Core Notes 6
Overview:
War ended with Armistice agreement 11 Nov. 1918 but although Germany was on brink of defeat this was NOT a surrender; it was agreement to stop fighting and withdraw German forces from occupied territory, pending full peace settlement.
Conference to settle peace terms between Allied powers and Germany met at Palace of Versailles, outside Paris in Jan. 1919.
Germans weren’t invited to attend or allowed to see terms of treaty until 7 May.
German govt. suggested changes to treaty but Allies agreed to very few and on 16 June gave German govt. 7 days to accept the treaty.
This provoked political crisis in Berlin + led to formation of new coalition govt.
Finally, on 28 June, Versailles Treaty signed by all powers imposed much harsher conditions on Germany than most Germans had expected or were prepared to accept.
Moreover, b/c Germany hadn’t been allowed to participate in conference or negotiate over terms, treaty was regarded by Germans of all political viewpoints as a ‘Diktat’ or dictated peace.
Diktat: an order or decree imposed by someone in power without popular consent.
Hatred of treaty + politicians who signed it caused political divisions throughout life of Weimar Republic. For most Germans, Paris Peace settlement of 1919 = far more controversial issue than new consititution.
It had generally been assumed among German public opinion that peace treaty would be fair, partly b/c defeat had never really been expected, even as late as summer 1918 + partly b/c it was assumed it would be mainly based on Wilson’s 14 Points.
When draft terms presented in May 1919 there was national shock + outrage in Germany = in desperation the first Weimar govt. led by Scheidemann resigned.
Allies not prepared to negotiate, which obliged embittered Reichstag finally to accept Treaty of Versailles by 237 votes to 138 in June, b/c Germany simply didn’t have military capacity to resist.
So German representatives led by Herman Muller, signed treaty in Hall of Mirrors at Versailles near Paris.
Key Chronology:
11 Nov. 1918: Armistice Agreement to end fighting on Western Front
18 Jan 1919: Peace Conference convened at Palace of Versailles
7 May 1919: German delegates given document containing first draft terms of Treaty
16 June 1919: Germans given 7 days to sign Treaty
20 June 1919: Coalition cabinet collapsed because of divisions over signing Treaty
22 June 1919: Reichstag voted to accept the Treaty
28 June 1919: German delegates signed Treaty of Versailles.
The Allies at Versailles:
Paris Peace Conference opened on 12 Jan 1919 + meetings held at various locations in and around Paris.
Leaders representing about 75% of world’s population attended BUT defeated powers excluded + all major decisions taken by 4 most influential leaders: US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister and conference Chairman Georges Clemenceau + Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.
So Treaty of Versailles = compromise but only between Allied powers, losers effectively excluded.
Aims of the ‘Big Three’: Woodrow Wilson
Traditionally portrayed as idealist, with strong religious background.
Initially had been an academic but drawn into politics campaigning against corruption.
At first opposed to USA’s entry into war.
Once war declared against Germany in April 1917 he drew up Fourteen Points in hope of creating more just world with his aims:
i) To reduce armaments
ii) To apply principle of self-determination
iii) To create a League of Nations in order to maintain international peace.
Aims of the ‘Big Three’: George Clemenceau
An uncompromising French nationalist
Germany invaded France twice in his lifetime + was deeply influenced by devastation from war in northern France.
Motivated by revenge + determined to gain financial compensation + satisfy France’s security concerns.
i) annex Rhineland and create ‘buffer state’
ii) impose major disarmament on Germany
iii) Impose heavy reparations on Germany in order to weaken it + get recompense for damage of war to finance rebuilding
Aims of the ‘Big Three’: David Lloyd George
A pragmatist keen to uphold British national interests.
Initially played on idea of revenge but saw need to restrain Clemenceau’s demands.
Recognized there would have to be compromise.
i) Guarantee British military security, especially to secure naval supremacy.
ii) Keep communism at bay
iii) Limit French demands b/c feared weakening Germany would have serious economic consequences for European economy.
