Treaty of Versailles

Versailles Diktat

Try <GOOGLING> “Treaty of Versailles”

It’s quite simple, actually…

If you think it’s that simple…

THINK AGAIN…

History is rarely that simple.

How could they have been so mean to these people?

The Treaty of Versailles made us do it!

“Dive Bomber” Approach to History

?

A Major Impact on the Future of Europe

1694 - 1778

Teutonic Knights

“Gott mit Uns!”

Prussian Expansion Begins

War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48)

Partitions of Poland-1772-1793-1795

Congress of Vienna - 1815

England, Prussia and Austria defeat Napoleon

Prussia gains the Rhineland, Westphalia, Saxony & Posen

Treaty of Vienna 1864

• Second War of Schleswig: Prussia & Austria vs. Denmark• Prussia acquires Schleswig; Austria acquires Holstein• ARTICLE XII: “The Governments of Prussia and of Austria shall be

reimbursed by the Duchies for the expenses of the war.”

Peace of Prague 1866

“His Majesty the Emperor of Austria obliges himself to pay His Majesty the King

of Prussia the sum of forty million Prussian Thaler [$28M], in order to cover a part of Prussia's costs grown out of the war.”

• Austro-Prussian War• Austria out of Germany• Austria loses Holstein• Prussia grabs Hannover,

Nassau, Hesse-Kassel & Frankfurt

Treaty of Versailles – 1871

• ARTICLE II: France shall pay the Emperor of Germany the sum of 5,000,000,000 Francs [$65B in current dollars]

• Germany Annexes Alsace-LorraineEnded Franco-Prussian War

Versailles: Proclamation of German Empire

Danger!Prussia now leads a unified Germany

January 18, 1871

“Expansionist, militarist, aggressive and arrogant”

Unpopular Book: Shatters Germany’s Conventional Wisdom

• Germany: largest population/industrial wealth• Felt “encircled” in Europe & excluded from colonies• Secure UK neutrality; “settle accounts” with France• Kaiser Wilhelm: “fundamental interracial conflict”• Von Bernhardi: Germany and the Next War

‐ Elimination of France‐ Mitteleuropa under German control‐ Colonial expansion

1912 Decision: Seek war with France & Russia

Contemporary Observations by the U.S. Ambassador• Prussian Officers – A class apart

‐ Cutting in line‐ A day at the races

• Social Control‐ The Rat (Councillor) system

• Plain, Secret, Court Secret, wirklicher (Excellency)‐ Wife carries husband’s title‐ Decorations: Black Eagle, Red Eagle, Order of Crown‐ Army of bureaucrats‐ Police registers on all

• Political Control‐ Unelected officials and judiciary‐ Lèse majesté laws‐ Press “freedom”‐ “Circle” voting in Prussia

James W. GerardAmbassador to Germany1913-1917

1914: Who started World War I?

Plenty of guilt to go around, BUT…

• July 1914: Germany gives Austria “blank check” vs. Serbia• August 1: Germany declares war on Russia• August 3: Germany declares war on France• August 4: Germany invades Belgium

“Necessity knows no bounds.”

Bethmann Hollweg’s September Programme [1914]

• “Weaken France to make her revival as a great power impossible for all time.”

‐ Destroy fortresses/seize Channel coast & coal mines‐ Indemnity so large [40 billion gold francs] that it would prevent

France from spending anything on armaments for 20 years• “Belgium reduced to a vassal state”• Luxembourg annexed• German-controlled Central European economic association

Balance of power German predominance in Europe

Aggression Transcends Politics: Another September Statement

“We must not worry about committing an offense against the rights of nations nor about violating the laws of humanity. Such feelings today are of secondary importance.”

--Matthias ErzbergerLeader, Center (Zentrum) Party

One Reason That Germany Must Be Victorious

“Once peace has been concluded, we can present our enemies with the bill for this war.”

