--The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty signed by Germany and the Allied powers to end WW1. It was planned and signed in France in the Palace of Versailles. It was mainly influenced by France’s wants because most of the war was fought on French soil.
--Articles 227-230 charged many Germans as war criminals and they were tried including the former German Emperor. The War Guilt Clause laid full responsibility of the war onto Germany and they were to be responsible for all of the damages to civilians.
--There were numerous military restrictions set on Germany because of this. The Rhineland was to become a demilitarized zone that would be controlled by Great Britain and France. The German military couldn’t be stronger than 100,000 troops. Enlisted men shall be in service for 12 years and officers for at least 25. Naval forces are limited to 15,000 troops, 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, 6 destroyers, and 12 torpedo boats (no subs included). Could not make, import, or export any weapons or poison gas. Germany couldn’t have armed airplanes, tanks, or armored cars. They weren’t allowed to use blockades. There will be restrictions on machine guns and rifles. In my opinion these restrictions are absurd and are inviting someone to attack Germany and they won’t be able to defend themselves at all.
--Territories were also taken away from Germany. Alsace and Lorraine were territories that Germany had received in an earlier treaty were returned to France. Northern Schleswig was given back to Denmark. The Province of Posen was taken from Prussia and ceded to Poland. The Hultschin area was given to Czechoslovakia. Saarland was given to the League of Nations but the coal from the area was sent to France and it became part of the German Rhine. Danzig was taken from Germany which gave Poland a safe route to the sea.
--Austria was not allowed to merge with Germany. Article 22 stated that German colonies would be divided between Belgium, the United Kingdom, Britain, France, and Japan. None of these were supposed to ever be returned to Germany.
--One issue was the Shandong problem. This was when Article 156 of the treaty transferred Germany’s control of the Shandong territory in China to Japan instead of back to China. This enflamed China’s rage and they withdrew from the treaty and declared the end of the war and signed a separate treaty with Germany. I think that China was wise in their decision to get out of this treaty because it seems to me that Japan was getting ready for a betrayal on the Allies.
--Since the treaty laid full blame to Germany, they were required to solely pay all of the reparations. After all of the negotiations, the price was set at 132 billion Reichsmarks which is about 5 billion Euros. This was a sort of revenge from the Treaty of Frankfurt which set reparations on France which took them 3 years to pay but Germany was expected to pay it up till 1988. Reparations were paid in coal, steel, agricultural products, and some intellectual property like the trademark for aspirin.
--The League of Nations was created by part one of the Treaty. The International Labour Organization was also established.
--In the opinion portion of my blog I would like to say first of all that this treaty is too long and we shouldn’t have to do blogs as they are too time consuming. I think that this treaty did enhance the chances of Germany retaliating against the Allied Powers. In my opinion it did cause the Second World War because Germany was so mad at the devastation that it caused to their economy, lands, and military. If I was Germany I would be so extremely ticked off about the treaty that I would want some revenge and would most likely go to war again just like they did. This is my opinion on the subject of WW2’s main cause although many may not agree with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Versailles
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/treaty_of_versailles.htm
http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/versailles.htm
Map of Germany's losses
Page from the Treaty
Versailles Palace
Comments
Thanks for your valuable input!