Terms of the Treaty – Territorial Losses:
Treaty removed over 70,000 km squared (13%) of German territory + all Germany’s overseas colonies
Alsace-Lorraine returned to France (mainly French-speaking provinces rich in iron deposits), Eupen and Malmedy given to Belgium, Northern Schleswig-Holstein given to Denmark subject to plebiscite (referendum), most of Posen, West Prussia and part of Pomerania (the Polish Corridor) given to Poland, Danzig (Gdansk) a coastal city with majority German population, became free state under League of Nations protection, Memel taken by Lithuania, Eastern Silesia given to Poland, although Western Silesia voted to remain part of Germany. Plebiscite held in province of Upper Silesia. In 1921, it was divided between Poland and Germany, causing great acrimony as population was mixed and area rich in resources,
This all meant Germany lost 75% of its iron ore, 68% of its zinc ore, 26% of its coal and 15% of its arable land, as well as 12% of its population.
Kiel Canal and all major rivers open for all narions and run by international commission.
All of Germany’s overseas colonies in Africa and the Far East placed under League of Nations’ control (in practice, divided between the Allies), distributed as mandates e.g. Britain took responsibility for German East Africa
Terms of the Treaty – Disarmament of Germany
Germany had to surrender all heavy weapons + dismantle fortifications in Rhineland and on island of Heligoland.
Conscription to German armed forces forbidden + German army limited to max. of 100,000 men.
German army forbidden to use tanks or gas.
German Navy limited to 15,000 men + allowed max. of 6 battleships but no submarines + small no. of coastal defence vessels.
The German fleet surrendered to Britain in 1918, but sank its own ships at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 21 June 1919.
Germany forbidden from having air force.
Terms of the Treaty – War Guilt
Under Article 231 of the Treaty, Germany had to accept responsibility for starting the war.
“The Allied Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied governments and their peoples have been subjected as a result of the war imposed by the aggression of Germany and her allies”.
Terms of the Treaty: Reparations
‘War guilt’ clause made Germany liable to pay reparations to Allies to cover costs of damage suffered in war.
Final amount of reparations fixed by Inter-Allied Reparations Commission in 1921 at 6.6 billion pounds = Germany also had to hand over to Allies most of merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives + rolling stock, patents and overseas investments.
Also substantial payments in kind e.g. in coal, with coal production in Saar region given to France.
Terms of the Treaty – the Rhineland
Left bank of the Rhine (western side) and 50 km strip on right bank (eastern side) permanently demilitarized.
Rhineland remained part of Germany but no fortifications allowed and no military forces to be garrisoned within area.
Allied army of occupation based in Rhineland to ensure Germany fulfilled Treaty obligations.
Terms of the Treaty – the Saarland:
Area of South-Western Germany, containing rich reserves of coal, separated from Germany and placed under League of Nations’ control for 15 years, so Germany would supply France, Belgium + Italy with free coal as part of reparations agreement.
France allowed to exploit coal mines in area.
Saar = rich industrial area, mainly German speaking.
Other Terms of the Treaty:
Austria forbidden from uniting with Germany (‘Anschluss’ or ‘union’). They were both German speaking and demands for some kind of union after 1918. The Allies prevented this as it would make Germany stronger.
Covenant of League of Nations set out, including aims and organization of League. Germany had to accept League, but not allowed to join.
Kaiser and other Germans put on trial for war crimes.
German Reactions to the Treaty:
Terms of treaty, and decision by govt. to sign it, greeted with horror + disbelief by majority of Germans.
Until 1914, Germany had been one of the greatest military powers in Europe + for much of war, esp. in early months of 1918, victory in war seemed only a matter of time.
This at least was the way Germany’s war effort was portrayed in official propaganda, even after Allies began to force German Army to retreat, after halting its advance in France in spring 1918.
Neither ordinary soldiers not civilian population were told how desperate Germany’s military situation on Western Front had become by autumn 1918 + despite hardship caused by Allied blockade, support for war effort was still very strong.
Therefore, the abdication of the Kaiser + subsequent signing of the Armistice came as profound shock to millions of Germans.
