O Treaty of Versailles it was a peace agreement sealed between the victorious powers of the First World War and defeated Germany.
The process began with the armistice of November 11, 1918 and was signed on June 28, 1919.
Summary
The Versailles Treaty was characterized by French revanchism, the redefinition of borders, the establishment of indemnities and the creation of the League of Nations.
Participating Countries
The negotiations, which lasted six months, involved 70 delegates from 27 nations, including Brazil.
The defeated country, Germany, was left out of the transactions. Russia did not participate, having signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in 1918.
Under the auspices of US President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, the Treaty of Versailles was concluded on June 28, 1919.
Despite being one of the main negotiators of the Treaty, the United States Congress has neither ratified the document nor adhered to the League of Nations.
Thus, the US preferred to make a bilateral agreement with the Germans through the 1921 Berlin Treaty.
French Revanchism
France sought in every way to avenge itself for the defeat Franco-Prussian War. Not by chance, the Treaty of Versailles was signed in the same place that the French signed the treaty that had ended that conflict: the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
The main clause of the Treaty of Versailles, Article 231, defined the “guilt of war” for Germany.
Germany and its Allies are responsible, as they caused them, for all loss and damage suffered. by allied governments and their associates, as well as by the citizens of these countries, as a result of war.
She was held fully and solely responsible for all damage caused. Thus, the country should repair the nations involved in the conflict, especially those of the Triple Entente.
Territorial Indemnities and Losses
It was established that Germany should provide annually:
- seven million tons of coal to France;
- eight million tons of coal to Belgium.
It is noteworthy that, in 1921, the value of indemnities to be paid by Germany for the damages of the war, was calculated at 33 billion dollars or 269 billion marks.
They were then reduced to 132 billion marks, without counting the amounts to be refunded as pensions to widows and others affected by the conflict, mostly in France.
This imposition led the German economy to suffer an economic crisis that lasted throughout the 1920s.
Furthermore, Germany lost 13% of its territory in Europe and thus 7 million citizens. It was determined that:
- the region of Alsace-Lorraine would be returned to France;
- Sonderjutland would pass to Denmark;
- Prussian regions such as Posen, Soldau, Warmia and Masuria would be incorporated by Poland;
- Hlučínsko passed to Czechoslovakia;
- Eupen and Malmedy become territories of Belgium;
- Saar province would be controlled by the League of Nations for 15 years.
The German colonies that represented over 70,000 km2, distributed between Africa, Asia and the Pacific, were also affected. The colonies in Africa were divided between England, Belgium and France.
Military Demobilization
In military terms, it was determined the disarmament of the German people, the abolition of compulsory military service and the reduction of the army to 100,000 volunteer soldiers.
To prevent the development of the military industry in Germany, the manufacture of large-caliber tanks and weapons was banned. Along the same lines, the left bank of the River Rhine was to be demilitarized.
In the same measure, the Navy could be composed of up to 15,000 sailors and the German air force was declared extinct. Many ships were given to the winners.
The Military Schools and paramilitary associations were abolished. This was a heavy blow to a nation that had made military life one of its hallmarks.
Months later, through the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Austria was also forced to reduce its military forces to 30,000 men
Consequences
German ministers Hermann Müller (Foreign) and Johannes Bell (Transport) signed the document on behalf of the Weimar Republic. Later, the Treaty of Versailles would be ratified by the League of Nations on January 10, 1920.
In short, this treaty has extremely punitive political, economic and military dimensions and its 440 articles are a veritable condemnation of Germany.
Despite officially ending the war, this convention was responsible, at least indirectly, for the fall of the Weimar Republic (which replaced the destitute German empire). Likewise, by the rise of adolf hitler and the Nazi party in 1933.
Learn more about Aftermath of the First World War.
read more:
- First World War
- Brazil in World War I
- Phases of the First World War
- trench warfare
- Beginning of World War II
- Second World War
- Fascism
- Questions about the First World War
- Movies about the First World War
