilson was
hoping far too much. France and Britain had used much of their wealth on the war, and
France had suffered two German invasions (1870 & 1914). France wanted to ensure that
no third attack would ever take place, and wanted Germany to be reduced to a minor
European State.
The Paris Peace Conference
The terms for peace were discussed in Paris from 18th January 1919 until
June.
- The conference was attended by thirty-two states, but the major powers dominated the
conference, Japan, Italy (represented by Orlando), France (represented by Georges
Clemenceau), Britain (represented by Lloyd George) and the USA (represented by Wilson)
were considered to be the major powers. Major decisions were made by Britain, France and
the USA, The Big Three.
- Germany and the defeated states were not invited to attend the conference.
- Peace was difficult to make because of the widescale disruption to Europe during the war
and the general unrest that existed while the peace conference sat. When the Versailles
Treaty was signed, few of Wilsons fourteen points were adhered to, though a
League of Nations was set up.
German Land Losses
Refer to the map showing German land losses.
- Clemenceau wanted to make sure that France was secure from German attack and so demanded
that Frances northeastern boundary was safe. Germany therefore lost Alsace-Lorraine.
The Rhineland was demilitarised so tat French borders were secure.
- Three frontier areas: Eupen, Malmédy and Moresnet were given to Belgium.
- Northern Schleswig went to Denmark, Southern Schleswig stayed in Germany.
- Troppau was transferred to Czechoslovakia.
- Poland gained West Prussia and Posen. This made up a corridor, giving Poland
access to the Baltic Sea. East Prussia was separated from Germany. Poland also gained half
of Silesia. (N.B. Article 87 said the Poland-Russia border would be settled later.)
- The League of Nations took control of certain areas:
Industrial area of the Saar
(Germany regained it in 1935)
Memel (a port) taken from Germany (annexed by Lithuania, 1923)
Danzig made a free city under the control of the League of Nations.
- All Germanys gains at the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (3rd March 1918) were
surrendered. Germany had made considerable gains when Russia made peace.
- Germany lost all of her overseas colonies covering a total of 1,000,000 square miles.
Britain gained Tanganyika in East Africa, part of Togoland and the Cameroons. The
remaining African colonies were shared between Belgium and South Africa. In the Pacific,
German possessions were showed between Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
- The union (Anschluss) of Austria and Germany was forbidden.
As a result of these losses, Germanys total territorial losses amounted to 28,000
square miles, and six million people.
Military Losses
- The German army was reduced to 100,000 men, and conscription was disallowed.
- No tanks, aircraft or heavy artillery were to be manufactures for the German armed
forces.
- German navy reduced to: six battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, and
twelve torpedo boats. Germany had to build ships for the Allies.
Economic Losses
The German steel industry depended on coal from the Saar, and iron ore from
Alsace-Lorraine. Germany lost both of these areas. Germany also lost coalmines in Upper
Silesia, to Poland.
Reparations (compensation payment for war damages
- This was a difficult problem to solve and so a reparations commission was established to
decide how many goods and how much money Germany should pay.
- The figure £6,600 million was eventually agreed upon.
- Some people thought this figure was too high. J.M. Keynes (a British economist) said
that Germany would only become poorer and bitter. He was right.
War Guilt Clause
- This refers to Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles, which placed the blame for all
losses received by the Allies in the First World War, on Germany.
- The treaty also specifically asked that Kaiser be brought on trial. Kaiser Wilhelm II
fled to Holland in 1918, and the Dutch refused to release him.
The Signing of the Treaty of Versailles
- The terms of the treaty were presented to the Germans. The German Foreign Minister,
Count Brockdorff-Ramtzau, complained of its severity
- The Germans were given three weeks to prepare their formal complaint. The Germans
complained about nearly every clause. The allies ignored all but a few complaints.
- With no other option, the Germans signed the treaty. Peace was signed in the
Hall of Mirrors, at Versailles.
- The Germans felt cheated by this treaty, because virtually none of Wilsons
Fourteen Points had been included in the treaty. The Germans called the treaty
a diktat because it was dictated to them, without real consultation. The
Weimar government, especially Ebert who had signed the treaty, was looked upon as
traitorous.
Reaction of Britain, France and the USA
- Most people in Britain had wanted revenge and so had gained some satisfaction. Lloyd
George was satisfied that Britain had gained most of Germanys colonies, so that
after 1919, Britain could recover its wealth and power.
- France, however, was not satisfied that Germany had been weakened enough. Marshal Foch
of France said in 1919: This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty-one
years. By this he meant Germany had not been weakened enough and would rise again in
twenty-one years. He predicted Germanys rise correctly. Britain and America promised
help to France should Germany threaten her in the future.
- Most remarkable of all, America refused to ratify the treaty. Wilson was a Democrat. The
republican part in America opposed Wilsons involvement in Europe, and in the autumn
of 1918, the Republicans had a majority in Congress. Congress refused to sign the Treaty
of Versailles because:-
- Republicans were against Democrats
- Republicans wanted isolation
France still felt insecure, because Britain would not support France without American
aid.
Reasons why Germany Thought the Treaty of Versailles was Unfair
- Germany thought the Treaty of Versailles (28th June 1919) was unfair because
it was a diktat. The Big Three had not negotiated with Germany at
Paris from January June 1919. Germany was given only three weeks to comment on the
vast amounts of peace clauses. Her objections were largely ignored. Germany resented the
attitude of revenge which was summed up by the British press as:
- "Make Germany Pay"
and
"Squeeze the German Lemon until the Pips Squeak!"
- Germany though the Treaty was unfair because it was not based fully on Wilsons
Fourteen Points. On the 5th November, 198, Germany had accepted the
Fourteen Points as the basis for peace and an armistice began at 11 oclock on the 11th
November 1918. By the 28th June 1919, when the Treaty of Versailles was signed,
the Fourteen Points had been largely forgotten. (See table below)
How the Fourteen Points were Ignored |
Fourteen Points |
Treaty of Versailles |
Open Diplomacy |
The Big Three made all the decisions at
Versailles, so the treaty was a diktat. |
Freedom of the Seas |
Germany could not enjoy freedom of navigation because her
navy was so reduced. |
Multilateral disarmament |
Only Germany disarmed at Versailles. It was enforced
unilateral disarmament. Also, to humiliate Germany further, she had to build ships for the
Allies (Allies rearmed) |
National-Self Determination |
NSD was applied unfairly at Versailles, e.g. Poland. Poland
was given Posen-West Prussia, and therefore, the Germans on this land were now under
foreign rule. Also the Anschluss of Germany and Austria was not allowed, and so the
Germany speakers in these lands were denied NSD. |
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