--Karl HelfferichSecretary for the Treasury

LoansBondso Taxes

You don’t resist Germany: Atrocities in Belgium

An official policy of Schrecklichkeit [“frightfulness”]

…and it continued throughout the war

General von Bissing, Governor of Belgium

“Scorched earth” withdrawal to the Hindenburg Line

• Roads & railroad track ripped up• Houses destroyed• Factories removed or destroyed• Wells poisoned; mines flooded• Thousands of booby traps

• 150,000 able-bodied French kidnapped for forced labor

April 1917 – War Aims Conference at Bad Kreuznach

• Annexation of Lithuania, Western Latvia, and much of Poland• Control of parts of Belgium and France • Control of parts of Balkans• Territorial gains in Africa

German-Dictated “Punitive Peace”

Before the Nazis!

Russia loses:• 290,000 square miles• 25% of population• 50% of industries• 90% of coal/33% of oil• 33% of rail network

• Occupied Crimea & Caucasus (12 fewer divisions for Western Front)

• Take all Russian gold• Reparations: 6,000,000,000 marks

Treaty of MoscowAug 1918

Brest-Litovsk(March 1918)

Treaty of Bucharest: May 7, 1918

Germany defeats Romania

• Romania leases oil wells to Germany for 99 years

• Germans “supervise” every Romanian ministry

Spring 1918: Can anyone stop the German juggernaut?

Spring 1918: Can anyone stop the German juggernaut?

Oui!

Maréchal Ferdinand Foch: The Real Deal

Maréchal Ferdinand Foch: The Real Deal

• March 26, 1918 – Coordinator of allied armies • April 3, 1918 – Commander of Allied Armies,

Généralissime• July 1918 – Germans stopped on Marne• July 18, 1918: Counterattacks to clear bulges• August 8, 1918 – Amiens offensive• September 1918 – 100 Days Offensive

100 Days Offensive: German Army Defeated on Western Front

“Pressure Germans everywhere”

“The black day of the German Army”--General Ludendorff

FOCH

“Pressure the Germans Everywhere”

October 13, 1918

Foch threatens to relieve General Pershing

“Every general is disposed to say his front is hardest. I myself only consider results.”

Blockade: German Civilians Starving on the Home Front

German civilians wanted FOOD AND PEACE

YEAR DEATHS

1915 88,235

1916 121,114

1917 259,627

1918 293,760

“Ersatz foods containing sand, sawdust & machine oil…”

Wartime Consumption as Percentage of Peacetime Consumption

Food 1916-17 1918

Meat 31 12

Fish 51 5

Eggs 18 13

Potatoes 71 94

Flour 53 48

Fat substitutes made from ‘rats, mice, roaches, snails and earthworms’

Countdown to Meltdown

• September 29: Hindenburg Line breached. Ludendorff to Kaiser: “military situation hopeless”; Armistice; 14 Points

‐ Save Army’s reputation and blame the civilian government• October 5: Germany sends message to Wilson asking for peace• October 23: Wilson: “…won’t deal with military masters and

monarchical autocrats.”• October 26: Ludendorff says Army is ready to fight on and is dismissed• October 29: German Navy revolts at Kiel• November 5: Allies agree to armistice negotiations• November 9: Kaiser abdicates. Flees to Holland.

November 8, 1918: In the railcar at Compiègne

Foch: “Ask these gentlemen what they want.”Erzberger: “We have come to hear armistice proposals.”Foch: “I have no proposals to make.”von Oberndorff: “We seek armistice conditions.”Foch: “I have no conditions to offer.”

November 8, 1918: In the railcar at Compiègne

“Eh bien, messieurs, c’est fini. Allez.”

But, he did have terms to impose:• Cease hostilities in six hours• Evacuate France (including Alsace-

Lorraine) & Belgium in 2 weeks• Allies to occupy left bank of Rhine

River

Révanche: Metz, December 8, 1918

Paris Peace Conference begins: The “Big Four”

January 18, 1919

The Americans are Coming

“Mr. Wilson…appeared to consider opposition to be a personal affront and he was disposed to retaliate in a personal way.”“President Wilson was stronger in his hatreds than in his friendships. He lacked the ability to forgive…” “In his manner he had something of a preacher & university professor”

Sec State Lansing

Col HouseGEN Bliss

U.S. Objectives: 14 Points & “Lansing Note**1. Peace treaties openly arrived at2. Freedom of the seas in peace and war3. Equality of trade conditions4. Reduction of armaments5. Adjust colonies to accommodate inhabitants6. Germans evacuate all Russian territory

