The Treaty of Versaille

The Treaty of Versailles

What the Germans had to lose and do:

Ð'* Lose 10% of their land

Ð'* Lose all of their overseas colonies- Major blow to German pride. Land lost contained important industrial areas: Saar and Upper Silesia. All this time Britain and France were expanding there empire and talking the German colonies.

Ð'* Lose 12.5% of its population

Ð'* Lose 16% of airfields

Ð'* No air force

Ð'* Lose half of its steel and iron industry

Ð'* Army reduced to 100,000 men - Very small for an army of Germany's size, army was a sign of pride. None of the allies disarmed to this extent, contrary to Wilson's 14 points.

Ð'* Pay reparations for starting the war

German Reactions:

Ð'* Horror and outrage

Ð'* Did not feel responsible for the war, wanted blame shared

Ð'* Public thought that government had agreed to a cease fire and that they had not "lost" the war

Ð'* For that reason they felt Germany should have been at the peace conference

Ð'* Wanted a choice in the matters

Ð'* New government refused to sign at first

Ð'* Navy sank their own ships in protest

Ð'* Ebert accepted terms on 28th June 1919

Ð'* Felt they did not have enough money for reparations and that they would cripple them

Ð'* Insulted not to be let into the league of nations

Ð'* Did not think the treaty kept to Wilson's 14 points- e.g. some countries were not given self-determination and were ruled by others.

Impact of the Treaty

Ð'* Elbert's government was fragile- others tried to revolt against him

Ð'* Germany went into chaos

Ð'* A workers strike saved the government but crippled the services

Ð'* Fell behind with payments in 1922- allies took money in raw materials

Ð'* Government ordered the strike to go on

Ð'* French killed 100 workers and expelled 100,000 protesters

Ð'* Printed more money to give to the Allies- Prises went up

Allies thoughts on the treaty

Ð'* Clemenceau did not think they were harsh enough- Voted out in 1920

Ð'* Lloyd George was a hero in Britain but he believe another war would break out (of coarse he was right)

Ð'* Wilson was disappointed with the treaty, the American congress refused to sign it

Other Treaties

All the allies of the Germans had to pay reparations and disarm, so four treaties were draw up to do this. They were draw up by foreign ministers of the allied powers.

1919- Treaty of Germain- Austria

Ð'* Separated Austria from Hungry

Ð'* Bohemia and Moravia = Czechoslovakia

Ð'* Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia = Yugoslavia

Ð'* Lost land to Poland and Italy

Ð'* Army Restricted to 30,000

Ð'* Sorted