Treaty of Versailles
by Krysta CardinaleThe Treaty of Versailles is one of five separate treaties that ended World War I in 1919. The Treaty of Versailles became the most well-known of the five because of its punitive nature and especially harsh sanctions against its primary offender, Germany. Treaty of Versailles was named after the famed French palace where it was ratified.
The five treaties that ended the war were: Versailles, the Treaty of St. Germain against Austria, the Treaty of Trianon against Hungary, the Treaty of Neuilly against Bulgaria, and the Treaty of Sevres against Turkey. While every nation was dealt with separately, there is no doubt that Germany received the brunt of the blame and punishment for WWI.
All five of the treaties came from the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. It was a series of long and bitter negotiations that resulted in putting the formal blame for WWI on the shoulders of Germany. In summary, the nation was forced to accept blame for the war, make outrageous reparations payments to the Allies, give up as much as fifteen percent of its territory as well as all of its overseas land holdings, have its military wings clipped. Perhaps the crushing of all stipulations was that they forced Germany to sign the treaty under penalty of resumed fighting.
The sentence handed down in the Treaty of Versailles took some degree of dispute among the Big Four nations who created it. Britain, France, United States, and Italy all had different viewpoints on how to make Germany pay for the damages suffered during WWI.
World War I had major negative effects on all the countries involved. France was bitter because it consisted of the highest number of military and civilian casualties experienced during the war, and suffered economic fallout. France was adamant that Germany pay large reparations for WWI. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau stood firm on his policy, "peace of revenge," in an effort to ensure that Germany would never be in a position to threaten his country again. For both political and economic reasons, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George favored moderation. The group eventually found a middle ground that was not lenient enough to get a full acceptance from Germany, and not severe enough to permanently weaken it.
Signed on June 28, 1919 the Treaty of Versailles came after months bargaining between the Allied nations. Germany was not even privy to the details of the concession document until May 7, when it was presented with a draft for review. Germany was given only three weeks to review and accept the treaty’s harsh terms and list of complaints.
What were the terms of the Treaty of Versailles?
The main target for punishment for World War I was Germany, thus the Treaty of Versailles reflected this. Germany was punished so harshly in this treaty primarily because of its army's massive destruction campaign on France. The German army had stripped French factories of resources, and then transferred them back to Germany. It made off with hundreds of thousands of French cattle and livestock, flooded and detonated coal mines and looted villages. At the end of World War I, Germany destroyed France’s railways, bridges, and raided private homes.
The Treaty of Versailles was a weighty volume consisting of over 440 articles and numerous annexes. The most notable clauses from the 200-plus page document included:
1. The curtailing of German military activities. The German army was reduced to 100,000 men and its air force was completely disbanded. Its stockpile of munitions was severely reduced and the use of heavy artillery, gas and tanks was outlawed. The German navy was forbidden to ship more than 10,000 tons, and the construction and use of submarines was also prohibited.
2. The reduction of Germany's territory by as much as 15%. Germany was ordered to surrender all of its overseas colonies and to return the area of Alsace-Lorraine, that it had won in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, to France. It also had to surrender the territories of Eupen and Malmedy to Belgium, hand the Sudetenland over to Czechoslovakia, give part of East Prussia to Lithuania, and most of West Prussia to Poland. It also lost all rights over the cities of Memel and Danzig. In addition to the loss of territory, Germany lost some seven million citizens in the deal.
3. The payment of retributions. Germany was ordered to accept responsibility for the damages it, and its allies, caused in the war. It had to pay reparations to the tune of $6.6 billion. This was an astounding sum for that time. (Reparations payments were eventually suspended in 1931.)
4. The recognition of new nation-states. Germany was to recognize the independence of Austria, Poland, and all territories that belonged to the Russian Empire on August 1, 1914.
5. The temporary loss of its coal mines. Germany was ordered to hand over all of its coal mines in the Saar basin to France. This was to make up for the damage it caused to France's coal mines for a period of 15 years. At that point a referendum would be held among the residents of the Saar to determine if they wished to be a part of Germany or France.
6. The occupation of the Rhineland. Allied forces would occupy the Rhineland area for at least 15 years, and the right bank of the Rhine River was to be permanently demilitarized.
7. In addition to the monetary reparations, Germany was also ordered to restore all property to French institutions and individuals. France also had the right to liquidate all property possessed by Germany.
The Results of the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
On January 8, 1918, U.S. President Wilson made an address to Congress titled the Fourteen Points. In it, he outlined his ideas for the reconstruction of post-war Europe. While some of his points were used in the Treaty of Versailles, some were not. Perhaps the most significant idea taken from Wilson’s plan was the creation of a world court. This court was to mediate conflicts between nations in order to avoid anything like WWI happening again.
The result was the League of Nations, a predecessor to today's United Nations. With the breakdown of the old empires and the creation of new, independent nation-states (another of Wilson's Fourteen Points) the League of Nations was to oversee all. The League of Nation was a grouping of many of these new countries in a world tribunal that would stop conflicts before they started. While its intentions were noble, the League of Nations had a few fundamental faults, leading to its demise at the onset of WWII.
Some of these faults included:
1. The United States, Russia and Germany were not made members of the League of Nations. The U.S. stayed out by choice, Russia was barred from joining due to the other nations' refusal to recognize its Communist government, and Germany was left in the cold as a punitive clause of the Treaty of Versailles.
2. The League of Nations had no army. Should a conflict have risen, each member-state was expected to supply its own army, much to the dismay of Britain and France (since they had the strongest military of all the member countries). With no military support, the League resorted to economic sanctions as a means of containing conflict. The sanctions however, could easily be avoided by petitioning non-member nations for the goods and supplies that were being cut off.
3. The faulty distribution of power. While each member-state sent representatives to the Assembly, the bulk of the real power was centered in the hands of the Council. The Council was made up of Britain, France, Italy and Japan. Each Council member had veto power, meaning that Assembly nations could be heard but any resolution could be overturned with a single vote.
Many theories exist about how the faults within the League of Nations. This combined with the fury of the German people from having to surrender to such a humiliating agreement as the Treaty of Versailles mixed created a political climate in Germany. This climate allowed Adolf Hitler and his National Socialist (Nazi) Party to rise to power in the decades that followed WWI. The theory further states that the failure of the League of Nations to stop Hitler's quest for more power in the 1930’s laid the groundwork for the factors that sparked World War II.
Hitler based his campaign on a pledge to reverse many of the clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, and restore Germany to its former glory. Hitler eventually came to power in the '30s. The League of Nations Council member countries, England and France, had also adopted a policy of appeasement during the '30s. These policies stated by giving the emerging nations’ governments from Europe what they wanted, instead of resorting to using force, future war could be avoided.
While it is easy to blame the League of Nations for World War II, it would be an overly simplistic take on a complicated situation. World War II had factors rooted in many different reasons. However, one cannot ignore the faults of the League and WWI in general. They significantly helped in setting the stage for the political climate that fostered the growth the factors that led to the Second World War.
