What part of the Treaty of Versailles was most damaging to the German economy after World War I?

Germany and the Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was received very badly within Germany. The nation had been blamed entirely for the first world war and had been forced to pay compensation to the allies under the war guilt clause of the treaty. The war guilt clause not only made the Germans accept responsibility for the war but also cost them dearly. 10% of German lands were lost as a result, all of Germany’s overseas colonies were taken away and shared between the allies and a massive 12.5% of the German population found itself living outside of the new German borders. These terms had several very dramatic consequences on Germany.

Initially they refused to sign the treaty and opted to scuttle the fleet in protest.

The Physical impact of the Treaty

The Treaty of Versailles radically altered the Geography of Europe. The Treaty had clauses that resulted in areas of land being taken from Germany. The following maps illustrate the scale of these losses:

From these maps it is clear that Germany suffered large territorial losses. The provinces of Alsace and Lorraine returned to France; parts of Schleswig were ceded to Denmark; to the east, new countries were created to roughly match the ethnic balance of the area and finally, ‘The Polish Corridor’ was created which gave the Poles a broad strip of land that connected it to the sea – and consequently separated Eastern Prussia from the rest of Germany. It was not just in Europe that German suffered territorial losses. All of Germany’s overseas colonies were annexed by the Allies, either to become colonies or areas that were managed until independence could be maintained autonomously. In total, Germany lost over one million square miles of land and 6 million subjects.

The financial impact of the Treaty

The Treaty of Versailles blamed Germany for the First World War. As a result of this Germany was also held accountable for the cost of the war and the Treaty dictated that compensation would have to be paid to the Allies. These payments, called reparations, would be paid monthly and would total some £6,600 million (This figure was agreed by the Allies in 1921). It is important not to take this figure in isolation though. Remember that the economic might of Germany had been stretched to the limits during the war, and she would have to reconstruct her own economy at the same time as paying Reparations. In addition, Germany had lost some of her most precious sources of Raw materials as her colonies, and some of the areas ceded to other countries, were rich sources of income. These factors would make it harder for the German economy to cope. Further to this it is important to note the casualties suffered during the war. Germany lost some 1.7 million men during the war, and a further 4.2 million are listed as being wounded.

The Political Impact of the Treaty

The Treaty triggered a number of political reactions. Firstly the government of the day resigned, having refused to sign it. The incoming government had no choice but to sign the Treaty but was accused by some, General Ludendorff for example, of stabbing the Germany people in the back. This Theory grew in popularity as the economy suffered and many, former soldiers in particular, believed that the politicians had lost the war rather than the army. (For some it was hard to accept that they could have lost the war whilst troops were still stationed in France, having not lost the ground that they had taken in 1914.) This, amongst other things, led to a growth in the number of people who distrusted the Weimar Republic and were unwilling to support it. This manifests itself in uprisings such as the Kapp Putsch and the Munich Putsch, though there are other factors which led to these uprisings.

The Treaty also called for the trial of the former Kaiser. This never happened as the Dutch government refused to hand him over, but this effectively stopped any chance of a restoration of the monarchy in Germany. In Western Europe the Treaty signaled the beginning of a period of isolation for Germany. She became an outcast in international politics and was feared and distrusted by the Allies. This had a significant impact on the role that Germany would, and potentially could, play in European and World affairs in the early post war climate. However, whilst it is evident that Germany became politically isolated in the West, some historians would point out that their isolation has been exaggerated by Westerners. The Treaty of Rapello for example shows that there was scope for Germany to develop relations in the east, in this case with the Soviet Union, and, they would point out, the newly formed nations were in need of economic partners – with Germany being a likely dominant partner in that sphere.

History Teachers’ Resources – our resources section includes several ready to use lessons on German History along with revision materials for GCSE pupils.

http://www.cfshist.co.uk/terms_of_the_Treaty_of_versailles.htm

This site summarises the losses suffered by Germany as a result of the Treaty of Versailles.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWversailles.htm

The Spartacus Website offers a succinct overview of the main terms of the Treaty and provides source material pertaining to the immediate reaction of people to the Treaty.

http://www.btinternet.com/~james.fanning/historyclass/

An online webquest relating to the Treaty of Versailles. Something to use as revision material.

http://www.kdhs.org.uk/history/as/as_unit2/vers_faults.htm

The faults of the Treaty of Versailles. An expert opinion criticising the Treaty of Versailles.

http://www.learn.co.uk/versailles/ww1.htm

Part of a large online investigation into the way in which the peace Treaty was formulated. An excellent online resource that is of great use to students of this era.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Treaty_of_versailles.htm

An excellent overview of the terms and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles.

