In the heavily industrialized north of France, the Germans had shipped out what they wanted for their own use and destroyed much of the rest. Some disarmed the German military, while others stripped the defeated nation of territory, population and economic resources, and forced it to admit responsibility for the war and agree to pay reparations. The result was said to be a compromise that nobody liked. Secret treaties were also to be discouraged, and Britain and France greeted a call for the reduction in armaments by all nations with disapproval. In Germany, the treaty caused shock and humiliation that contributed to the collapse of the Weimar Republic in 1933, particularly because many Germans did not believe that they should accept sole responsibility for Imperial Germany and its allies in starting the war. In January 1919, two months after the fighting in World War I ceased, a conference was convened at Versailles, the former country estate of the French monarchy outside Paris, to work out the terms of a peace treaty to officially end the conflict. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. However, Lloyd George was aware of the potential trouble that could come from an embittered Germany, and he felt that a less harsh treaty that did not engender vengence would be better at preserving peace in the long run.
The 1924 Dawes Plan modified Germany's reparation payments. This helps to understand why the League of Nations, Wilsons main idea (along with self-determination), was apparently jumped at by Britain and France when Wilson arrived at the peace conference. Articles 181-197 reduced Germanys naval forces to a skeleton force that included just six battleships, six light cruisers, 12 destroyers and 12 torpedo boats, and totally eliminated the submarine fleet that had terrorized ships in the Atlantic. Furthermore, Britain wanted to maintain the balance of powerwherein no country in Europe would be allowed to become substantially more powerful than the others. Henry Kissinger called the treaty a "brittle compromise agreement between American utopism and European paranoiatoo conditional to fulfill the dreams of the former, too tentative to alleviate the fears of the latter.".
//
Articles 81-86 compelled Germany to renounce territorial claims and recognize the independence of Czechoslovakia, a new nation formed from several provinces of former German ally Austria-Hungary, whose western portion had a sizable minority of ethnic Germans. (Mistakes that were not repeated following the Second World War.). Articles 159-163 reduced the size of the German army, which had reached 1.9 million troops during World War I, to just 100,000, and mandated that the force shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers.. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Treaty_of_Versailles&oldid=1034130, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, Alsace-Lorrainethe territories that were ceded to Germany in accordance with the Preliminaries of Peace signed at, Northern Schleswigincluding the German-dominated towns of Tondern (Tnder), Apenrade, Sonderburg, Hadersleben, and Lgum in Schleswig-Holstein, after the Schleswig Plebiscite, to, The Prussian provinces Posen and West Prussia, which Prussia had annexed in Partitions of Poland (1772-1795), were returned to newly restorted. The Big Three had known even before they met that Germany was to be punished.
This would have taken Germany till 1984 to pay. There was also pressure from the Conservatives (who were part of the coalition government) demanding that Germany be punished severely in order to prevent such a war in the future as well as to preserve Britains empire. Articles 87-93 gave what had been German West Prussia and other territory with ethnic German inhabitants to newly-independent Poland. The View From Prague and Bratislava. Besides the loss of the German colonial empire, Germany also lost the following territories: Article 156 of the treaty transferred German concessions in Shandong, China to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to China.
West Prussia was given to Poland to provide free access to the sea, along with a sizeable German minority, creating the Polish Corridor. The result was a compromise that left nobody satisfied. It even specified strict limits on the number of infantry, artillery and engineers, and limited the officer corps to 4,000. The United States of America took a more peaceful view towards the reparations of Germany. The reparations and dismantling of the German military were humiliating for many Germans, primarily because the German military and press had been lying to the public about the war, Quall says. Because Germany was not allowed to take part in the negotiations, the German government issued a protest to what it considered to be unfair demands, and soon afterwards withdrew from the proceedings. Instead of having an economically expanding and threatening Russian Empire allied with France on her eastern flank, Germany now faced a diplomatically isolated Russia that was also embroiled in revolution and civil war. Some historians, such as Margaret Olwen MacMillan, have since disagreed with this assertion. Clemenceau's intentions were simple: punitive reparations and Germanys military to be not only weakened for the time being, but permanently weakened so as never to be able to invade France again. Another factor was that Germany was Britains second largest trade partner, and a reduced German economy due to reparations would lower Britains trade. There was also pressure from the Conservatives (who were part of the coalition government) demanding that Germany be punished severely in order to prevent such a war in the future as well as preserving Britains empire. Even as German forces were retreating in 1918, they found time to blow up France's most important coal mines." 194.). Also, he wanted to maintain and possibly increase Britains colonies, and both he and Clemenceau felt threatened by Wilsons self-determination, which they saw as a direct threat to their respective empires. Hitler subsequently defied other provisions as well, including re-militarizing the Rhineland and joining into a union with Austria. Furthermore, Germanys colonies should be taken from her and distributed between the victors. Time Life Pictures/German Official Photo/War Dept./National Archives/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images. Universal History Archive/UIG/Getty images. The Big Three had known even before they met that Germany was to be punished. Indeed, the ease with which Germany later shook off the treaty's restrictions argues strongly against its being the "Carthaginian peace" of John Maynard Keynes' formulation. However, no more reparations were paid by Germany.
