The Treaty of Versailles

(Ariana Barreau and Anne Zou)

The Treaty of Versailles was the treaty that officially ended WWI. It was negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and it consisted of 440 articles that detailed Germany’s punishment (despite America’s efforts to promote a “peace without victory”) for the First World War.

Along with Versailles, the Treaty of Saint Germain, the Treaty of Trianon, the Treaty of Neuilly, and the Treaty of Sevres were made with the countries allied with Germany during the war (Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, respectively). The treaties were negotiated by the “Big Three”: David Loyd George from Great Britain, George Clemenceau from France, and Woodrow Wilson from the United States..

At this point, France believed that Germany should be broken to the point where Germany would not start another war again - though this ended up backfiring because Germany was left in such a destitute state that it fueled the resent that contributed to WW2.

Japan, on the other hand, simply wanted its conquest of Germany's Chinese colony (Qingdao) to be ratified.

Woodrow Wilson’s main aim, however, was to promote candor and honesty in the international community in order to prevent future conflicts. He did so through his “Fourteen Points” statement, which called for free trade, a reduction of military forces, freedom of the seas, fair adjustment of the colonies, open diplomacy in the international community, and the creation of an international organization called “The League of Nations”. Although he wanted to weaken Germany's military potential, he had nothing against a democratic Germany becoming a major economic power again and was adamant that it remain unified.

The treaty terms could be classified into three categories: territorial, military, and financial. Among them were:

- The creation of the League of Nations, an international community whose purpose was to ensure that war would not break out again. Germany was not allowed to join.

- Germany was deemed responsible for causing all the loss and damage during the war.

- Germany would have to pay 132 billion gold marks (about $400 billion USD) in reparation.

- All of Germany’s colonies were taken and given to Britain and France as “mandates”

- Germany’s army was restricted to 100,000 men, its navy to 6 battleships and no submarines, and it’s was not allowed to have an air force at all.

While England used Germany’s reparations to rebuild and recover from the war, Germany was left pulverized and penniless. Rather than working out a plan to ensure long term peace, the Treaty of Versailles was neither lenient enough to placate Germany nor harsh enough to keep them from re-emerging as the dominant power in the region again. Bitter resentment toward the victors of the First World War prevailed, and further conflict was already on the horizon.

Sources:

"Terms of the Treaty of Versailles." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2013.

"Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points." History Learning Site. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2013.

Duffy, Michael. "Treaty of Versailles, 28 June 1919." First World War.com. Michael Duffy, 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 05 Sept. 2013.

"League of Nations." History Learning Site. HistoryLearningSite.co.uk, n.d. Web. 05 Sept. 2013.