When followed by signing of humiliating and ‘dictated’ peace treaty, there was almost universal resentment at harsh terms + few Germans would accept moral responsibility for fulfilling terms of Treaty.
No other political issue produced such total agreement within Weimar Germany as rejection and condemnation of Treaty of Versailles.
Why did Germans object to the Treaty?
i) Wilson’s 14 Points stressed importance of right of national self-determination as basis for just peace but this right was denied to Germans themselves.
National self-determination: nations being able to decide whether they govern themselves, independent of larger empires or groupings of nations
Millions of people who spoke German + considered themselves German now living in non-German states e.g. Czechoslovakia+ Poland. Areas such as Austria, Danzig, Posen + West Prussia viewed as German but excluded from new German state and placed under foreign rule.
Separation of East Prussia from rest of Germany by so-called Polish Corridor = major source of resentment.
ii) ‘War Guilt clause’ seen as unjust national humiliation since Germans believed they’d been forced into just war against Allies, who had attempted to encircle Germany.
iii) Reparations major cause of anger, partly b/c Germans felt level = too high and would cripple German economy, and didn’t accept ‘war guilt clause’ which justified reparations. Worryingly, the actual size of the reparations payment wasn’t stated in Treaty of Versailles, to be decided later by IARC. From German viewpoint this amounted to signing ‘blank cheque’.
iv) Allied occupation of parts of western Germany, and French control of Saarland coal mines, led to continuing friction German nationalists outraged by outlawing of nationalist groups + banning of German patriotic songs + festivals in areas under French control.
v) Disarming of Germany + exclusion from League of Nations seen as unjust discrimination against proud and once-powerful nation. Britain and France remained highly armed and made no commitments to disarm. Seemed as if Germany had been unilaterally disarmed, whereas Wilson had spoken in favour of universal disarmament. Hardened views of Germans against League of Nations, seen as tool of Allies rather than genuine international organization.
vi) Loss of Germany’s colonies not in line with 5th of Wilson’s Fourteen Points, for ‘an impartial adjustment of all colonial claims’; instead, passed on to control of Allies as mandates.
Overall, Treaty seem as ‘diktat’ Allies maintained military blockade on Germany until treat signed, which had significant human consequences such as increasing food shortages.
Furthermore, the Allies threatened to take further military action if Germany didn’t co-operate.
Liberal lawyer, Hugo Preuss, who drew up Weimar constitution, 1923: “The German Republic was born out of terrible defeat. This…cast, from the first, a dark shadow on the new political order…initially the belief still predominated that the new order was necessary for the rebirth of Germany. That is why the democratic clauses of the Weimar constitution met with relatively little resistance, despite the unrivalled severity of the armistice terms. For everyone still expected a peace settlement in accordance with Wilson’s 14 Points, which all the belligerent countries had bindingly accepted as the basis for the peace…The criminal madness of the Versailles Diktat was a shameless blow in the face to such hopes based on international law and political common sense. The Reich constitution was born with this curse upon it”
How justified were German complaints about Treaty of Versailles – a more balanced view?
Possible to sympathise with German reaction + in Britain too there developed growing sympathy for Germany’s position.
But not the case in France, where treaty generally condemned as being too lenient.
Only after 1945 a more balanced view of Treaty of Versailles emerged, with recent historians tending to view peace-makers of 1919 more sympathetically and earlier German criticisms of treaty no longer as readily accepted.
Of course, at Paris Peace Conference Allied statesmen motivated by own national self-interests at expense of Germany, they now recognized it was aftermath created by war that shaped terms of treaty and not just anti-German feeling. Aims and objectives of various Allies differed and achieving agreement was made more difficult by complicated circumstances of time.
It should be remembered that Paris Peace Settlement not solely concerned with Germany Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria + Turkey also forced to sign separate treaties.
In addition, there were other problems e.g. Britain had national interests to look after in Middle East as result of collapse of Turkish Empire + Allies concerned by threat of Soviet Russia and motivated by common desire to contain Soviet ‘menace’.
