The Terms of the Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was drafted and signed in 1920, to great protest by the German people.
The Terms of the Treaty of Versailles can be split into three categories:
Armed Forces
German Armed forces were subjected to the following restrictions:
Reparations
The final reparation figure was set at £6.6 billion, this would mean that Germany would finish paying the reparations in 1984.
War Guilt
Article 231, the War Guilt Clause, of the Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany was totally to blame for the outbreak of World War One!
Anschluss
Anschluss between Germany and Austria was forbidden in the Treaty of Versailles.
Loss of Land
Clemenceau had a large part to play in downsizing the German empire and their European territory. Woodrow Wilson advocated many of the losses resulting in the formation of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, in accordance with his ideas on self determination, as seen below:
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points
In January 1918, before the end of the war, Woodrow Wilson published fourteen points which he believed would bring about a fair and lasting peace in Europe. Wilson wanted to impose his Fourteen Points.
The main points of his fourteen points were:
Not everybody liked the Treaty of Versailles
Click here to find out more on countries opinions on Versailles
The Terms of the Treaty of Versailles can be split into three categories:
- Territorial- taking land from Germany.
- Military- limits to German armed forces.
- Financial- reparations.
Armed Forces
German Armed forces were subjected to the following restrictions:
- The army was restricted to 100,000 men who could not be conscripts.
- The German battle fleet was restricted to 6 battleships and 30 smaller ships. It was allowed no submarines and a total of 15,000 sailors.
- The German armed forces couldn't have an air force.
- The Rhineland was demilitarised, no military forces were allowed into the Rhineland
Reparations
The final reparation figure was set at £6.6 billion, this would mean that Germany would finish paying the reparations in 1984.
War Guilt
Article 231, the War Guilt Clause, of the Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany was totally to blame for the outbreak of World War One!
Anschluss
Anschluss between Germany and Austria was forbidden in the Treaty of Versailles.
Loss of Land
- All German colonies were taken away from Germany and given to Britain and France as 'mandates'. These were supposed to be managed the League of Nations Mandates commission, but Britain and France effectively controlled them.
- The Saar land was ruled by the League, however France gained effective control, for 15 years, after 15 years there would be a plebiscite.
- Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France after belonging to Germany since 1871.
- Lands in Eastern Germany e.g. Posen and the Polish Corridor were given to Poland
- Danzig, a port on the Baltic Sea, would be controlled by the League on behalf of Poland.
Clemenceau had a large part to play in downsizing the German empire and their European territory. Woodrow Wilson advocated many of the losses resulting in the formation of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, in accordance with his ideas on self determination, as seen below:
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points
In January 1918, before the end of the war, Woodrow Wilson published fourteen points which he believed would bring about a fair and lasting peace in Europe. Wilson wanted to impose his Fourteen Points.
The main points of his fourteen points were:
- Self-determination for countries once part of the Turkish and Austro-Hungarian Empires. This meant the right to rule themselves democratically.
- League of Nations: a League of Nations should be set up to maintain World Peace.
- Disarmament: countries should disarm to prevent a war.
- No secret treaties: no secret treaties between countries as they increase tension between the great powers
Not everybody liked the Treaty of Versailles
Click here to find out more on countries opinions on Versailles
