History 101:
Treaty of Versailles 1919: What the hell is it? Part 2
In the second part of this mainly informative background knowledge series, we will be looking at the final terms of the treaty agreed by the Allied powers:
The first main clause of the Treaty of Versailles was about Germanys land. The treaty stripped Germany of 25 thousand miles of land which left 7 million German nationals in foreign territory, most notably the sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Germany had to return the once French owned territory Alsace-Lorraine back too France. Germany also had to hand over territory to the east known as the polish corridor, which split East Prussia and mainland Germany in two. Germany had too hand parts of territory to Czechoslovakia and recognise their independence. France was also allowed to mine in the Saar land, which was now owned by the League of Nations (once Germanys pre-treaty). Germany also lost all of its overseas colonies and land. This loss of territory reduced Germanys income and left many German citizens in foreign land. This sparked tension and anger among the Germans now under foreign rule. Some say this set the perfect conditions for the disease of revenge to spread among Germany because they felt unfairly treated!
The next part of the Treaty of Versailles were the Defence terms. Germanys fortifications were to be destroyed. Germanys' navy was reduced to six battleships and submarines were banned, Along with an airforce or any tanks. Germanys' army was also reduced to 100,000 men. Germany was also not allowed to place any troops in the Rhineland* as it became a Demilitarised zone and Allied troops were to be stationed in there to prevent German attacks. These terms were seen as by German people and many other citizens throughout the war as completely unfair and unjust. The disarming of most of Germanys army also made millions of soldiers unemployed. These soldiers, who were mostly nationalists, joined radical right groups and staged putschs* and uprisings against the government, due too their anger of the treaty, later down the line. Germany was also blocked from allying with Austria to prevent the two from teaming up and attacking other countries, which started WW1.
The last two terms and probably most important two were the reparations and the guilt clause. The reparations was a required sum of money set out by the Allied powers to pay for the damage it had done. The reparations were formally agreed to a figure of $6.6 billion in 1921. These reparations hindered any chance of Germany rebuilding their economy and hurt Germany in the long run. Some say it indirectly influenced Hyperinflation in 1923 by the Invasion of the Ruhr however that story is for another time. The Guilt clause, as its formally known, is basically a term where Germany have two completely accept the blame for starting World War One. This damaged national pride of most Germans because it was extremely harsh and unfair blaming Germany as it was a mixture of factors and countries who started World War One.
All These factors made millions of Germans angry. The public referred to the politicians and the socialist government who signed the Treaty of Versailles as the 'November criminals' ,However they really had no choice because as soon as America had joined the War Germany started loosing battle after battle. The kaiser had also been forced to abdicate after he couldn't control the starving and disease in Germany which had killed thousands, and on top of that a loosing war. Germany was backed into a corner ,when the new Socialist Government took over, and we're forced to sign the treaty. Many ex-soldiers returning from the front felt that they had been stabbed in the back, as they felt that the war was still not lost. This created the breeding ground of revenge and anger in a new generation, who would later go onto fight the Second World War!
So did the Treaty of Versailles help start World War Two?
*- The Rhineland was the area of Germany that was directly adjacent to the French and Belgium border.
*- Putschs is another word for uprising and rebellion.
Thanks for reading! Thats it for this mini series and I hope I've given you some background knowledge on Germany and how this shaped the course of its next 20 years of history. I made this blog purely so that as readers you can reference this when i go on to mention topics that come up in this area and so that you can have a wider understanding and get more out of my blogs.
History 101
Enquires: theverybesthistory101@gmail.com
Twitter: @TheVBHistory
[i do not own these photos]
Treaty of Versailles 1919: What the hell is it? Part 2
In the second part of this mainly informative background knowledge series, we will be looking at the final terms of the treaty agreed by the Allied powers:
 |
| Germanys loss of land Highlighted |
The first main clause of the Treaty of Versailles was about Germanys land. The treaty stripped Germany of 25 thousand miles of land which left 7 million German nationals in foreign territory, most notably the sudetenland in Czechoslovakia. Germany had to return the once French owned territory Alsace-Lorraine back too France. Germany also had to hand over territory to the east known as the polish corridor, which split East Prussia and mainland Germany in two. Germany had too hand parts of territory to Czechoslovakia and recognise their independence. France was also allowed to mine in the Saar land, which was now owned by the League of Nations (once Germanys pre-treaty). Germany also lost all of its overseas colonies and land. This loss of territory reduced Germanys income and left many German citizens in foreign land. This sparked tension and anger among the Germans now under foreign rule. Some say this set the perfect conditions for the disease of revenge to spread among Germany because they felt unfairly treated!
 |
| Workers Decommission a Gun to comply with the terms of the ToV |
The next part of the Treaty of Versailles were the Defence terms. Germanys fortifications were to be destroyed. Germanys' navy was reduced to six battleships and submarines were banned, Along with an airforce or any tanks. Germanys' army was also reduced to 100,000 men. Germany was also not allowed to place any troops in the Rhineland* as it became a Demilitarised zone and Allied troops were to be stationed in there to prevent German attacks. These terms were seen as by German people and many other citizens throughout the war as completely unfair and unjust. The disarming of most of Germanys army also made millions of soldiers unemployed. These soldiers, who were mostly nationalists, joined radical right groups and staged putschs* and uprisings against the government, due too their anger of the treaty, later down the line. Germany was also blocked from allying with Austria to prevent the two from teaming up and attacking other countries, which started WW1.
The last two terms and probably most important two were the reparations and the guilt clause. The reparations was a required sum of money set out by the Allied powers to pay for the damage it had done. The reparations were formally agreed to a figure of $6.6 billion in 1921. These reparations hindered any chance of Germany rebuilding their economy and hurt Germany in the long run. Some say it indirectly influenced Hyperinflation in 1923 by the Invasion of the Ruhr however that story is for another time. The Guilt clause, as its formally known, is basically a term where Germany have two completely accept the blame for starting World War One. This damaged national pride of most Germans because it was extremely harsh and unfair blaming Germany as it was a mixture of factors and countries who started World War One.
All These factors made millions of Germans angry. The public referred to the politicians and the socialist government who signed the Treaty of Versailles as the 'November criminals' ,However they really had no choice because as soon as America had joined the War Germany started loosing battle after battle. The kaiser had also been forced to abdicate after he couldn't control the starving and disease in Germany which had killed thousands, and on top of that a loosing war. Germany was backed into a corner ,when the new Socialist Government took over, and we're forced to sign the treaty. Many ex-soldiers returning from the front felt that they had been stabbed in the back, as they felt that the war was still not lost. This created the breeding ground of revenge and anger in a new generation, who would later go onto fight the Second World War!
So did the Treaty of Versailles help start World War Two?
*- The Rhineland was the area of Germany that was directly adjacent to the French and Belgium border.
*- Putschs is another word for uprising and rebellion.
Thanks for reading! Thats it for this mini series and I hope I've given you some background knowledge on Germany and how this shaped the course of its next 20 years of history. I made this blog purely so that as readers you can reference this when i go on to mention topics that come up in this area and so that you can have a wider understanding and get more out of my blogs.
History 101
Enquires: theverybesthistory101@gmail.com
Twitter: @TheVBHistory
[i do not own these photos]
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