Treaty of Versailles

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The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty to make peace between the five nations France, Germany, Britain, Austria and the United States after World War I. The treaty was made in 1919 without the participation of the German government which had only the choice between signing it or face the occupation of Germany by Allied troops. This was known as a Diktat. The French made the Treaty very hard for the Germans in order to make sure that Germany would never again be able to start a new war. So Germany had to reduce her armed forces from 6 million to 100,000 men, and was forced to get rid of its submarines, military aircraft and a lot of her artillery. Also Germany had to give back those French territories occupied in the war of 1870/1871 against France,large territories of its own to Poland,for instance, and all her colonies. A heavy economical burden for Germany was to pay back a giant sum for the compensation of the damage done to the Allied countries,mostly France, during Wold War I (1914-1918) by German troops.This sum was not even fixed. 132 billion goldmarks had to be paid only as a first part of the German debts. - This Treaty can be seen as a one-sided peace diktat for Germany, a treaty which later could be used as a justification for Germany's nationalists and Adolf Hitler to win the support of the Germans to get rid of the "chains of Versailles" which finally led to World War II.

The treaty was made in 1919 without the German government involved which had only the choice between signing it or facing the Allied armies going into Germany. This was known as a Diktat. The French made the Treaty very hard for the Germans in order to make sure that Germany would never again be able to start a new war. Germany had to cut its army from 6 million to 100,000 men, and was forced to get rid of its submarines, airplanes and zeppelins, and a lot of its artillary (cannons and tanks).

One of the parts of the treaty was that there would be a League of Nations, which decided things after Versailles. It could not stop World War 2, but it was very helpful in the earlier years.

[edit] Outcome for the Central Powers

Germany had to give back French parts (Alsace-Lorraine) taken by Germany in the war of 1870/1871 against France which Germany had won and was an embarassment for France. The French made Germany take its troops out of the Rhineland (the long stretch of land on Germany's border with France where the Rhine river flows), which was an important part of land for Germany where many factories and businesses existed. If Germany put troops back into the Rhineland the punishment would be France going into Germany.

Germany also had to give many parts to Poland, a new country made out of old Russian and Austrian parts and the Polish and Lithuanian people who lived in them. Poland was a very strong kingdom a few hundred years before but Austria, Germany and Russia had split it between them. This made the Polish people unhappy, and they were given a country again.

Versailles also split up many large empires on the losing side. The U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, thought this was a very good idea because many peoples in Europe wanted to be free from the big empires. But it also created problems.

Austria-Hungary was split into many countries. One was Austria. Austria was meant to be the homeland of the Austrians, who spoke German and mainly ruled Austria-Hungary. Its capital was Vienna. One of the problems of Versailles was that many Germans, like Adolf Hitler, thought that Austria was meant to be part of Germany and would occupy it later on.

The new country of Hungary was also created. Like Poland, it was a country that was strong on its own centuries before, but then it merged into one with Austria which made a very big empire. Its capital was Budapest. Another country, Czechoslovakia was created, which was meant to be the homeland of the Czechs and Slovaks. The Czech part was made up of the country once called Bohemia and Moravia. Its capital was Prague. There were many Germans living on its borders, which Germany would later on think that they should be part of.

Bosnia, Slovenia, Croatia (which were parts of Austria-Hungary), northern Macedonia (which was part of Bulgaria), Serbia and Montenegro made one country, called Yugoslavia. It was made to be a Slav homeland, but there were many religious, language and national differences.

New countries by the Baltic Sea called Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania were created. During the war, the Russian people had killed their King and put in a new leader who made the country into a Communist state. Much fighting was going on in Russia between the White Russians, who hated Communism, and Red Russians, who backed it. They had not gotten control over the West, which let Estonia, Poland, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania to make themselves free of Russian rule. Later on, Russia (now called the USSR) took back Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and took half of Poland which they shared with Germany.

Italy gained parts of Austria.

It was agreed in another treaty called the Treaty of Sevres that Greece would take parts of Western Turkey (called Ionia) and its past most important city, Constantinople from Turkey. Greece took them at first but a new Turkish army drove the Greeks out, killing many Greek people. Greece did gain most of the islands in the Aegean Sea from Turkey and parts of Bulgaria.

The League of Nations decided that parts of old Turkey were given to France and Great Britain to protect and keep peace in the area. Britain ruled Palestine, Iraq and Transjordan, which would become Israel, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan. France ruled Syria and Lebanon.

[edit] Long-Term Problems

A big problem for Germany was to pay back a giant amount of money for the all of the damage done to the Allied countries, mostly France, during World War I. This made Germany one of the poorest countries in Europe for almost 20 years, and caused political fighting in Germany. The two most important parties, the Communists (who wanted a Communist revolution as had happened in Russia) and the Nazis (who thought Germany should become become the most powerful country in Europe) fought for many years.

The debt to the Allies was made easier for the Germans during the Great Depression, and all debt was canceled in 1932. Many Germans hated the treaty and some even wanted to fight more after Versailles.

The League of Nations created after Versailles was usually not powerful enough to stop wars, either. Japan took a part of China called Manchuria and the League was not able to stop it. Italy invaded Ethiopia and although the Ethiopian Emperor begged the League to help him, it did not. Germany, Japan and Italy became the Axis powers, and by invading many peaceful countries caused World War II. The United States and the USSR did not even join the League, even though it was the idea of US President Woodrow Wilson at first. The League was never taken seriously, even though it was created to make sure Versailles was respected.

The treaty failed to keep peace in the end, and was a reason for Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler to win the support of the poorer Germans to get rid of the "chains of Versailles" - leading to World War II.