Germany could only manufacture new war materiel in a few factories approved by the Allies. Around two hundred German railroad workers involved in sabotage were executed by French authorities. Here are some of the key provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. In 1921, Carl Melchior, a WWI soldier and German financier with M. M. Warburg & Co who became part of the German negotiating team, thought it advisable to accept an impossible reparations burden. Some modern historians, however, argue that this cause was reasonable in that it reflected the harsh terms Germany had negotiated with Russia with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Negotiations between the allied powers started on May 7, the anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania. By this time Germany had paid only one eighth of the sum required under the Treaty of Versailles. The Germans had to turn over vast amounts of equipment, from tanks and machine guns to telephones. Clemenceau was the most radical member of the Big Four, and received the nickname Le Tigre (The Tiger). Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. That provision became the basis for the Allies for demand that Germany pay reparations, which were set by a series of conferences in 1920 at $33 billion (about $423 billion in 2019 dollars). Article 227 called for a five-judge tribunal to put the abdicated Kaiser Wilhelm II on trial or a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties.. Lastly, like Clemenceau, he supported upholding secret treaties and the idea of a naval blockade. Belgium had been picked clean. In the end the Allies agreed that they would punish Germany and attempt to weaken that nation so much that it wouldnt pose a future threat. To the south, the large (though increasingly enfeebled) Austro-Hungarian monarchy had been replaced by a group of small, weak republics that were to prove easy prey for a revitalized Germany two decades later.
French military had taken over towns in key locations such as Gau Algesheim, forcing homelessness upon its inhabitants. Clemenceau also wanted to symbolically destroy the old, militaristic Germany something that could have been achieved by never allowing the pre-1914 politicians back into politics and by hanging the Kaiser (who had abdicated towards the end of the war and fled to Holland). Germany was already in deep financial trouble, due to the former imperial regimes trick of printing a lot of currency and borrowing heavily to cover its military expenditures. German military buildup began almost immediately, in direct defiance of the Treaty, which, by then, had been destroyed by Hitler in front of a cheering crowd. If France's wishes were carried out, then not only would Germany be crippled, but France would soon become the main superpower, and so disrupt the balance of power in two ways. The 1924 Dawes Plan modified Germany's reparation payments. Around 200 German railroad workers involved in sabotage were executed by French authorities. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. China declared the end of its war against Germany in September 1919 and signed a separate treaty with Germany in 1921. Article 231 of the Treaty (the war guilt clause) held Germany solely responsible for all loss and damage suffered by the Allies during the war and provided the basis for war reparations. When the election finally was held in 1935, 90 percent of them voted to be part of Germany. However, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression resulted in the Allies instituting a moratorium for 193132 during which the Lausanne Conference voted to cancel reparations. After a 15-year period, there was supposed to be a plebiscite and residents could choose whether to be German or French, explains Karl Qualls, a professor of history at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
The League of Nations was intended to arbitrate international disputes and thereby avoid future wars. It put forward 14 points, which the German public thought the Treaty would be based around. Some were acquitted, while others were found guilty but generally received light sentences. On first glance, the reparations seem excessive. The United States of America took a more peaceful view towards the reparations of Germany. After six months of negotiations, which took place at the Paris Peace Conference (1919), the treaty formalized the armistice signed with Germany in November 1918 in the Compigne Forest.
The Allies did put 17 other Germans on trial on allegations ranging from looting to sinking a hospital ship, according to the International Encyclopedia for the First World War.