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1919versailles.html

Key Political and territorial clauses of the Treaty of Versailles.

http://www.loyno.edu/history/journal/1988-9/olsen.htm

A detailed evaluation of the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on the German economy

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The Treaty of Versailles was the primary treaty produced by the Paris Peace Conference at the end of World War I. It was signed on June 28, 1919, by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles and went into effect on January 10, 1920. The treaty gave some German territories to neighbouring countries and placed other German territories under international supervision. In addition, Germany was stripped of its overseas colonies, its military capabilities were severely restricted, and it was required to pay war reparations to the Allied countries. The treaty also created the League of Nations.

Read more about World War I.

The chief people responsible for the Treaty of Versailles were U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson, French Premier Georges Clemenceau, and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George. Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando was a delegate but was shut out from the decision making. Wilson sought to create an egalitarian system that would prevent a conflagration similar to World War I from ever occurring again. Clemenceau wanted to make sure that Germany would not be a threat to France in the future, and he was not persuaded by Wilson’s idealism. Lloyd George favoured creating a balance of powers but was adamant that Germany pay reparations.

The Treaty of Versailles gave Germany new boundaries. Alsace-Lorraine was given to France and Eupen-Malmédy to Belgium. Territory in eastern Germany was awarded to a reconstituted Poland. Memelland was placed under French supervision, and Saarland was placed under the administration of the League of Nations, but France was given control of its coal. In addition, a demilitarized zone was created between Germany and France. Germany was required to accept responsibility for causing all the damage of the war that was “imposed upon [the Allies] by the aggression of Germany…” and to pay an unspecified amount of money in reparations.

Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles under protest, and the United States did not ratify the treaty. France and Britain at first tried to enforce the treaty, but over the next several years a number of modifications were made. Germany ignored the limits that the treaty placed on its rearmament. Payment of reparations proved ruinous, and the attempt was abandoned after the advent of the Great Depression. The League of Nations lasted for 26 years and had some initial successes but failed to advance a more general disarmament or to avert international aggression and war. It did, however, lay the groundwork for the subsequent founding of the United Nations.

Treaty of Versailles, peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919; it took force on January 10, 1920.

A brief treatment of the Treaty of Versailles follows. For full treatment, see international relations: Peacemaking, 1919–22.

When the German government asked U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson to arrange a general armistice in October 1918, it declared that it accepted the Fourteen Points that he had formulated and presented to the U.S. Congress in January 1918 as the basis for a just peace. However, the Allies demanded “compensation by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allies and their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea and from the air.” Further, the nine points covering new territorial consignments were complicated by the secret treaties that England, France, and Italy had made with Greece, Romania, and each other during the last years of the war.

The treaty was drafted in the spring of 1919 during the Paris Peace Conference, which was conducted even as the world was in the grip of the influenza pandemic of 1918–19. The conference was dominated by the national leaders known as the “Big Four”—David Lloyd George, the prime minister of the United Kingdom; Georges Clemenceau, the prime minister of France; Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States; and Vittorio Orlando, the prime minister of Italy. The first three in particular made the important decisions. None of the defeated nations had any say in shaping the treaty, and even the associated Allied powers played only a minor role. The German delegates were presented with a fait accompli. They were shocked at the severity of the terms and protested the contradictions between the assurances made when the armistice was negotiated and the actual treaty. Accepting the “war guilt” clause and the reparation terms was especially odious to them.

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The population and territory of Germany was reduced by about 10 percent by the treaty. In the west, Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France, and the Saarland was placed under the supervision of the League of Nations until 1935. In the north, three small areas were given to Belgium, and, after a plebiscite in Schleswig, northern Schleswig was returned to Denmark. In the east, Poland was resurrected, given most of formerly German West Prussia and Poznań (Posen), given a “corridor” to the Baltic Sea (which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany), and given part of Upper Silesia after a plebiscite. Gdańsk (Danzig) was declared a free city. All Germany’s overseas colonies in China, in the Pacific, and in Africa were taken over by Britain, France, Japan, and other Allied nations (see mandate).