The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that ended WW1. Negotiations started on January 18 at the French Foreign Ministry. 70 delegates of the 27 Allied nations involved in the war were present and none from the losing nations naturally. Russia was still excluded because it negotiated its own peace which Germany gained a large part of their resources and land. Most of the negotiating took place between the heads of government and foreign ministers of the 5 major victors. However as the negotiating continued many of them left until only the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, the French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and American President Woodrow Wilson remained.While most of the other nations wanted to come up with a fair and reasonable treaty the French Minister wanted to appease his public. Most of the war had been fought on French soil so the Minister demanded more aggressive terms. France lost nearly 1.5 million soldiers and 400,000 civilians so the public was very upset. He proposed terms that would cripple the German military both politically and economically. They also wanted the strip of land of Alsace-Lorraine which had been taken from them in a previous war.Britain wanted some compensation for the casualties. They also supported secret treaties and naval blockades to preserve its power if the French demand were met. Lloyd George was able to increase the reparation payment because of the lost soldiers and workers.The United States wasn’t as greedy as the other two nations and wanted to get out of Europe as fast as possible.Military restrictions on Germany1.The Rhineland was to become a demilitarized zone that would be controlled by Great Britain and France2.The German military couldn’t be stronger than 100,000 troops3.Enlisted men shall be in service for 12 years and officers for at least 254.Naval forces are limited to 15,000 troops, 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 6 destroyers, and 12 torpedo boats (no subs included)5.Could not make, import, or export any weapons or poison gas6.Couldn’t have armed airplanes, tanks, or armored cars7.Can’t use blockades8.There will be restrictions on machine guns and riflesThere was an issue with article 156 of the treaty where China was to give up a portion of its land to Japan. The Chinese backed out of the treaty and made their own.Article 231 laid full blame of the war unto Germany and so they had to pay all the reparations. This was originally set at 226 billion Reich marks but was lowered to 132 billion.In my opinion this Treaty was pretty fair although the French demanded a little too much.Sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailleshttp://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htmGerman land lost
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