Treaty of Versailles

November 11th, 1918

--The War is Over

• What were the aims and motives of the victorious powers in drawing up the Treaty of Versailles?

• Was the Treaty a fair one? • Was the German response

justified?

The Treaty

• Compromise between all victorious nations

• Opinions differed on how to treat Germany

• Allied powers met to decide who caused the war, who was to pay, and what was to become of Germany, Austria and Europe as a whole

France

• Led by Georges Clemenceau

• Heaviest casualties in terms of men and property--1 250 000 men

• much of Northern France had been a battlefield

• 90% of coal and iron industry destroyed

• 48 000 km of road and 23 000 factories destroyed

• wanted reparations (payments made by the defeated countries to repair the damage done to the victorious countries)

• Felt Germany needed to be kept from invading again

• REVENGE

Great Britain• Led by Lloyd George

• Had lost 750 000 men and spent nearly 8 billion

• had to borrow from the US

• Similar to French but…

• Worried that too harsh a treaty might cause future hostility

United States• Led by Woodrow Wilson

• Joined the war in April 1917

• Lost 113 000 men

• businessmen had lent money to countries like Britain, had also taken over many foreign markets--PROFIT

• felt they has rescued Europe and now wanted their money back!

• Put forward the use of “the 14 points” designed to establish a lasting peace in Europe

The terms of the Treaty

The Treaty can be divided into four sections:

• Territorial

• Military

• Financial

• General

Territorial

• Land was taken away from Germany :– Example: Alsace-Lorraine (given to France), Germany

had to return to Russia land taken in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

– Some regions put under the control of the League of Nations and the people of these regions would be allowed to vote to stay in Germany or not in a future referendum.

– The League of Nations also took control of Germany's overseas colonies.

Military•Germany’s army reduced to 100,000 men-- not allowed tanks

•not allowed an airforce

•allowed only 6 capital naval ships and no submarines

•The west of the Rhineland and 50 kms east of the River Rhine was made into a demilitarised zone (DMZ). No German soldier or weapon was allowed into this zone. The Allies were to keep an army of occupation on the west bank of the Rhine for 15 years

Financial

– loss of vital industrial territory--severe blow to any attempts by Germany to rebuild her economy.

– Financial penalties linked to reparations, it seemed clear to Germany that the Allies wanted nothing else but to bankrupt her.

– Germany was also forbidden to unite with Austria to form one superstate, in an attempt to keep her economic potential to a minimum

General

There are three vital

clauses here:

1. Germany had to admit full responsibility for starting the war. This was Clause 231 - the infamous "War Guilt Clause".

This made German people, (who had also suffered casualties, destruction and loss), very angry.

– 2. Germany had to pay reparations (mostly to France and Belgium) for the damage done to the infrastructure of both countries by the war.

– The figure was not set at Versailles - it was to be determined later.

– The Germans were told to write a blank cheque which the Allies would cash when it suited them. The figure was eventually put at £6,600 million - a huge sum of money well beyond Germany’s ability to pay.

• 3. A League of Nations was set up to keep world peace.

In fact, the first 26 clauses of the treaty dealt with the League's organisation

Germany agreed to:• Accept the new map of Europe

• Accept the decisions made by the new League of Nations

• Limit the size of its army and navy

• To give up its Empire

• To accept blame for the war and to pay reparations to countries that suffered damage during the war