The Treaty of Versailles The End of WWI
What was the Treaty of Versailles? TTTThe peace settlement signed after WWI ended SSSSigned at the Versailles Palace in France TTTThe Big Three –D–D–D–David Lloyd George of England –W–W–W–Woodrow Wilson of USA –G–G–G–Georges Clemenceau of France The Major question: How to pay for the damages?
Some WWI Statistics WWI left Europe devastated –Britain:750,000 killed, 1.5 million wounded –France:1.4 million killed, 2.5 million wounded –Belgium:50,000 killed –Italy: 600,000 killed –Russia: 1.7 million killed –USA: 116,000 killed –Germany: 2 million soldiers killed –Austria-Hungary: 1.2 million killed –Turkey: 325,000 killed –Bulgaria 100,000 killed Total deaths equals 8.5 million, 21 million wounded
The Attitudes towards Germany Britain’s Attitude –Germany should be punished, but not so much that the people would turn to Communism, like what was happening in Russia –The British public wanted severe repercussions for Germany –Had to go with popular opinion, rather than gut feeling
The Attitudes towards Germany FFFFrance’s Attitude –B–B–B–Bring Germany to their knees so that it could never start a war again –T–T–T–This reflected the French public as well –G–G–G–Germany had destroyed the north- east corner of France displacing 750,000 French people. This deserved a total reprimand.
Attitudes towards Germany USA Attitudes –Wilson and the USA were stunned by the atrocities of WWI. Questioned how a civilized country could create that much devastation –American public wanted to be isolated from Europe, wanted limited input on the Treaty –Wilson wanted Germany to be punished but in a way that would lead to reconciliation, not revenge
What did the Treaty do to Germany? -Took away vast amounts of land from the Germany territory -Alsace-Lorraine given to France -West Prussia given to Poland -The League of Nations took over Germany’s overseas colonies -Return land to Russia taken away in the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk: New Countries of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia
German Military Germany’s army reduced to 100,000 men and no tanks Germany was not allowed an airforce Only allowed 6 naval ships A DMZ was established along the Rhine river, Germany not allowed to cross over
Three Critical Aspects 1. Germany had to admit full responsibility for the war 2. Since Germany was responsible for the war, it had to pay full reparations mainly in France and Belgium 3. A League of Nations was established to keep world peace
Germany’s Choices They could either sign the Treaty Or, be invaded by the allies Since their armies were completely disbanded, they had no choice but to sign it