Argument that Germany had ‘unrealistic expectations’ of Treaty.
i) Wilson’s 14 points and armistice agreement made clear that Alsace-Lorraine would have to be returned to France, that a new state of Poland with access to the sea would be created, that Germany would be expected to hand over some of her assets + that considerable German disarmament would be expected. So application of self-determination not nearly as unfair as many Germans believed as Alsace-Lorraine would have voted to return to France anyway, as it had been French before 1871; plebiscites were held in Schleswig and parts of Prussia to decide future; Danzig’s status under League was result of Wilson’s promise to ‘provide Poland with access to the sea’; provinces of Posen and West Prussia more mixed in ethnic make-up than Germans prepared to admit (Germans dominated in towns and Poles in countryside so difficult to draw clear frontier line) and Austria and Sudetenland never part of Germany before 1918 anyway.
ii) Treaty was not as severe as it might have been Had Clemenceau had his way, he would have extended French border to Rhine or annexed Saar coalfields + created independent Rhineland. French wanted to ensure Germany couldn’t threaten them again, but other Allies resisted this as they wanted Germany to remain strong enough to withstand spread of communism from Russia.
iii) Treaty didn’t punish Germany as severely as Germans had punished Russia in Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 Germany had broken up western part of Russian Empire + annexed large swathes of territory. In the Reichstag debate on that treaty, only the USPD had voted against this action. T.o.V moderate in comparison.
iv) Germany’s war aims of 1914 had included annexation of territory from its enemies, expansion of Germany’s colonial empire + very severe reparations bill to be paid by defeated Allies in other words, if Germany had won the war the peace settlement would have been very harsh on the defeated Allies.
v) Reparations bill much lower than demanded by French. Although reparations were continuing source of friction between Germany and Allies during life of Weimar Republic, it wasn’t beyond Germany’s capacity to pay.
vi) Germany wasn’t physically occupied and as a result the real damage was suffered on foreign soil (France + Belgium)
In end, Versailles was a compromise - not based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points as most Germans had expected, but equally not as severe as certain sections of Allied opinion had demanded.
Overview:
War ended with Armistice agreement 11 Nov. 1918 but although Germany was on brink of defeat this was NOT a surrender; it was agreement to stop fighting and withdraw German forces from occupied territory, pending full peace settlement.
Conference to settle peace terms between Allied powers and Germany met at Palace of Versailles, outside Paris in Jan. 1919.
Germans weren’t invited to attend or allowed to see terms of treaty until 7 May.
German govt. suggested changes to treaty but Allies agreed to very few and on 16 June gave German govt. 7 days to accept the treaty.
This provoked political crisis in Berlin + led to formation of new coalition govt.
Finally, on 28 June, Versailles Treaty signed by all powers imposed much harsher conditions on Germany than most Germans had expected or were prepared to accept.
Moreover, b/c Germany hadn’t been allowed to participate in conference or negotiate over terms, treaty was regarded by Germans of all political viewpoints as a ‘Diktat’ or dictated peace.
Diktat: an order or decree imposed by someone in power without popular consent.
Hatred of treaty + politicians who signed it caused political divisions throughout life of Weimar Republic. For most Germans, Paris Peace settlement of 1919 = far more controversial issue than new consititution.
It had generally been assumed among German public opinion that peace treaty would be fair, partly b/c defeat had never really been expected, even as late as summer 1918 + partly b/c it was assumed it would be mainly based on Wilson’s 14 Points.
When draft terms presented in May 1919 there was national shock + outrage in Germany = in desperation the first Weimar govt. led by Scheidemann resigned.
Allies not prepared to negotiate, which obliged embittered Reichstag finally to accept Treaty of Versailles by 237 votes to 138 in June, b/c Germany simply didn’t have military capacity to resist.
So German representatives led by Herman Muller, signed treaty in Hall of Mirrors at Versailles near Paris.