7. Germans evacuate & restore all Belgian territory8. Germans evacuate France & restore Alsace-Lorraine9. Readjust Italy’s borders along lines of nationality

10. Self determination for people of Austria-Hungary11. Independence of Romania, Serbia & Montenegro12. Turkey relinquishes control of non-Turkish areas13. Independent Polish state with access to sea14. League of Nations [The last shall be first…]

The Welsh Wizard

• Fresh from decisive general election victory‐ Squeeze Germany “until the pips squeak”

• Background issues‐ Parliamentary instability‐ Had to satisfy Canada, Australia, South Africa‐ Labor unrest‐ Ireland‐ Suffrage movement

• Intuitive, not an intellectual; sensed what others were thinking• Impossible to pin down

Lloyd George

“No central core of conviction”

Britain’s Objectives

• Restore traditional “Balance of Power” on continent

• Destruction of German Navy• Forfeiture of German colonies• German recovery: buy British goods

Clemenceau: “…from the very day after the armistice I found you an enemy of France.”

Lloyd George: “Well, was it not always our traditional policy?”

Italy’s Objectives

• Make good on 1915 Treaty of London‐ Get Trentino, Sud Tirol, Trieste, and more‐ No Yugoslavia

• Italy detested by Britain and France‐ Sold out to highest bidder‐ Poor battlefield performance

Orlando

Your Peace Conference Host: “Le Tigre”

• Brought down every government during war• Appointed Premier in November 1917• “I have only one policy: I make war.”• Fired defeatist generals and prefects• Censorship• “War too important to be left to the generals.”

• Presided over conference “with drastic firmness”

“Mr. Wilson bores me with his 14 Points. God Almighty only has 10.”

Clemenceau

France: $10,000,000,000 in property damage!

Type Loss Totals

Forest (sq. miles) 1,857

Farmland (sq. miles) 8,000

Houses 300,000

Factories 6,000

Schools 1,500

Churches 1,200

Livestock 1,300,000

Bridges 2,000

Roads (km) 62,000

Railroads (km) 5,000

France’s Objectives

• Reparations‐ Repay U.S. war loans ($4.1B) & recover fromwar damage

• Anglo-American Security guarantees‐ Germany larger population (75M vs. 40M)‐ Lost 1.5M men (1/2 under-30 male population)‐ No Russian ally on Germany’s eastern border

• Confine Germany East of Rhine• Return of Alsace-Lorraine

Clemenceau

“America is far away and protected by the ocean. England could not be reached by Napoleon himself. You are sheltered, both of you;

we are not.”

URGENT: Sign a peace treaty

“We were bent on doing great, permanent and noble things”

Wilson:• No formal meetings• Press blackout• No peace treaty outline

December 13, 1918: Wilson arrives

January 12, 1919: Lloyd George arrives

January 18, 1919: Peace Conference begins

29 nations (not Germany or Russia)

Council of 10 (Allies + Japan) plus “supplicants”

January 25, 1919: sets up Commission on the League of Nations (Wilson)

February 14, 1919: Delivered draft Covenant of League of Nations

Awkward: Wilson Returns Home

• February 24, 1919: Lands in Boston• Shares draft League Covenant with

audience—BEFORE Senate• Back in D.C.—Lectures senators

• February 19, 1919: Clemenceau shot by anarchist. Back at work 1 week later.

• COL House creates draft treaty outline

Wilson Returns

• March 14, 1919: Wilson returns• Council of Four & 58 committees• French demand security

• Rhineland• Separate security treaty• Standing League military force

• March 22, 1919: British “wobble” at Fontainebleau

• April 13, 1919: France gets Saar coal mines for 15 years

Wilson: “Have you ever been to Germany, M. Clemenceau?” “No, sir!” “But twice in my lifetime they have been to France.”

