The Treaty of Versailles-1919

The Terms
1. Germany was not allowed to join the league of nations
2. The Rhineland between Germany and France had to become a demilitarised zone
  1. France did not want the threat of German military nearby
3. Germany had to pay 6.6 billion in reparations to the Allies for the damage they caused in the war to them.. The figure was set in 1921 and Germany had until 1989 to pay it back
4. The German Army was restricted to 100,000 men
5. Germany's colonies were given to France and Britain as 'mandates'
6. Alsace Lorraine to be returned from Germany to France
7. Germany was forbidden to unite with Austria in an 'Anschluss'
8. Germany was forbidden to have an airforce and could only have 6 battleships and no submarines
9. The Saar, with its rich coalfields, given to France for 15 years.
10. Lands in eastern Germany, Posen and the Polish corridor between Germany and East Prussia was given to Poland.
11. Germany was made to accept the terms of the treaty, and this was referred to as 'War Guilt'
  1. The German people were very unhappy with this because they didn't think they were to blame for the war. They were further angry that they were forced to agree to the terms, or they faced invasion from the Allies
    1. The German people though the blame should be shared.
    2. The people were angry they had not been allowed to negotiate and their officials could not actually attend the conference- they had been forced into it unfairly and this angered people and fed for revenge
    3. Germany thought that the army clause was ridiculous, as 100,000 for an army is tiny for a country of Germany's size. They felt too vulnerable
    4. Theories such as the 'Stab in the Back' and the 'November Criminals' sparked after the Treaty was signed as the people of Germany felt they had been betrayed
      1. Because so much land was taken from Germany, their important industrial areas in particular, the economy was ruined as there was no way they could trade or rebuild.
    5. The German economy was in tatters due to the reparations and people found it difficult to live
  2. They felt the treaty terms were overly harsh and they knew they would be very unable to meet nearly all of them- especically the reparations
12. Conscription was also banned in Germany and soldiers had to volunteer
The Views of the Big Three
1. Woodrow Wilson- USA
  1. Wilson's main aim was for world peace and he campaigned widely for this as he hoped everyone would cooperate with his ideas
  2. Some of his ideas for peace were included in the Fourteen Points.
    1. There could be no more secret treaties, all seas were free for all, all countries were supposed to reduce armaments, freedom for all colonies, there should be self determination for most countries, Poland should be independent and there should be a League of Nations
  3. Wilson was also worried about the possibility of Germany coming back for revenge and another war later so wished not to be too harsh to not give them an insentive
2. Lloyd George- UK
  1. Lloyd George did not want any competition for the British Empire, or the navy, and so wished to punish Germany so they could not have a better one than them, as Britain was very much rivaled by Germany in the trade market and colonies around the world.
    1. By getting rid of some of these, Britain could be the strongest power in Europe
3. George Clemenceau
  1. Clemenceau wanted Germany punished extremely harshly and refused to back down
  2. He had seen his country invaded twice by the Germans , in the Franco Prussian War and WW1 and did not want a reoccurence
    1. France had felt threatened by Germany alongside them on the border and wished them to be crippled so they could no longer be a threatening force
      1. If Germany were completely crippled they would be unable to start another war for years in the future.
Disagreement and Compromises
1. Clemenceau and Wilson clashed, as the USA had not suffered nearly as badly as France in the war so Clemenceau resented Wilson's more generous attitude towards Germany
  1. Wilson nearly always had to give in and compromise as Clemenceau was a forceful politician
  2. Clemenceau was so forceful with his views that he also argued with Lloyd George, arguing that Germany should be punished terribly harshly
How happy were the Big 3 after the Treaty?
1. Clemenceau was mainly content, as Germany were unable to threaten France any longer and had a small army and no airforce, however he still wished the reparations were higher as he thought France deserved to be paid back 'full damages'
2. Wilson was not very satisfied, as though some of his points were accepted like the League, many were rejected like disarmament. He tried to change this but was unable to and so when he died he hadn't reached his goal of world peace.
3. Lloyd George was horrified at how harsh the treaty ended up, as he knew it would come to another war. He like that Britain ruled the waters but he knew revenge was inevitable with such harsh terms

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The Treaty of Versailles-1919

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