Treaty of Versailles: Germany and the growth of democracy: History: GCSE (9:1)

June 1919

The Treaty of Versailles was signed officially ending the war after the Armistice (ceasefire) of 1918

Diktat

Said to be a dictated peace as Ebert had no option but to sign the treaty or face invasion.

Land

Large areas of German land were used to create new countries or given away to others

Rhineland

Was a de-militarised zone - no soldiers could be stationed there

German Colonies

Were given away to the Allies

Armed Forces

Germany could only have a small army (100,000) and navy. Was not allowed any submarines, tanks or an air force

Money

As the war was said to be Germany's fault they had to pay for the cost of rebuilding

Reparations

Germany's payments for the rebuilding of France and Belgian were set at £6.6 billion with annual payments from 1921

Blame

Whilst all of the European countries had a part to play in causing WW1, Germany had to accept all of the blame

Article 231

Known as the 'Guilt Clause' as it was the term of the treaty that set out that Germany was responsible for the destruction of the First World War

Harsh

Many Germans believed that the treaty was unfair and believed that the government should have secured a better deal.

Stabbed in the back

Some Germans, including many soldiers, thought Germany could have carried on fighting but was betrayed by the socialist politicians who ended the war