Drama in the Home Stretch

• April 24, 1919: Italians walk out over Fiume

• Belgians angry: not enough reparations

• Japan threatens to leave‐ German colony in China

• May 4, 1919: French cabinet approves treaty terms

Treaty of VersaillesPART I: COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONSPART II: BOUNDARIES OF GERMANYPART III: POLITICAL CLAUSES FOR EUROPE• Article 45 – Germany cedes Saar basin to France for 15 years• Article 51 – Alsace & Lorraine returned to FranceArticles 81, 83, 87, 100 – Germany recognizes independence of Austria, Czechoslovakia & Poland [Polish Corridor and free city of Danzig]PART XIV: GUARANTEES• Article 428 – Rhineland to be occupied for 15 yearsPART IV: GERMAN RIGHTS & INTERESTS OUTSIDE GERMANY• Article 119 – Germany renounces title to her overseas colonies

15 Parts. 440 Articles. 436 pages.

Treaty of VersaillesPART V: MILITARY, NAVAL & AIR CLAUSES• Article 160 – Army limited to 100,000 soldiers• Article 181 – Limited to 36 ships; no submarines• Article 198 – Cannot maintain any air forcesPART VIII: REPARATIONS• Article 231- Germany accepts responsibility for all loss/damage

allies have experienced in war imposed on them by its aggression • Article 232 – Germany agrees to pay reparations for damages done

to civilian populations and their property• Article 233 – Reparation Commission will determine amount• Separate U.S. – France and UK – France security treaties

58 commissions to administer treaty provisions

The Germans Arrive

• May 7: Germans brought to Versailles • May 29: German counterproposal• June 1: UK/Dominions wobble again

• Reparations/Rhineland• U.S. & France to UK: “Naff off”• June 16: Accept treaty by 23 June• June 19: Orlando falls• June 20: German cabinet resigns • June 21: Germans scuttle fleet • Ebert asks Army. They say, “sign.”• June 23: Assembly votes yes 237 to 138

“Germans are really a stupid people. They always do the wrong thing.”

Shocked!

June 28, 1919: exactly 5 years after Sarajevo

• Not as harsh as German Brest-Litovsk treaty

• Foch does not attend• No victory parade in Berlin“Don’t believe the Germans will ever forgive us. They will seek revenge.”

How not to pass a Treaty • League part of peace treaty• Article 10 : “Affirmative Guarantee”

‐ Treaty powers of Senate‐ Monroe Doctrine

• Partisanship. Snub Senate.• Lodge: “yes with reservations”• Sep 25, 1919: Public tour. Stroke.• Nov 18, 1919: Wilson: Dems vote “no”• Mar 19, 1920: Again urges “no”

Separate American Peace Treaty with Germany

2/3 x 96 = 64. Only 32 can vote “no.” 18 “irreconcilables” + 21 “reservationists”/no compromise = 39

Where World War I Ended for the United States

Scenic Bridgewater, New Jersey

A proud nation humiliated?

Was Germany Defeated?

Defeated on battlefield• 500,000 casualties: Aug-Oct• 150,000 deserters/250,000 POWs• 1M refused to obey orders

Blockade• 293,760 deaths in 1918• Raw materials cut off

Austria/Bulgaria/Turkey defeated = no oil Millions more Americans coming Huge growth in allied tanks, artillery, aircraft

Yes:

Was Germany Defeated?

Nein.Dolchstoss!

German Territorial Losses: A Comparison

TREATY DATE NATION LAND LOST PEOPLELOST

Sèvres August 10, 1920 Turkey 439,000 mi2 8.4M

Trianon June 4, 1920 Hungary 90,000 mi2 13.4M

St. Germain September 10, 1919 Austria 84,000 mi2 24.0M

Versailles June 28, 1919 Germany 27,000 mi2

(9.4%)6.5M(7%)

Neuilly November 27, 1919 Bulgaria 994 mi2 90K

• Alsace-Lorraine returned to France• North Schleswig to Denmark• Eupen & Malmédy to Belgium

• Posen to Poland• Danzig = free city

A Legendary Issue

• May 1921: Reparations Commission:132B gold marks owed

• December 1922: Germany defaults• January 1923: French enter Ruhr• German passive resistance• Germans spend 40M marks/day

Coal: late 34 times/3 years

Reparations: what you should know

• Printed money = Inflation• The people suffer…• But the German central bank

• Pays off war bonds cheaply• Pays reparations cheaply

• Jan 1923: $1.00 = 7,500 marks• Nov 1923: $1 = 4,200,000,000

marks

132B to 20B [13B in kind + 7B cash (2B Germany & 5B loans]

In the end: $5B. Less than France paid Germany in 1870s.

