The impact of the Treaty of Versailles

Armistice | Paris Peace Settlement | Terms of the ToV | Reactions | Justification

What was the armistice and when was it signed? What was the Peace Settlement?

The armistice was signed on the 11th November 1918; it was not a surrender but an agreement to stop fighting.

A conference was then held at the Palace of Versailles in January 1919 to determine the terms to give to Germany.

On the 7th May 1919, German delegates were given the first draft terms of the treaty.

On the 16th June, the Allies gave Germany seven days to accept the treaty.

This caused a political outcry; Scheidemann resigned and his coalition collapsed as they refuse to sign it on the 20th. Schiedemann was replaced by Gustav Bauer.

The Reichstag accepted the treaty by 237 votes to 138 in June.

The Treaty of Versailles was eventually signed by German representatives, led by Hermann Müller, as well as all powers on the 28th of June 1919.

What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?

Territory:

• 13% land lost

• 15% of coal lost

• 6.5 million Germans now living in other countries

• Lost all overseas territories

• Alsace-Lorraine returned to France

• Eupen and Malmedy given to Belgium

• North Schleswig-Holstein given to Denmark

• The creation of the ‘Polish Corridor’ separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany

• Anschluss (the union of Germany and Austria) was banned

• The Saarland, which was land full of coal reserves, was placed under the control of the League for 15 years

Reparations

• The final amount was decided by the IARC in 1921, which was £6.6 billion

• Germany also had to hand over most of its merchant shipping fleet to the Allies

• As part of the reparations agreement, Germany had to hand over coal

Army

• The Rhineland (which bordered France) was demilitarised

• No tanks, no airforce, no submarines

• The navy was only allowed 15,000 men and 6 battleships

  • The fleet surrendered to Britain back in 1918 but Germany sank its own ships at Scapa Flow in Orkney Islands on the 21st June 1919

• Conscription was banned

• The army was limited to 100,000 men

War Guilt

• Article 231 stated Germany was to be responsible for starting the war, which also made Germany liable to pay reparations

League of Nations

• Germany was not allowed to join the newly-created League of Nations

How did Germans react to the treaty?

Before the Peace Note, German citizens thought that they were winning the war as portrayed in the war-time propaganda; until 1914, Germany was even one of the greatest military powers in Europe.

• As a result, the armistice and then the Treaty of Versailles came as a profound shock to the German people; they viewed it as a ‘diktat’ ot a force peace and thought of it as extremely humiliating.

• Right-wing nationalists hated the pro-republicans even more, calling the politicians that agreed to the treaty ‘November Criminals’ and that their ‘betrayal’ was known as ‘the stab in the back’.

Germany expected the treaty to be based off of Wilson’s Fourteen Points (such as self-determination) and therefore thought the treaty was going to be less harsh as WIlson’s Points were a basis of peace.

• Lot of the territory changes now meant that around 6.5 million Germans were no longer living in Germany but in countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia which caused Germans to feel resentment towards the treaty as they felt vulnerable and faced persecution abroad.

Germans didn’t expect to be blamed for the entirety of the war as they felt as though they joined due to encirclement from the Allies.

• Thus, they were furious at Article 231 for causing unjust humiliation; accepting the ‘war guilt clause’ aso meant accepting reparations which angered Germans as they felt the level as too high and would cripple the German economy.

• The fact that they weren’t part of the League also added on to the feeling of isolation and humliation.

How did the USA view the treaty?

Woodrow Wilson’s aims:

• Fourteen Points like self-determination

• Peace (as the USA wasn’t as damaged from the war)

• Creation of the League of Nations

Americans generally viewed the treaty negatively, as they felt it was too unfair on Germany and that Britain and France had used the treaty to enrich themselves at Germany’s expense.

Republicans of the American Congress refused to ratify the treaty, leaving the USA to make peace with Germany separately in 1921.

The USA followed isolationism in the 1920s and never joined the League, despite it being Wilson’s idea.

How did Britain view the treaty?

David Lloyd George’s aims:

• Reparations (not as high as how France wanted as Britain still wanted Germany to be able to financially recover to continue trade and resist the expansion of the USSR)

• Seize Germany’s fleet to remain the strongest naval power

• Gain Germany’s colonies to strengthen the British empire

Many British people were satisfied with achieving the last two aims but gradually felt as though it was too harsh.

Lloyd George believed another war would break out in 25 years.

How did France view the treaty?

Georges Clemenceau’s aims:

• High reparations

• Recovering Alsace-Lorraine

• Demilitarisation of the Rhineland

• Revenge as most of the war was fought on the Northern Front in France

The first 3 were met but the French found the treaty to be too lenient and Clemenceau was out-voted at the next election in 1920.

Marshal Foch, the wartime military commander, said that the treaty was ‘not peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.’

How could the treaty been seen as justified?

The armistice had already outlined some of the terms that were going to be in the treaty (e.g the return of Alsace-Lorraine, giving Poland access to the sae, disarmament) so the terms of the treaty shouldn’t have been a shock.

If Germany won the war, they would have given the Allies very high reparations and would have annexed their enemies territories. Germany also severely punished Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk signed on the 3rd March 1918, as the USSR lost a quarter of its citizens.

• Therefore, the treaty was justified as Germany would have been much harsher if they won.

The treaty was justified as if Clemenceau had his way (the Saar coalfields would have been annexed by the French, the Rhine would have been independent, and reparations would have been much higher), the treaty would have been much harsher on Germany.

How could the treaty been seen as not justified?

It was unfair to blame Germany for the entire war as they didn’t start the war; they believed that they were forced to fight as they were encircled by the Allies.

The reparations were too high to pay, especially as much of their coal reserves were taken.