The Allies punished Germany in the Treaty of Versailles because of the pressure exerted on Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Wilson by the civilians of the allied countries to deal severely with Germany

its population, 16% of its coalfields, and almost 50% of its iron and steel industry. According to the treaty, Germany was also forbidden to join together with its former ally Austria. This weakened Germany, both militarily and economically. Germany’s army was limited to 100,000 men. Conscription was banned – soldiers had to be volunteers. Germany was not allowed armoured vehicles, submarines or aircraft. The navy could build only 6 battleships. Also, the Rhineland became a demilitarised zone. This meant that no German troops were allowed into this area. The Allies punished Germany in the Treaty of Versailles because of the pressure exerted on Lloyd George, Clemenceau and Wilson by the civilians of the allied countries to deal severely with Germany. The people of the victorious countries, particularly in France and Britain, felt strongly that Germany was responsible for the war and should be punished. There was also a strong feeling that Germany should pay for all the damage and destruction caused by the war. Apart from the USA all countries that fought in the war were exhausted. Their economies and their industries were in a bad state. Millions of young men had been killed or injured on both sides. Total British and French casualties probably amounted to over 9 million. Ordinary civilians had faced shortages of food and medicine. Villages and towns had been devastated in large areas of Belgium and France. Although no fighting took place on British soil, the huge casualties left their mark on public opinion in Britain. Almost every family had lost a member in the fighting. In the British General Election campaigns of 1918 politicians knew they could rely on the support of the British people if they demanded a harsh peace settlement with Germany. The case for treating Germany harshly was strengthened when it became public how harshly Germany had treated Russia in the Treaty of Brest-litovsk in 1918. The Treaty stripped Russia of huge amounts of land and 25% of its population. From the point of view of the Allies this was even more reason to punish Germany in the Treaty of Versailles.Germany hated the Treaty of Versailles not for one particular reason but for a series of interlinked reasons. The loss of territory was obviously a huge blow to Germany, as they had lost 12.5% of their population, but there were other reasons that caused Germany to feel angry towards the Allies.                        The terms of the Treaty were announced on the 7th of May to a horrified German nation. Worst of all, Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war and should pay reparations. This would not only cripple Germany economically, but also anger the German people, as they did not feel they had been to blame for the war. The reduced army, navy, and air force was further humiliation, making a strong nation weak.                                                Furthermore, many Germans and many ordinary German soldiers did not think that they had been defeated. They thought they had signed a truce and that President Wilson’s 14 points and talk of a fair and just peace would be the basis of a peace treaty. They called the Treaty a ‘Diktat’, a dictated or imposed peace. They were outraged that they had not been invited to the Paris Peace Conference. When they were not invited to join the newly formed League of Nations this was further evidence of unfair treatment.                                  The fact that Germany lost so much territory because of the Treaty angered them. In 1919 many Germans did not really understand how bad Germany’s military situation had been at the end of the war. They believed that the German Government had simply agreed to a ceasefire, and that therefore Germany should have been at the Paris peace conference to negotiate peace. It should not have been treated as a defeated state. They thought that they were being forced to accept a harsh treaty without any choice or even a comment. The fact that Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war, and all the implications that the treaty applied on Germany added to the sense of anger and defeat that most German’s felt. The German’s naturally blamed the crashing of their economy on the Treaty which had left them feeling humiliated and outraged and left Germany militarily weakened and economically crippled.