Nature of Germany + Depression = Nazis (not Versailles)

• Worldwide depression was final straw• German government raised taxes and

drastically lowered spending‐ Unemployment tripled (2M to 6M)‐ 15M on welfare‐ High food prices

SeecktBlomberg

Brüning

• Oct 1925: Germany admitted to League • 1927 vs. 1913

- 30% more iron and steel - monthly savings deposits increase 126M

• Lack of democratic tradition- Army- Judiciary

What ever happened to…?

The “Big Four”

What ever happened to…?

Marshall Foch

Representing France Abroad

Dedication of Liberty Memorial, Kansas City

Mount Vernon

Georgetown University

Honored Internationally

Field Marshal

of UK

Marshal of France

Marshal of

Poland

Ferdinand Foch (1851 – 1929): The Architect of Victory

Thoughts on Treaty of Versailles

“This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty years.”

“First the Polish Corridor will disappear and then Czechoslovakia and Austria…”

“The next time the Germans will make no mistake. They will break into Northern France and seize the Channel ports as a base of operations against England.”

“He knew the German people well. They become ferocious when anyone retires before them.” --Clemenceau

Thoughts on Prussia

“…for four years Germany deliberately trampled on the most sacred principles of humanity. What caused it?”

“They are founded on the pernicious influence long exercised by Prussia over the whole of Germany. They are the effect of the intellectual and ethical poison with which Prussia inoculated the whole land.”

“The German soul has a place for the glorification of brute force, for the notion of war as a colossal looting campaign.”

Why was peace after WWII more successful?

• Complete occupation of Germany• Obliteration of Prussia• Strong Russian threat • End of American isolationism

Why was peace after WWII more successful?

• Complete occupation of Germany• Obliteration of Prussia• Strong Russian threat • End of American isolationism

The purpose of NATO is to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.

--Lord IsmayNATO Secretary General

Treaty of Versailles

Versailles Diktat

• “When historians look at the other details, the picture of Germany crushed by a vindictive peace cannot be sustained.”

• “…without the damage done by the depression, the story might have turned out differently.”

• “The Treaty of Versailles is not to blame. It was never consistently enforced.”

“We can learn from history, but we can also deceive ourselves when we selectively take evidence from the past”

Treaty of Versailles

Versailles Diktat

BibliographyGermany’s Aims in the First World War, Fritz Fischer, 1961, Droste Verlag, DusseldorfArmy, Industry, and Labor in Germany, 1914-18, Gerald Feldman, 1966, Princeton

University Press, Princeton, NJThe Hundred Days: the Campaign that Ended World War I, Nick Lloyd, 2014, Basic

Books, New York The Other Battleground: The Home Fronts: Britain, France and Germany, 1914-1918,

John Williams, 1972, Henry Regnery Company, ChicagoA Perfidious Distortion of History, Jürgen Tamke, 2017, Scribe Publications,

MelbourneThe Treaty of Versailles: a Concise History, Michael S. Neiberg, 2017, Oxford University

Press, New YorkSieg Heil!, Stefan Lorant, 1974, W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., New YorkThe End of Order: Versailles 1919, Charles L. Mee, Jr., 1980, E.P. Dutton, New YorkParis 1919, Six Months That Changed the World, Margaret MacMillan, 2003, Random

House, New York

BACKUPS

Still Seething: Extracts from the AfD Magazine, 2018

Treaty of St. Germain with Austria, September 1919

Dr. Renner

• Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved• Army limited to 30,000 volunteers• No union with Germany• Admit war guilt• Reparations - but never collected

• From 116,000 to 32,000 sq miles• From 30,000,000 to 6,000,000 people

Treaty of Trianon with Hungary, June 1920• Austro-Hungarian Empire dissolved• Lost access to Mediterranean Sea• Army limited to 35,000• No air forces, tanks, heavy artillery• Lost 89% of timber & 84% of iron

• From 126,000 to 36,000 sq miles• From 21,000,000 to 7,600,000 people

Treaty of Sèvres with Turkey, August 1920• Dismembered Ottoman Empire• Army limited to 58,000 men• Dardanelles remain open always• Allies to control Turkey’s finances

• From 614,000 to 175,000 sq miles• Led to Republic of Turkey under Atatürk• Treaty of Lausanne, July 1923

