O Treaty of Versailles was signed on the day June 28, 1919 and became known for being the main one of the peace treaties signed after the First World War. This document was signed by the powers that formed the Tripleunderstand and for Germany. It was considered by historians as the "peace of the victors", since the nations that won the conflict imposed very harsh terms the Germany.
Also access: Understand the terms of the treaty that ratified Russia's exit from World War I
Mind Map: World War I
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Context
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace agreements signed at the end of World War I. This conflict lasted from 1914 to 1918 and was the first major clash that marked human history. World War I was the result of a combination of factors that contributed to create a climate of tension that broke out in 1914.
This war was the result of disputes caused by the imperialism and by rivalries motivated by the revenge and nationalism. The strengthening of rivalries and tensions in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century motivated nations to form
military alliances and to invest in the production of armaments.In this scenario, all that was needed was a trigger to trigger hostilities, and that happened on June 28, 1914. On that date, the archduke and heir to the Austrian throne, FranciscoFerdinand, was the target of a outrage terrorist during a motorcade in Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia.
This attack was the result of nationalist tensions that existed in the Balkans, specifically in the relationship of Serbs and Bosnians with the Austrians. After this attack, the July crisis, a moment of diplomatic instability that arose in Europe as a result of the attack, and which officially started the world conflict, when the Austrians declare war on Serbs on July 29, 1914.
Know more:Balkan War
World War I mobilized two sides that fought each other during the mentioned period. One of them was formed by Tripleunderstand, made up of Russia, Great Britain, France and Italy, while the other was formed by TripleAlliance (also called PowersCentrals), composed of three empires: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman.
This great conflict had two distinct phases. The 1st phase, known as WarinMovement, it took place between August and November 1914. From there until the end of the war, in 1918, the fight was marked by Warintrenches. Another feature of World War I was the use of chemical weapons, like mustard gas.
In the course of this combat, the nations that formed the Central Powers fell apart, which led to the surrender of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria (another nation that had joined this alliance). The chaotic situation in Germany brought about a revolution that brought down the monarchy in the country and established a republic.
The new rulers of Germany decided to put an end to the war and that is why a armistice of Germany with the Triple Entente. This truce was signed on the day November 11, 1918. In it, the impositions of the Triple on Germany were heavy, but the terms of German surrender would only be established even with the Treaty of Versailles.
Know more:Alliances in World War I
Paris Peace Conference
The treaty that sealed peace between the Triple Entente nations and Germany was agreed upon in Paris Peace Conference, which began on January 18, 1919 and had delegations from 25 countries under the leadership of the Big Four: StatesUnited, KingdomUnited, France and Italy. Germany was not entitled to participate.
In all, the countries that participated in the conference that produced the Treaty of Versailles were:
U.S |
Kingdom of Hejaz (now part of Saudi Arabia) |
UK |
Honduras |
France |
Liberia |
Italy |
Nicaragua |
Japan |
Panama |
Belgium |
Peru |
Bolivia |
Poland |
Brazil |
Portugal |
China |
Romania |
Cuba |
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes |
Ecuador |
Zion (now Thailand) |
Greece |
Czechoslovakia (present-day Czechia and Slovakia) |
Guatemala |
Uruguay |
Haiti |
The big names involved in the Versailles Treaty negotiations were DavidLloydGeorge, British Prime Minister; GeorgesClemenceau, French Prime Minister; and woodrowWilson, President of the United States (the Americans only entered the war in 1917). The fourth great representative, VittorioEmanuelOrlando — Italian Prime Minister, withdrew from negotiations when Italy's territorial claims were rejected.
The Paris Conference was known for being a event quite unorganized and dominated by the demands of different groups, each defending its own interests. Over the months of negotiations, the British, French, and American representatives in particular pored over the terms that would be imposed on Germany.
Know more:peace treaties
The interests and the way in which the punishment of Germany should take place were different among the three great representatives of the conference. Anyway, the Treaty of Versailles was the result of the conciliation of opinions between North Americans, British and French. The end result was controversial, and historian David Stevenson has argued that while the Germans found the terms of the treaty too rigid, the French found them too light.|1|
The central motto for the British and French was to find a balance point in between coercion and conciliation. Criteria were devised to impose “justice”, but in a way that was acceptable to public opinion. Even so, the opinions of the British and the French were quite different because the latter advocated tougher measures while the former sought softer solutions.
Over the six months of the conference, the impositions on Germany remained austere. The Treaty of Versailles was divided into 15parts that contained 440 articles, plus attachments.
