Why was public opinion so outraged by the Treaty of Versailles?

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Why was public opinion so outraged by the Treaty of Versailles?

        The Allied imposed Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28 June 1919. Significantly it must be noted that in comparison to the German imposed Treaty of Brest-Litovsk or the proposed settlement for the defeated Allies it was on the whole forgiving, however universally it rankled in the minds of the entire of the German population, be it the upper class conservative elites or the working population. To the extreme right the treaty was a Schmachfrieden or shameful peace whilst, through the propaganda of the rightist parties the working class viewed the settlement as part of the Dolchstosslegende, ‘the stab in the back myth’. Such uni-lateral widespread discontent lead to Scheidemann, who himself dramatically exclaimed ‘what hand must not wither which places these fetters on itself and on us?’, and his SPD-Centre Party-Democratic Party coalition government contemplating matching the Allies ultimatum and re-starting the war in a bid to denounce the treaty. The settlement, which numbered 440 articles in total, had previously been accepting on 22 June apart from the ‘two shameful paragraphs’ from which so much bitter hatred spread, this related directly to territorial loss of the Polish corridor and the vast unworkable reparations bill which Germany was forced to compensate. Moreover the very manner of the treaty which was to be deemed a ‘diktat’ and a forced peace left much of the German population feeling betrayed by Allied promises which had previously been proposed in the form of Wilson’s Fourteen Points in 1918. In addition to this there were also a number of other factors which incensed the German population, although to a lesser extent.

        Following the conclusion of the war, on the whole, Germany had largely envisaged that after initial discussions between the victorious Allies, they would be allowed to voice their opinions on the settlement and thus be admitted into the peace conference. It subsequently became clear that this was not the case and more significantly it had become apparent that Germany would be forced to accept a dictated peace or a ‘diktat’.  Appreciably Germany believed that not only would they have the right to participate in the negotiations at Versailles but moreover they also were under the impression that the settlement would be formulated in concordance with Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Point Plan. This proposal, which had only been voiced in 1918, suggested that the terms of the peace would be drawn up without ‘annexations or indemnities’ and therefore had alluded to the fact that no large sanctions would be placed upon Germany. It is thus clear that on the most part Germany believed that they would not be punished harshly for their actions. This however proved no more than a myth and it was clear that the Allies were ardent on ensuring that Germany was to be punished accordingly to their actions. In the minds of the German population it was evident that they had felt bitterly betrayed by the Allies, who did not use Wilson’s plan as a blueprint for the settlement. In addition to this ‘betrayal’ the very manner of the settlement, which concluded in the Hall of Mirrors in the palace of Versailles where some forty years previously the coronation of the German Emperor had taken place, made a mockery out of the German state; on 7 May German delegates were presumptuously given three weeks to consider the treaty and subsequently sign it. The German population were not only incensed at the manner of the treaty but also maintained that they had been presented with a ‘diktat’, a very different situation from the one which they had previously been promised.

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        To add to matters the territorial settlement in the east also arose much anger and discontentment form the German population. The state of Prussia was effectively calved in two and was now split by a reconstituted Polish state which occupied a ‘corridor’ of land which had formally been in the possession of Germany. Much bitter resentment can be attributed to the fact that, in the minds of the German population, the principle of National Self Determination was ignored. The Allied powers had previously sought to empower the population of defeated countries by allowing them to decide their fate however this ...

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