Key Chronology:
11 Nov. 1918: Armistice Agreement to end fighting on Western Front
18 Jan 1919: Peace Conference convened at Palace of Versailles
7 May 1919: German delegates given document containing first draft terms of Treaty
16 June 1919: Germans given 7 days to sign Treaty
20 June 1919: Coalition cabinet collapsed because of divisions over signing Treaty
22 June 1919: Reichstag voted to accept the Treaty
28 June 1919: German delegates signed Treaty of Versailles.
The Allies at Versailles:
Paris Peace Conference opened on 12 Jan 1919 + meetings held at various locations in and around Paris.
Leaders representing about 75% of world’s population attended BUT defeated powers excluded + all major decisions taken by 4 most influential leaders: US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister and conference Chairman Georges Clemenceau + Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando.
So Treaty of Versailles = compromise but only between Allied powers, losers effectively excluded.
Aims of the ‘Big Three’: Woodrow Wilson
Traditionally portrayed as idealist, with strong religious background.
Initially had been an academic but drawn into politics campaigning against corruption.
At first opposed to USA’s entry into war.
Once war declared against Germany in April 1917 he drew up Fourteen Points in hope of creating more just world with his aims:
i) To reduce armaments
ii) To apply principle of self-determination
iii) To create a League of Nations in order to maintain international peace.
Aims of the ‘Big Three’: George Clemenceau
An uncompromising French nationalist
Germany invaded France twice in his lifetime + was deeply influenced by devastation from war in northern France.
Motivated by revenge + determined to gain financial compensation + satisfy France’s security concerns.
i) annex Rhineland and create ‘buffer state’
ii) impose major disarmament on Germany
iii) Impose heavy reparations on Germany in order to weaken it + get recompense for damage of war to finance rebuilding
Aims of the ‘Big Three’: David Lloyd George
A pragmatist keen to uphold British national interests.
Initially played on idea of revenge but saw need to restrain Clemenceau’s demands.
Recognized there would have to be compromise.
i) Guarantee British military security, especially to secure naval supremacy.
ii) Keep communism at bay
iii) Limit French demands b/c feared weakening Germany would have serious economic consequences for European economy.
Terms of the Treaty – Territorial Losses:
Treaty removed over 70,000 km squared (13%) of German territory + all Germany’s overseas colonies
Alsace-Lorraine returned to France (mainly French-speaking provinces rich in iron deposits), Eupen and Malmedy given to Belgium, Northern Schleswig-Holstein given to Denmark subject to plebiscite (referendum), most of Posen, West Prussia and part of Pomerania (the Polish Corridor) given to Poland, Danzig (Gdansk) a coastal city with majority German population, became free state under League of Nations protection, Memel taken by Lithuania, Eastern Silesia given to Poland, although Western Silesia voted to remain part of Germany. Plebiscite held in province of Upper Silesia. In 1921, it was divided between Poland and Germany, causing great acrimony as population was mixed and area rich in resources,
This all meant Germany lost 75% of its iron ore, 68% of its zinc ore, 26% of its coal and 15% of its arable land, as well as 12% of its population.
Kiel Canal and all major rivers open for all narions and run by international commission.
All of Germany’s overseas colonies in Africa and the Far East placed under League of Nations’ control (in practice, divided between the Allies), distributed as mandates e.g. Britain took responsibility for German East Africa
Terms of the Treaty – Disarmament of Germany
Germany had to surrender all heavy weapons + dismantle fortifications in Rhineland and on island of Heligoland.
Conscription to German armed forces forbidden + German army limited to max. of 100,000 men.
German army forbidden to use tanks or gas.
German Navy limited to 15,000 men + allowed max. of 6 battleships but no submarines + small no. of coastal defence vessels.
The German fleet surrendered to Britain in 1918, but sank its own ships at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands on 21 June 1919.
Germany forbidden from having air force.
Terms of the Treaty – War Guilt
Under Article 231 of the Treaty, Germany had to accept responsibility for starting the war.
“The Allied Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied governments and their peoples have been subjected as a result of the war imposed by the aggression of Germany and her allies”.
Terms of the Treaty: Reparations
‘War guilt’ clause made Germany liable to pay reparations to Allies to cover costs of damage suffered in war.