Also access:Paris Agreement.
the terms of the treaty
The Germans did not have the right to participate in the negotiations and so could do nothing about the difficult results imposed on them. The German delegation protested, but to no avail. The German Chancellor, PhilipScheidemann, preferred to resign his post rather than have to sign the treaty, and, days later, deliberations of the German government led to two representatives of the country to sign the treaty on July 28, 1919, in the Gallery of Mirrors, in the Palace of Versailles.
The main term of the treaty was the article 231, which stipulated that Germany and its allies were solely responsible for the conflict and for all the losses and damages it caused. already the article 232 it stipulated that Germany would have to commit to repairing all the damage caused in the war, although the French and British recognized that the Germans did not have sufficient resources to do so.
Get to know, in brief, the main punishments given to Germany:
→ Territories
Germany suffered severe territorial punishments in the Treaty of Versailles. As a result, the country lost 13% of its entire territory and 10% of its population.|2|
The Germans were forced to:
Return Alsace-Lorraine to the French. This region had been taken over by Germany at the end of the Franco-Prussian War;
Eupen, Malmedy and Moresnet were handed over to the Belgians;
The Saar region became an international domain, and its coal zone came under French domination;
A Polish corridor was created that separated Germany from East Prussia;
Danzig became a free city controlled by the League of Nations;
Memel was delivered to Lithuania;
Schleswig was delivered to Denmark;
In addition, the Germans also had to accept the following terms:
Austria was forbidden to unify with Germany;
The Sudetenland, formerly Austrian territory, was transferred to Czechoslovakia;
The Germans lost all their colonial domains.
→ Military
In addition to territorial punishments, the British and, above all, the French sought to neutralize Germany's military force, in order to balance the balance of power in Western Europe and prevent a new conflict from happening. The main military impositions on the Germans were:
Prohibition of promoting military recruitment;
Prohibition of having more than 100,000 soldiers;
Prohibition of having a navy;
Prohibition of having war aviation;
Prohibition of having tanks and heavy artillery;
The Rhineland region should remain demilitarized and the existing military buildings demolished.
In military matters, they were also forced to destroy six million rifles, 15,000 planes and 130,000 machine guns.|3|
→ Financial
One of the most controversial terms of the Treaty of Versailles was the war indemnity charged to the Germans.
The terms of the treaty stipulated that the Germans should pay about 20 billion Deutschmarks in gold, in values of the time. This amount had to be paid by April 1921, but later the French and British began to demand over 200 billion marks in gold. The last installment of the First World War indemnity was paid in 2010.
In economic and financial matters, the Germans had to give up two million tons of merchant ships, five thousand locomotives, 136,000 wagons, 24 million tons of coal, etc.|4|
Also access: The epidemic that swept the world during World War I
Consequences
The terms of the Treaty of Versailles, as we can see, were very harsh. The North American Legislature, for example, chose not to recognize the treaty and, thus, the United States, one of the countries that was directly involved in its elaboration, did not ratify it.
In Germany, the clauses of the document were considered humiliating. German society's view of the terms was summarized by historian Richard J. Evans:
The sense of outrage and disbelief that swept the German middle and upper classes like a shock wave was almost general and had a massive impact also on many workers supporting the Social Democrats. moderates. […] Most Germans suddenly felt that the country had been brutally expelled from the category of the great powers and covered with what they considered undue shame. The Treaty of Versailles was condemned as a dictated peace, imposed unilaterally with no possibility of negotiation.|5|
The experience of defeat and its consequences for the German economy contributed to the country beginning to be politically dominated by groups with radical political ideologies. The economic crisis caused by the war and the treaty indemnities has led the country to face a hyperinflation.
The political context of the country in the post-war period, with the domination of the social democrats and the humiliation that many German soldiers faced when they returned to the country, contributed to that, in military means Germans, conspiracy theories and idealsradicals were fed. This climate of political discontent has generated resentment and violence, leading many to far right.
All the humiliation that the Treaty of Versailles caused and its fundamental role in promoting political and economic crisis in Germany made room for the emergence of Nazism. The Versailles Treaty's contribution to the rise and strengthening of Nazism was so great that the second point of the Nazi Party's program called for the repeal of that treaty.
See too:Was Nazism on the right or on the left?
Grades
|1| STEVENSON, David. 1914-1918, the history of the First World War: the legacy. Barueri: New Century, 2016, p. 17.
|2| EVANS, Richard J. The arrival of the Third Reich. São Paulo: Planet, 2016, p. 104.
|3| Idem, p. 108.
|4| Idem, p. 107.
|5| Idem, p. 108.
*Image credits: Everett Historical and Shutterstock
**Image credits: JOON_T and Shutterstock
By Daniel Neves
Graduated in History
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/tratado-versalhes.htm