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Treaty of Versailles (1919)

+ Europe 1914

+ Europe 1919 - 1939

+How did the Europe of 1919 come to be?

+World War One

1914 - 1918

A total war

Triple Entente Vs Central Powers

9 000 000 military fatalities

6 000 000 civilian fatalities

+World War One

11 Nov 1918 - Germany surrendered

Negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference

Outcome was the Treaty of Versailles

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What was the Treaty of Versailles?

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What were the terms?

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+War Guilt & Responsibility

Article 231 - the “War Guilt” Clause

Held Germany to be solely responsible for all loss and damage suffered by the Triple Entente during the war “…Germany accepts responsibility of Germany and her

allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied governments and their peoples have been subjected to as a result of the war…”

Provided the legal basis for the financial terms of the Treaty

+Financial Terms

Known as reparations

Announced in 1921

Sum of £6 600 000

An astronomical sum – Germany would take roughly 70 years to repay the entire sum

To be paid in cash or in kind e.g. coal

+Territorial Terms

+ Germany was also stripped of its overseas colonies -

many of these colonies were taken over by France and Britain

Germany was not permitted to unite with Austria in an attempt to limit its economic (and thus war making) potential

+Military & Disarmament Terms

Germany was not allowed to have a General Staff - the body that coordinates military planning and strategy for a country’s armed forces

German Army restricted to 100 000 men; no conscription allowed

It was not allowed to have any tanks or artillery (big guns)

German Navy was allowed to have six battleships and no submarines

Germany was not allowed to have an air force

A demilitarized zone (DMZ) was established in the Rhineland

+Others

An international organisation known as the League of Nations was to be set up to provide a platform for the peaceful resolution of international disputes

Separate treaties were signed with Germany’s allies that saw the dismantling of the Austro-Hungarian Empire

+What did Germany lose?

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How did you think the German people reacted to this?