Britain as a whole was at first content, but then felt that the Treaty was too harsh, and of particular concern were Germanys eastern frontiers, which were seen as a potential trouble spot for the future. The "Big Four" that negotiated the treaty consisted of Prime Minister David Lloyd George of the United Kingdom, President Georges Clemenceau of France, Vittorio Orlando of Italy, and President Woodrow Wilson of the United States of America. [CDATA[ Territorially, France felt that Germany should be punished. Coal from the Ruhr industrial region was transported to France by train. The Hlunsko Hulczyn area of Upper Silesia to, The area of German cities Eupen and Malmedy to, The area of Soldau in East Prussia (railway station on the Warsaw-, From the eastern part of West Prussia and the southern part of East Prussia, Warmia and Masuria, a small area to Poland. Coal from the Ruhr industrial region was transported to France by train. Though representatives of nearly 30 nations attended, the peace terms essentially were written by the leaders of the United Kingdom, France and the United States, who along with Italy, formed the Big Four that dominated the proceedings. Various Documents and Miscellany Regarding the Great War. The text of the treaty signed in Versailles Hall of Mirrors on June 28, 1919 amounted to 240 pages and contained 440 separate articles. For the USA, it was seen as Europes problem, and that overall, the Treaty was too harsh. They were trying to prevent Germany from being an aggressive power again, and also weakening them by allowing for an invasion by France as well.. France wanted revenge, Britain wanted a relatively strong, economically viable Germany as a counterweight to French dominance on Continental Europe, and the U.S. wanted the creation of a permanent peace as quickly as possible, with financial compensation for its military expenditures and the destruction of the old empires. The French felt they had been slighted, and subsequently voted out Clemenceau at the next election. I believe that the campaign for securing out of Germany the general costs of the war was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which our statesmen have ever been responsible, economist John Maynard Keynes wrote in 1920. Some have argued that the treatys harsh terms actually contributed to conditions that led to Europe plunging into another war just 20 years later. This treaty was felt to be unreasonable at the time because it was a peace dictated by the victors that put the full blame for the war on Germany. Articles 164-172 disarmed the German military, limiting the number of weapons and even how much ammunition it could possess. Much of the war had been fought on French soil, so France wanted to be given control of many of Germany's factories. Although there were many provisions in the treaty, one of the more important and recognized ones required that Germany accept full responsibility for causing the war and, under the terms of articles 231-247, pay reparations to the Allies.
Some modern historians, however, argue that this treaty reflected the harsh terms Germany had negotiated with Russia with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Treaty of Versailles with signatures of Lloyd George, Woodrow Wilson, Andrew Bonar Law and James Balfour. This was over-simplistic. Prior to the war, if you were going to be a European power, you had to have colonial possessions, he says. Later, a new German foreign minister, Hermann Mller, agreed to sign it on June 28, 1919. In 1921, Carl Melchior, a WWI soldier and German financier with M. M. Warburg & Co, who became part of the German negotiating team, thought it advisable to accept an impossible reparations burden. They put forward fourteen points, which the German public thought that the Treaty would be based around. More recently, however, a new point of view has gained currency, well-articulated by historian Gerhard Weinberg in his book A World at Arms, that the treaty was in fact quite advantageous to Germany and far more generous than it had a right to expect. Germany was neither crushed nor conciliated, which, in retrospect, did not bode well for the future of Germany, Europe or the world as a whole. Commercial transport vessels, including all oceanliners, locomotives, commercial motorvehicles, factory equipment and anything else that was not "nailed down" was confiscated. The defeated countriesGermany and allies Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Bulgariawerent invited to participate. He also wanted to protect secret treaties and impose naval blockades around Germany, so that France could control trade imported to and exported from the defeated country. German railroad workers sabotaged coal shipments to France. Article 119 stripped Germany of its colonies in China and Africa, which Qualls explains was a particularly humbling provision. Obviously, he demanded the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France, but also the demilitarisation of the Rhineland to act as a buffer zone against future attacks. The new German government, struggling under the weight of debt and budget deficits, defaulted on the payments in gold-backed marks that it was obligated to make. Territorial adjustments were made with the aim of grouping together ethnic minorities in their own states, free from the domination of once powerful empires, specifically the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. While the reparations have seemed excessive to some observers, according to William R. Keylor in Versailles and International Diplomacy, An increase in taxation and reduction in consumption in the Weimar Republic would have yielded the requisite export surplus to generate the foreign exchange needed to service the reparation debt. In American Reparations to Germany 1919-33, Stephen Schuker says that the Weimar Republic ended up paying no net reparations at all, employing the proceeds of American commercial loans to discharge its reparation liability before defaulting on its foreign obligations in the early thirties. This was supposed to reduce, indirectly, the ability of navies to create blockades.
Demilitarization of the Rhineland was a big initiative of France, says Qualls. Eventually, the United States came up with the idea of lending money to Germany to pay the reparations. Even as German forces were retreating in 1918, they found time to blow up France's most important coal mines."