Final amount of reparations fixed by Inter-Allied Reparations Commission in 1921 at 6.6 billion pounds = Germany also had to hand over to Allies most of merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives + rolling stock, patents and overseas investments.
Also substantial payments in kind e.g. in coal, with coal production in Saar region given to France.
Terms of the Treaty – the Rhineland
Left bank of the Rhine (western side) and 50 km strip on right bank (eastern side) permanently demilitarized.
Rhineland remained part of Germany but no fortifications allowed and no military forces to be garrisoned within area.
Allied army of occupation based in Rhineland to ensure Germany fulfilled Treaty obligations.
Terms of the Treaty – the Saarland:
Area of South-Western Germany, containing rich reserves of coal, separated from Germany and placed under League of Nations’ control for 15 years, so Germany would supply France, Belgium + Italy with free coal as part of reparations agreement.
France allowed to exploit coal mines in area.
Saar = rich industrial area, mainly German speaking.
Other Terms of the Treaty:
Austria forbidden from uniting with Germany (‘Anschluss’ or ‘union’). They were both German speaking and demands for some kind of union after 1918. The Allies prevented this as it would make Germany stronger.
Covenant of League of Nations set out, including aims and organization of League. Germany had to accept League, but not allowed to join.
Kaiser and other Germans put on trial for war crimes.
German Reactions to the Treaty:
Terms of treaty, and decision by govt. to sign it, greeted with horror + disbelief by majority of Germans.
Until 1914, Germany had been one of the greatest military powers in Europe + for much of war, esp. in early months of 1918, victory in war seemed only a matter of time.
This at least was the way Germany’s war effort was portrayed in official propaganda, even after Allies began to force German Army to retreat, after halting its advance in France in spring 1918.
Neither ordinary soldiers not civilian population were told how desperate Germany’s military situation on Western Front had become by autumn 1918 + despite hardship caused by Allied blockade, support for war effort was still very strong.
Therefore, the abdication of the Kaiser + subsequent signing of the Armistice came as profound shock to millions of Germans.
When followed by signing of humiliating and ‘dictated’ peace treaty, there was almost universal resentment at harsh terms + few Germans would accept moral responsibility for fulfilling terms of Treaty.
No other political issue produced such total agreement within Weimar Germany as rejection and condemnation of Treaty of Versailles.
Why did Germans object to the Treaty?
i) Wilson’s 14 Points stressed importance of right of national self-determination as basis for just peace but this right was denied to Germans themselves.
National self-determination: nations being able to decide whether they govern themselves, independent of larger empires or groupings of nations
Millions of people who spoke German + considered themselves German now living in non-German states e.g. Czechoslovakia+ Poland. Areas such as Austria, Danzig, Posen + West Prussia viewed as German but excluded from new German state and placed under foreign rule.
Separation of East Prussia from rest of Germany by so-called Polish Corridor = major source of resentment.
ii) ‘War Guilt clause’ seen as unjust national humiliation since Germans believed they’d been forced into just war against Allies, who had attempted to encircle Germany.
iii) Reparations major cause of anger, partly b/c Germans felt level = too high and would cripple German economy, and didn’t accept ‘war guilt clause’ which justified reparations. Worryingly, the actual size of the reparations payment wasn’t stated in Treaty of Versailles, to be decided later by IARC. From German viewpoint this amounted to signing ‘blank cheque’.
iv) Allied occupation of parts of western Germany, and French control of Saarland coal mines, led to continuing friction German nationalists outraged by outlawing of nationalist groups + banning of German patriotic songs + festivals in areas under French control.
v) Disarming of Germany + exclusion from League of Nations seen as unjust discrimination against proud and once-powerful nation. Britain and France remained highly armed and made no commitments to disarm. Seemed as if Germany had been unilaterally disarmed, whereas Wilson had spoken in favour of universal disarmament. Hardened views of Germans against League of Nations, seen as tool of Allies rather than genuine international organization.
vi) Loss of Germany’s colonies not in line with 5th of Wilson’s Fourteen Points, for ‘an impartial adjustment of all colonial claims’; instead, passed on to control of Allies as mandates.
