The Treaty of Versailles [Revision]
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On 11 November 1918 a cease fire [Armistice] was signed by the Allies and Germany. Germany was beaten and handed over their fleet and many weapons but the war was not officially
over. A peace treaty would be needed to sort out what would happen next. The Allies met in the Palace of Versailles – just outside of Paris. The key leaders were Georges Clemenceau
[France], David Lloyd George [UK] and Thomas Woodrow Wilson [USA].
Clemenceau wanted revenge. Germany had invaded France twice in his lifetime. In 1870 the Germans had taken Alsace and Lorraine from France. Over a million Frenchmen had been killed.
The war was fought in Northern France, which was in ruins and many coal mines had been blown up by the retreating Germans. Clemenceau wanted compensation, the return of lost land
and France to be made safe from another attack. Some Frenchmen wanted Germany to be broken up into several smaller states.
Woodrow Wilson had a 14 Point Peace Plan. He wanted to reduce the causes of war to prevent another one. Woodrow Wilson believed in Self Determination, that is that each people decide
which country they belonged to. If this happened then there would be no reason for an invasion as people could not take over another’s land or feel they had to go to war to reclaim lost
land. This would mean Alsace and Lorraine would go back to France, German troops would leave Belgium and Poland would become independent. Woodrow Wilson wanted countries to
disarm – to remove the tension which was caused by the Arms / Naval Race before 1914. He wanted No secret treaties – to remove the tension caused by the Alliance System. Woodrow
Wilson hoped for an international organisation which would see disputes settled without violence.
Lloyd George had an election to win. The British people were angry. Over 600,000 British people had been killed and the country was deeply in debt. In public Lloyd George had to claim he
wanted to punish the Germans however Germany was Britain’s biggest trading partner. To help the Britain’s economy recover it was important that Germany could start trading as soon as
possible. A Germany that was bankrupt would be no good. Lloyd George was also worried about Communism. Germany had already seen Communist revolts in Berlin and Bavaria. Lloyd
George felt if Germany was treated too badly Communists would take over.
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On 28 June 1919 the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The Military settlement saw the German Army reduced to 100,000 infantry and 15000 sailors. Germany was not allowed to have any
aircraft, submarines, tanks or poison gas. It could only have 6 battleships of maximum weight 10,000 tons. No German troops or forts were allowed within 50km of the French border [the
Demilitarized Zone]. This was designed to make France safe from attack but it did mean any country could invade Germany – which happened when the French and Belgian armies occupied
the Ruhr to get Reparation payments.
Germany lost 10% of its land. France gained Alsace & Lorraine; Belgium gained Eupen and Malmedy; Denmark got North Schleswig. In the East of Europe Poland got Posen, the Polish
Corridor and Upper Silesia. Lithuania got Memel. The Saar was to be run by the League of Nations for 15 years – the coal would go France to compensate for the mines the Germans had
blown up. Germany was poorer. It had lost 6-7 million people, 12.5% of its coal and 50% of its steel industry. Finally, to give a legal reason for the punishments Germany had to say it started
the war [War Guilt Article 231] and pay £6,600 million in Reparations. The German government printed money to deal with the demands of Reparations, which lead to Hyperinflation.
German had to give up all its Colonies – which were run by the League of Nations by countries like Britain and Country.
Clemenceau felt he had gained Reparations, the Saar, Alsace and Lorraine and a reduction of the German army. Many Frenchmen felt that this was not enough, that Germany should have
been broken up. Lloyd George got German Colonies and the reduction of the German Navy but the collapse of the German economy was not what he wanted. Woodrow Wilson saw selfdetermination for the Poles and Belgium and a reduction the German army but the British colonies did not get self-determination and many Germans found themselves in Poland and other
countries. He got the League of Nations but only Germany had to disarm.
Treaty of Versailles