Treaty of Versailles

Conditions

The treaty provided for the creation of the League of Nations, a major goal of US president Woodrow Wilson. The League of Nations was intended to arbitrate international disputes and thereby avoid future wars. Not all of Wilson's Fourteen Points were realized, however, much to the Germans' and Wilson's dismay. The French demands prevailed in the treaty.

Related Topics:
League of Nations - Woodrow Wilson - Fourteen Points

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Other provisions included the loss of German colonies and loss of some territories Germany had annexed or conquered in the relatively recent past:

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• Alsace-Lorraine (French from the beginning of 18th century to 1871, but with a majorly German population) back to France (area 14,522 km², 1,815,000 inhabitants (1905)),
• Northern Schleswig at Tønder in Schleswig-Holstein, after the Schleswig Plebiscite, to Denmark (3,228 km² or 3,938km²),
• most of Greater Poland ("Provinz Posen") and Eastern Pomerania (West Prussia) that Prussia had conquered in Partitions of Poland was given back to reborn Polish state after Great Poland Uprising (area 53,800 km² 4,224,000 inhabitants (1931) including 510 km² and 26,000 inhabitants from Upper Silesia),
• Hulczyn area of Upper Silesia to Czechoslovakia (316 or 333 km² and 49,000 people),
• East part of Upper Silesia, after plebiscite, to Poland (area 3,214 km² 965,000 people)
• the area of German cities Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium
• the area of Soldau in East Prussia (railway station on the Warsaw-Gdansk route) to Poland (area 492 km²),
• Northern part of East Prussia as Memelland under control of France, later transferred to Lithuania,
• plebiscite in Eastern part of West Prussia and in Southern part of East Prussia Warmia and Masuria, few villages to Poland,
• the province Saarland under the control of the League of Nations for 15 years, after that a plebiscite between France and Germany,
• the city of Danzig (now Gda?sk, Poland) with the delta of Vistula river at the Baltic Sea was made the Freie Stadt Danzig (Free City of Danzig) under the League of Nations and partial Polish authority (area 1893 km², 408,000 inhabitants 1929).

Article 156 of the treaty transferred German concessions in Shandong, China to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to China. Chinese outrage over this provision led to demonstrations and a cultural movement known as the May Fourth Movement and influenced China not to sign the treaty. China declared the end of its war against Germany on September 1919 and signed a separate new equal treaty with Germany in 1921.

Related Topics:
Shandong - China - May Fourth Movement - 1919 - 1921

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The military conditions of the Treaty of Versailles were harsh and largely motivated out of fear and a French wish for revenge. France's loss of Alsace-Lorraine after its defeat in the Franco-Prussian War contributed greatly to this desire for revenge (known as revanchism). Furthermore, the large number of casualties and massive economic damage resulting from the war (much of which was fought on French soil) caused a fear of future German aggression and an even greater sentiment for revenge. In fact a great deal of the provisions regarding Germany in the treaty can be linked back to this fear and desire for vengeance.

Related Topics:
Alsace-Lorraine - Franco-Prussian War - Revanchism

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The German Army was to be restricted to 100,000 men, there was to be no conscription, no tanks or heavy artillery and no German General Staff. The German Navy was restricted to 15,000 men and no submarines while the fleet was limited to six battleships (of less than 10,000 tonnes), six cruisers and 12 destroyers. Germany was not permitted an air force (Luftwaffe). Finally, Germany was explicitly required to retain all enlisted men for 12 years and all officers for 25 years, so that only a limited number of men would have military training.

Related Topics:
German Army - Tank - Heavy artillery - German General Staff - German Navy - Submarine - Battleship - Cruiser - Destroyer - Luftwaffe

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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 reparations. The total sum due was decided by an Inter-Allied Reparations Commission. In January 1921, this number was officially put at 269 billion gold marks, a sum that many economists deemed to be excessive. Later that year, the amount was reduced to 132 billion marks, which still seemed astronomical to most German observers. The economic problems that the payments brought, and German resentment at their imposition, are cited by some as one of the causes of the end of the Weimar Republic and the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, which eventually led to the outbreak of World War II.

Related Topics:
Article 231 - Reparations - 1921 - Weimar Republic - Adolf Hitler - World War II

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The United States never officially ratified the treaty. The elections of 1918 had seen the Republicans gain control of the United States Senate, and they blocked ratification twice (the second time on March 19, 1920), some favoring isolationism and opposing the League of Nations, others lamenting the excessive reparations. As a result, the US never joined the League of Nations and later negotiated a separate peace treaty with Germany: the Treaty of Berlin of 1921 which confirmed the reparation payments and other provisions of the Treaty of Versailles but explicitly excluded all articles related to the League of Nations

Related Topics:
United States - Republicans - United States Senate - March 19 - 1920 - Isolationism - Treaty of Berlin - 1921

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