The Treaty of Versailles

The German people resented the Treaty of Versailles because it was a Diktat (it was dictated to them). Germany only had 15 days to respond and the victorious Allies refused to negotiate the terms. Germans thought that this was very unfair.

The Allies in WW1 were France, Britain and the USA and their leaders were Georges Clemenceau (France), David Lloyd George (Britatin) and Woodrow Wilson (USA).

It was these men who decided the terms of the Treaty. Clemenceau, whose country had suffered the most damage at the hand of the Germans, was harshest; he wanted Germany to suffer as his people had. David Lloyd George was in the middle, caught between his desire to keep his position as Prime Minister by crushing Germany (as he promised in his election campaign) and his common sense- he knew that they shouldn't be too harsh on Germany because of the consequences later on. Woodrow Wilson wanted Germany to be supported so that the European economy wouldn't collapse. Americans didn't want to get involved in European affairs, and their involvement in the war had been unpopular with the people.

The Treaty stated that Germany would:

•  accept the blame for starting the war (war guilt...)

•  pay reparations to the Allies

•  have their military forces were cut

•  lose land

•  accept the blame for starting the war: 

This was the term the Germans resented the most; in their opinion they were fighting to defend.

•  pay reparations to the Allies

This was a type of compensation for losses in the war. They were fixed at 136,000 Marks, the equivalentof £6,600 million.

That was an extortionate amount, especially for a country already crippled by war debts.

The reparations were to be paid in installments, that Germany couldn't always meet.

•  German military forces were cut

To reduce the threat neighbouring countries felt, the Allies decided to cut the German forces.

The limits were:

•  100,000 soldiers that could only be used within Germany
•  6 battleships
•  6 cruisers
•  12 destroyers
•  no submarines
•  no airforce
•  12 torpedo boats

Also, the Rhineland was demilitarised

•  lost land

Germany lost Alsace and Lorraine to France, Eupen and Malmédy to Belgium and Posen and West Prussia to Poland. Plebiscites (votes) had to take place in other areas to decide whether they should leave Germany.

Dolchstoss         stabbed in the back

The German people felt that their brave soldiers had been 'stabbed in the back' by the politicians who signed the Treaty. They believed that the Army could have fought on.

This earned those politicians the title of 'The November Criminals', who were publically hated. As the Kaiser had fled, the signing had been left to a new democratic government. This government was known as the Weimar Republic. Normally they would have met in Berlin, but due to massive unrest in the capital they fled to Weimar. It weakened the democracy from the start.

Slide 6 .O {font-size:149%;} <!--.sld {left:0px !important; width:6.0in !important; height:4.5in !important; font-size:103% !important;} --> The new chancellor Ebert said to the returned German Army to Berlin: “Your sacrifice and deeds are without parallel. No enemy defeated you!”