Germany however had not been invited provoking further outcry from the German government. If Germany were not present at the conference they could not defend themselves against the British and the French, it would have only complicated matter further if they had been there. They did not know anything about the peace conference so did not know anything that had been said at the conference so still did not know that the Treaty was not to be based on the fourteen-point plan.
When the Treaty was published, the German public and government were shocked and distraught. They called the Treaty a diktat because they were not allowed to have any say in the makings on the Treaty. The Treaty of Versailles punished Germany very harshly in a number of ways and areas. One of these ways was militarily. The German army was cut drastically to even less then it was before the war. The army was cut to only 100,000 and Germany could not own any armoured vehicles, submarines or any aircraft. This had a greater affect on Germany then it would seem at first glance. At first there were the job losses, a down turn in production of military materials left industries near to bankrupt. During the First World War, Germany had approx 2.2 million troops and to go from this to 100,000 troops had very serious affects. There was a much greater number of unemployed as there was not enough employment for them all, so these ex-troops had to be paid benefit. This money had to be raised by increasing the taxes, taxes some people just could not afford, especially those who had lost their jobs. People no longer were given the chance to serve their country, as they had been able to before. Much pride and dignity was at stake, something Germany felt they were left without. Germany had been greatly weakened so in the occasion of war Germany would not be able to defend herself. Also, Nationalists had been angered because their country was not as strong as it had been before. Germany had been punished territorially also.
For example land such as Alsace Lorraine which Germany had taken from France was to be given back to France, the Saar coal fields was given back to Russia, and Germany lost majority of its colonies and territories, and were given to Britain and France. This was to cause great disruption in Germany. Financially Germany was greatly affected. The economy slowed down due to land being taken away and the country with wide spread unemployment so there were fewer taxpayers giving the government money. Coalfields and iron mines were lost which were great parts of German industry so there were less jobs and employees to employ people. Germany had less coal and iron, which she could use. Trade, upon which Germany had formerly relied on, had been dissolved. Families were split up and those who had formerly considered themselves Germans were now classified as French or Polish. This caused great feelings of patriotism in people and this made them angry that they were no longer regarded as Germans.
Germany was literally slaughtered by the Treaty of Versailles financially. They were made to pay £6.6 billion in reparations and goods, and had it not been changed under the Young Plan in 1929, they would not have stopped paying until 1984. As a whole Germany had been left in ruins after the war. Buildings were in need of restoration and towns had to be rebuilt, how where they going to pay for this huge loss? All this required money, which Germany did not have very much of because it was all going into paying the reparations. Also the ex- army members needed benefit but they were being given any money because there was not any. One of the worst conditions of the Treaty of Versailles was the War Guilt clause. Germany had to take sole responsibility for starting the war. This may have angered the Germans most out of all of the conditions, as they did not even feel that they had, alone, started the war. Germany did not start the war it was a whole number of things but they were being forced to say that they did. This did not affect the country like the reparations did, but it was more to do with the pride of the country. Many Germans felt very bitter about this condition and it had a lot to do with the starting of World War Two. Not only did the Germans feel that they had not started the war, but they did not even feel that they had lost the war. They thought that they had only agreed to a cease-fire, and had not lost the war.
In conclusion, I feel that Germany should have been punished, but not to the extent that crippled them financially and left them with the war guilt clause hanging over them. I think Germany had been mistreated throughout their ordeal. There were many factors as to why the First World War had started.
However, great pressure from the British public left Lloyd George no choice left but to punish Germany in the harshest way possible, which I found extremely unfair.
We are only taking into account the raw emotions from the French and British public, with nothing but revenge on their minds. However, I think these ‘ raw emotions’ clouded the real judgements and decisions that both Prime Ministers had to take on dealing with ultimately the fate of Germany for the next few decades.
If these rash decisions were not made in such controversy we may possibly not have seen another war tragically take place.