Overall, Treaty seem as ‘diktat’ Allies maintained military blockade on Germany until treat signed, which had significant human consequences such as increasing food shortages.
Furthermore, the Allies threatened to take further military action if Germany didn’t co-operate.
Liberal lawyer, Hugo Preuss, who drew up Weimar constitution, 1923: “The German Republic was born out of terrible defeat. This…cast, from the first, a dark shadow on the new political order…initially the belief still predominated that the new order was necessary for the rebirth of Germany. That is why the democratic clauses of the Weimar constitution met with relatively little resistance, despite the unrivalled severity of the armistice terms. For everyone still expected a peace settlement in accordance with Wilson’s 14 Points, which all the belligerent countries had bindingly accepted as the basis for the peace…The criminal madness of the Versailles Diktat was a shameless blow in the face to such hopes based on international law and political common sense. The Reich constitution was born with this curse upon it”
How justified were German complaints about Treaty of Versailles – a more balanced view?
Possible to sympathise with German reaction + in Britain too there developed growing sympathy for Germany’s position.
But not the case in France, where treaty generally condemned as being too lenient.
Only after 1945 a more balanced view of Treaty of Versailles emerged, with recent historians tending to view peace-makers of 1919 more sympathetically and earlier German criticisms of treaty no longer as readily accepted.
Of course, at Paris Peace Conference Allied statesmen motivated by own national self-interests at expense of Germany, they now recognized it was aftermath created by war that shaped terms of treaty and not just anti-German feeling. Aims and objectives of various Allies differed and achieving agreement was made more difficult by complicated circumstances of time.
It should be remembered that Paris Peace Settlement not solely concerned with Germany Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria + Turkey also forced to sign separate treaties.
In addition, there were other problems e.g. Britain had national interests to look after in Middle East as result of collapse of Turkish Empire + Allies concerned by threat of Soviet Russia and motivated by common desire to contain Soviet ‘menace’.
Argument that Germany had ‘unrealistic expectations’ of Treaty.
i) Wilson’s 14 points and armistice agreement made clear that Alsace-Lorraine would have to be returned to France, that a new state of Poland with access to the sea would be created, that Germany would be expected to hand over some of her assets + that considerable German disarmament would be expected. So application of self-determination not nearly as unfair as many Germans believed as Alsace-Lorraine would have voted to return to France anyway, as it had been French before 1871; plebiscites were held in Schleswig and parts of Prussia to decide future; Danzig’s status under League was result of Wilson’s promise to ‘provide Poland with access to the sea’; provinces of Posen and West Prussia more mixed in ethnic make-up than Germans prepared to admit (Germans dominated in towns and Poles in countryside so difficult to draw clear frontier line) and Austria and Sudetenland never part of Germany before 1918 anyway.
ii) Treaty was not as severe as it might have been Had Clemenceau had his way, he would have extended French border to Rhine or annexed Saar coalfields + created independent Rhineland. French wanted to ensure Germany couldn’t threaten them again, but other Allies resisted this as they wanted Germany to remain strong enough to withstand spread of communism from Russia.
iii) Treaty didn’t punish Germany as severely as Germans had punished Russia in Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918 Germany had broken up western part of Russian Empire + annexed large swathes of territory. In the Reichstag debate on that treaty, only the USPD had voted against this action. T.o.V moderate in comparison.
iv) Germany’s war aims of 1914 had included annexation of territory from its enemies, expansion of Germany’s colonial empire + very severe reparations bill to be paid by defeated Allies in other words, if Germany had won the war the peace settlement would have been very harsh on the defeated Allies.
v) Reparations bill much lower than demanded by French. Although reparations were continuing source of friction between Germany and Allies during life of Weimar Republic, it wasn’t beyond Germany’s capacity to pay.
vi) Germany wasn’t physically occupied and as a result the real damage was suffered on foreign soil (France + Belgium)
In end, Versailles was a compromise - not based on Wilson’s Fourteen Points as most Germans had expected, but equally not as severe as certain sections of Allied opinion had demanded.
