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The Impact of the Versailles Settlements on Germany (The Peace Settlement…
The Impact of the Versailles Settlements on Germany
The Peace Settlement of Versailles, 1919
16th June: German government 7 days accept treaty
Political crisis Berlin = new coalition government
7th May: Germany finally attend/ see terms of treaty
28th June: Versailles Treaty signed by all powers
3 most influential:
Woodrow Wilson (US President)
David Lloyd George (British Prime Minister)
Georges Clemenceau (French Prime Minister/ conference chairman)
Harsh conditions on Germany than expected/ prepared accept
12th January 1919 Palace of Versailles: leaders representing 75% world’s population attended NOT Germany
Germany not allowed participate conference/ negotiate terms treaty regarded by all political viewpoints as ‘Diktat’ or dictated peace
Armistice was NOT a surrender- agreement stop fighting/ withdraw German forces occupied territory pending peace settlement
Hatred treaty/ those signed = political divisions in Weimar Republic
Armistice agreement 11th November 1918: war ended
Carthaginian peace imposition of very brutal 'peace' achieved by completely crushing enemy
The terms of the treaty
Territorial losses
Posen, West Prussia and Polish Corridor given Poland
Danzig (majority German population) became free state under LON protection
Northern Schleswig-Holstein given Denmark
Memel taken Lithuania
Eupen and Malmedy given Belgium
Eastern Silesia given Poland
Alsace-Lorraine returned France
Western Silesia voted remain part Germany
All Germany’s overseas colonies
75% iron ore
Removal of 70,000km2 (13%) German territory
68% zinc ore
26% coal
15% arable land
Africa/ Far East colonies under LON control (divided between Allies)
Disarmament
Dismantle fortifications in Rhineland/ Heligoland
Conscription forbidden
All heavy weapons
German army limited maximum 100,000 men
Germany army forbidden use tanks or gas
German navy limited 15,000 men
Maximum 6 battleships, no submarines
Small coastal defence vessels
Forbidden having air force
War guilt
‘War guilt clause’- liable pay reparations Allies
Reparations- cover costs damage suffered war
Accept responsibility for starting war
Reparations amount fixed by commission in 1921 £6.6 billion
Article 231
Hand over Allies most of merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives, rolling stocks, patens and overseas investments
The Rhineland
Left bank of Rhine/ 50km strip on right bank permanently demilitarised
Allied army occupation based in Rhineland- ensure Germany fulfilled obligations
The Saarland
Separated from Germany- under LON control 15 years
Germany supply France, Belgium, Italy free coal part of reparations agreement (France exploit coal mines)
South-western Germany (contained rich reserves coal)
Other
Not allowed join LON
Kaiser/ other Germans on trial for war crimes
Austria forbidden uniting with Germany
German reactions to the treaty
Early 1918: victory matter of time- official propaganda even after retreatment/ halt advance France spring 1918 BY autumn 1918: soldiers/ civilians not told desperation German military situation
Allied blockade- support war effort strong
Until 1914: Germany greatest military powers Europe
Abdication Kaiser/ signing armistice shock to Germans = signing ‘dictated’ peace treaty universal resentment/ few accept moral responsibility terms treaty
Objectifications
Allied occupation parts of western Germany/ French control of Saarland coal mines: nationalists outraged outlawing nationalist groups and banning German patriotic songs and festivals areas under French control
Disarming of Germany: exclusion from LON as unjust discrimination against proud, powerful nation
Reparations: level too high, cripple the German economy, did not accept ‘war guilt clause’ justified reparations
‘War guilt clause’: national humiliation, Germans believed forced into war against Allies who attempted encircle Germany
Wilson’s Fourteen Points: national self-determination as basis for peace- denied to Germans. Germans living in non-German states e.g. Czechoslovakia/ Poland and separation of East Prussia from Germany by Polish Corridor
Justifications of objections
Clemenceau agenda: extended French border to Rhine, annexation of Saar coalfields, independent Rhineland- Allies wanted Germany remain strong resist communism from Russia
Treaty of Brest-Litovsk March 1918: broken western part Russian Empire, annexed large swathes territory, only USPD voted against
Wilson’s Fourteen Points and armistice agreement stated Alsace-Lorraine returned to France, new state Poland with access sea created, Germany expected hand over assets and considerable German disarmament
War aims 1914 included annexation territory enemies, expansion Germany’s colonial empire, severe reparations- harsh on defeated Allies
Reparations bill low- not beyond Germany’s capacity to pay
The political impact of the Versailles Treaty in Germany
The political crisis of June 1919
Scheidemann resigned, new coalition cabinet led by Gustav Bauer
German army tacit support Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg resist signing treaty through renewed military action
Scheidemann reject treaty- majority cabinet/ SPD members Reichstag believed Germany no choice sign treaty
Ebert told Groener support rejection any chance military action successful- Groener accepted military resistance futile Germany had no alternative
May 1919: party ministers shared Chancellor Scheidemann’s view accepting incompatible with German honour/ demand acceptance within 7 days
Reaction of pro-Republican parties
Alienated moderates accepted new constitution/ promises of ‘better’ Germany now appeared betrayed unbeaten country
Political demoralisation very centre government, associate Republic with weakness/ failure
SPD opponents: DNVP, DVP, DDP voted for treaty not unpatriotic- outwardly comply terms treaty and negotiate modification (‘policy of fulfilment’)
1919: SPD and allies’ government signed treaty
Reaction of right
Peace settlement led join groups overthrowing Republic
Extreme nationalists those governed Germany lacked legitimacy as betrayed ‘Fatherland’- dethroning Kaiser, armistice, Versailles Treaty
Nationalists not accept German military defeat, nor establishment new republic
‘November Criminals’- actions ‘betrayal’ referred to as ‘the stab in the back’, German army bore no responsibility for defeat 1918
Ludendorff advised Kaiser appoint new civilian-led government that better peace terms secured and high command avoid responsibility defeat and signing armistice
Ludendorff and Hindenburg promoted ‘stab in back’ myth- justification continued nationalist attacks on Republic, political supporters and treaty
Ex-soldiers fighting noble cause not insulted/ humiliated returned Germany after revolution
Working-class soldiers (previously trade unions, supported SPD) supported new democratic system
Support communists as could not adjust civilian life, find employment and yearned comradeship and sense of purpose (Freikorps and right-wing nationalist groups)
Reactions from abroad
France
Recovery Alsace-Lorraine, demilitarisation Rhineland, payment reparations
Too lenient on Germany
Seek revenge at Versailles
Clemenceau too many concessions defeated 1920
Suffered most combatant nations
Marshal Foch ‘this is not peace, it is an armistice for twenty years’
United States
Republicans in American Congress opposed treaty- Wilson failed win Congressional vote ratify treaty (separate peace Germany 1921)
Refused join LON
Britain, France treaty to enrich themselves at Germany’s expense
1920s retreated involvement European affairs
Britain
Lloyd George believed Germany not be weak as unable resist expansion USSR westwards, Germany strong trading partner
French being greedy/ vindictive- Germany unfairly treated?
British public opinion satisfied Germany lost overseas empire, large fleet, unable threaten European peace for generation
John Maynard Keynes- level reparations ‘was one of the most serious acts of political unwisdom for which out statesmen have ever been responsible’
Prime Minister Lloyd George