German Territorial Losses: A Comparison

NATION LAND LOST PEOPLELOST

Turkey 439,000 mi2

Hungary 90,000 mi2 13.4M

Austria 84,000 mi2 24.0M

Germany 27,000 mi2

(9.4%)6.5M(7%)

Reparations: what you should know• Reparations Commission: 132B goldmarks, but waived all but 50B ($12B)• May 1921: 20B goldmarks ($5B)• 1926: 40B goldmarks ($8B)• 120,000 sheep; 140,000 dairy cows; 40,000 horses• 7M tons coal/yr x 10 yrs• Keynes proposes reducing war loan debt instead of reparations• 1923: French occupy Ruhr after Germans miss coal shipment targets 34 times in 3

years• Deliberate inflation caused by printing money to finance resistance to occupation:

makes it easier to pay back war bonds and reparation loans• 1924: Dawes Plan reduces reparation & $200M U.S. loan, but not what France

owes U.S. $5B Less than what French paid after Franco-Prussian War• 1925: Treaty of Locarno – Germany enters League; France leaves Rhineland• From 132B to 50B to 20B [13B in kind + 7B in cash (2B by Germany & 5B loans)]

Treaty of VersaillesPART I: COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS• Article 8 – Maintenance of peace; reduction of armaments• Article 10 – League members defend other members

from aggression• Article 22 – “Mandates” for Central Powers’ former

coloniesPART II: BOUNDARIES OF GERMANYPART III: POLITICAL CLAUSES FOR EUROPE• Article 42 – No German forts: left bank of Rhine/50km of right bank• Article 45 – Germany cedes Saar basin to France for 15 years• Article 51 – Alsace & Lorraine returned to France• Articles 81, 83, 87, 100 – Germany recognizes independence of Austria,

Czechoslovakia & Poland [Polish Corridor and free city of Danzig]15 Parts. 433 Articles. 436 pages.

Treaty of Versailles

PART IV: GERMAN RIGHTS & INTERESTS OUTSIDE GERMANY• Article 119 – Germany renounces title to her overseas coloniesPART V: MILITARY, NAVAL & AIR CLAUSES• Article 159 – Germany demobilizes all military forces• Article 160 – Limited to 100,000 soldiers [4,000 officers]• Article 165 – Weapons limited [84,000 rifles; 1,900 MG; 288 cannons]• Article 170 – Cannot import war material• Article 171 – Cannot manufacture or use poison gas• Article 173 – Compulsory military service abolished in Germany• Article 181 – Limited to 36 ships; no submarines• Article 193 – Germany to clear all its mines• Article 198 – Cannot maintain any air forces or dirigibles

Treaty of Versailles

PART VI: PRISONERS OF WAR & GRAVESPART VII: PENALTIES• Article 227 – Allied & Associated Powers “arraign William II of

Hohenzollern…” To be tried by tribunal.PART VIII: REPARATIONS• Article 231- Germany accepts responsibility for all

loss/damage allies have experienced in war imposed on them by its aggression

• Article 232 – Germany agrees to pay reparations for damages done to civilian populations and their property

• Article 233 – Reparation Commission will determine amount

Treaty of VersaillesPART IX: FINANCIAL CLAUSES• Article 249 – Germany shall pay costs of Army of OccupationPART X: ECONOMIC CLAUSES• Article 264 – Germany shall not charge Allies higher tariffs or block

imports• Article 268 – Goods from Alsace-Lorraine duty free for 5 years• Article 271 – Allies get most favored nation maritime/fishing rightsPART XI: AERIAL NAVIGATION• Article 313, 315 – German skies and airports open to AlliesPART XII: PORTS, WATERWAYS AND RAILWAYS• Article 321 – Germany keeps coasts & waterways open to Allied transit

Treaty of VersaillesPART XIII: CONSTITUTION OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR ORGPART XIV: GUARANTEES• Article 428 – German Rhineland and bridgeheads to be occupied

for 15 years• Article 431 – If Germany pays off reparations early, occupation will

end before 15 yearsPART XV: MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS• Article 434 – Germany recognizes treaties Allies will make with

Austria, Bulgaria and Turkey

58 commissions established to administer provisions