History-German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles

German reaction to the Treaty of Versailles

The German people and Government, led by Friedrich Ebert, were horrified by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The Government even considered going back to war but eventually signed the treaty in June 1919.

There was a real feeling of injustice in Germany:

• Germans did not feel they had caused the war yet they were forced to sign the war guilt clause.
• They did not feel they had lost the war. In 1919, many Germans did not know they had surrendered but had simply stopped fighting to make peace. Now they were being treated as the defeated enemy.
• They felt they should have been invited to the peace negotiations. This did not happen. The German Government had no influence over the terms of the Treaty and had to accept the decisions of…