the treaty of Versailles 10m

what was the purpose of treaties of versailles ?

• WWI officially ended with the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919, the 5th anniversary of Franz Ferdinand's assassination.

• The armistice on November 11, 1918 ended the fighting, but a peace agreement still needed to be worked out.

• The Treaty was negotiated in Paris by the Allied powers with little input from Germany and signed in Versailles, France.

• France wanted to punish Germany harshly to prevent future attacks, while Britain and the USA feared being too harsh could lead to another war.

• Other Central Powers signed different treaties.

league of nations

• The League of Nations was created to resolve disputes between countries to prevent war.

• It had mixed success, with its failure largely due to America's refusal to join.

treaties of Versailles new boundres for germany

germsny had to give up large areas of land to france belgium poland and denmark

this reduced the size od germany and population was down by 10%

gemrany lost control of its overseas colonies (some areas were important to germ bc they had natural resources like coal)

banned to unite w autria to form one super-state (this unification is known in Germany as Anschluss)

area in western germany (rhineland) was demilitarized so soilders were not allowed in n they had soilders to keep watch for 15 years

army reduced to 100,000 men no tanks no air forces or submarine’s and only 6 naval ships

labelled war guilt (labelled the agressor) and made germ accept blame

forced to do payments for the damages caused esp towards france and belgium(~around 33 million) finally paid off in 2010.

germans reaction to the treaty of versailles

• Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles under protest to avoid invasion.

• They expected to be part of the peace process but were excluded, calling it a "dictated peace."

• Many Germans felt betrayed by the politicians who signed the treaty, labeling them "November Criminals."

• The Treaty wasn't strongly enforced, and Germany broke many of its terms.

• German resentment towards the Treaty contributed to the start of WWII.