TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Motivations & Aims

USA/ Woodrow Wilson

France / Georges Clemeanceau

Britain / David Lloyd George

Italy / Vittorio Orlando

Impact

German humiliation

German territorial reductions

Self determination & creation of new boundaries

Japan / Saionji Kinmoji

Military restrictions and demilitarization

Under the terms of the Treaty Of Versailles, Germany was not allowed to have an air force, submarines or tanks. The German army was reduced to only 100,000 professional soldiers, conscription was banned and the Rhineland was to be demilitarized. These German restrictions weakened Germany's defences and made it easy to attack Germany. The reduction of soldiers in the army dealt another big blow to German pride, as the army was another source of national pride.The demilitarization of the Rhineland also prevented Germany from protecting its borders with France. Hence military restrictions and demilitarization had a negative impact on Germany, as it crippled German defences. Contributed by Dominic Wang(14) 3F

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One of the terms of the Treaty Of Versailles was the German territorial reductions, which included much of the land that belonged to Germany was redistributed among the Allied Powers.For example, Germany lost all her overseas colonies in Africa and the Asia Pacific, losing Alsace-Lorraine and the profits from the Saar coal region to France, having to give up territory between Germany and East Prussia to form the Polish Corridor and Germany was not allowed to reunite with Austria. This was a major blow to the Germans and their economy due to them losing large sources of income from their colonies and coal regions which caused them to feel bitter about the Treaty Of Versailles. -Danial Shahrom 3F and Ian 3E

The Germans were greatly angered of having the total blame for the cause of WWI. This was the most controversial and the most significant element of the treaty as it formed the basis for the limitations, territorial reductions and reputation placed on Germany. The Germans felt humiliated as they felt that they did not deserve total blame for the war. But the Weimar Government of Germany had no choice but to accept the treaty or resume fighting.
-Amos Chan, 3F

German economic weakness

-Germany experienced Economic Hardships, unemployment, and poverty.
-Weimar Govenment tried to fix this by priniting more money, which failed and made the economic problem even worse and causing Hyperinflation.
-People became poor overnight, caused them to lose hope in the Weimar Government and caused everyone to want to vote for a stronger parties like the Nazi Party.

  • USA did not want to be part of the 'European War'
  • Had already declared war on Germany in 1917, after German submarines sank 7 American merchant ships
  • Wilson wanted his Fourteen Point Plan to create lasting peace and international cooperation
  • Wilson wanted all members of the League of Nations to work together to prevent war and conficts
  • Wilson wanted to implement disarmament to reduce the ability to wage war
  • USA did not want to be part of future foreign entanglements
    (Pranaven Sivalingam 3F)

Wanted to be seen as world power

Wanted control over German possession in Asia the Pacific

Wanted German navy to be weak

Wanted Germany to be able to recover economically from war

Prevent the rise of communism

its own position of naval superiority was previously threatened by naval armaments

Entered the war based on London pact of 1915

promised Italy control of Dalmatia, part of Germany's colonies in Asia and Africa and protectorate over Albania

wanted rewards promised in London Pact

Wanted Germany to

Hoped to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine, which was lost to Germany in 1871

wanted revenge for the war and compensation for its war losses

pay heavy reparations

accept total blame for the war

Terms

Demilitarisation

Reparations

Territorial Reductions

War Guilt Clause

Germany had to pay compensation for all damage caused in the war

Tight limitations were placed on Germany's armed forces

not allowed to have tanks

not allowed to have submarines

not allowed to have an air force

size of navy limited to 15,000 men

size of army limited to 100,000 men

reparations demanded in 1921 were 269 million gold Reichsmarks (worth 9641 million kilograms of fine gold at that time)

Germany had to accept complete blame for causing WWI

Much of the land that belonged to Germany and Austria before the war was redistributed amongst the Allied Powers

Germany lost all her overseas colonies in Africa and the Asia Pacific

Germany lost Alsace-Lorraine and the profits from Saar coal region to France

Germany had to give up the territory between Germany and East Prussia to form the Polish Corridor to give Poland independent access to the sea

Germany not allowed to unite with Austria


This meant that Germany had to pay for all the damages that the war had created as they had lost the war and that was one of the punishments that it had entailed this lead to the German economy weakening and with the with the Weimar government accepting these terms of the treaty, this also led to Germany being humiliated among the other countries. The Weimar government tried to cover losses by borrowing money from the united states of America. However, when the American stock exchange crashed, many people went bankrupt overnight.

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