- Danube rivers, and elm river, the Kiel will be become an international waterway.
- The Treaty formed a buffer zone between France and Germany, by enlarging Poland.
- The Rhineland becomes a free city but is under the control of Poland.
- All German rivers become international free run-ways and Germany can no longer collect Tariffs on goods.
POV#2 – Before and during the Great War, Germany was proud to have the strongest army in Eastern Europe. However, following the end of the war, the Treaty of Versailles limited the German army to a very minimal size while making countries surrounding Germany stronger, but eventually Germany successfully evades these military clauses.
Fleming, Denna F. The Origins and Legacies of World War I. New York: Doubleday, 1968.
- The Germans were no longer a threat to the French since German armed forces were considerably reduced in size and there existed a buffer zone.
- The German army was also drastically reduced in numbers, to become controllable by France. The Germans were no longer allowed to use conscription and could not have more than 100,000 troops.
- In addition, the manufacturing of weapons was no longer prohibited not even its export or import.
- Poison gas was also no longer prohibited to be manufactured in Germany.
- Prohibited to have tanks.
- Prohibited to have submarines.
- Prohibited to have artillery.
- Prohibited to blockade ports.
- Their navy was also reduced in size by a great deal:
- Only 15,000 men, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 6 battleships, and 12 torpedo boats.
- Volunteer listing only, and if you sign up it’s for a minimum of 12 years. And for officers is 25 years.
- They are not allowed to be ready for a larger army, and are forbidden to have certain types of weapons.
- No military aircrafts
- Not allowed to stockpile poison gas
- Their navy is only allowed 36 ships
- However, Germany is able to undermine almost all of these demands and get away with it because there is no one to actually stop them. The undermining of the military clauses was mainly because of Free Corps, who had created an “underground military organization”.
POV#3 – Since the Treaty of Versailles had blamed Germany fully for the Great War, she was held responsible for paying the reparations to the “Victors” while her economy was stretched to its very limits during the war and this resulted in the staggering fall in the value of the German mark. This resulted in the growing hatred among the German populations towards the Victors and strengthened the existence of the extreme right wing parties.
Braun, Hans. The German Economy in the Twentieth Century. London: Routledge, 1990.
- Germany actually says that they will have to sign a blank check.
- Germany is told to have to make a down payment of an equivalent of 5 billion dollars by May 1921.
- Germany will successfully evade paying most of that reparation, but they did pay the first down payment.
- While all this is taking place, the reparation commission is going to come out with their report.
- The amount is 54 billion American dollars.
- There were already arguments along the allies themselves, that this will bring not only the Germany economy down but the Global economy.
- John Maynard Keynes opposes this.
- He is instrumental to reduce the amount to 34 Billion American dollars. This man saved Germany 20 billion American dollars.
- By now Germany has paid 2.5 billion dollars.
- When this is announced Fehrenbach resigns. The people who signed the treaty are blamed.
- Ertzberger the person who signed the treaty got assassinated by a member of the Free Core.
- It is important to know that anyone responsible for the signing of the armistice and the treaty are subjected to potential assassination.
- Second individual assassinated is Walter Rathenau.
- The impact of the reparation is political and economical.
- The value of Germany currency is in the free fall.
- Before this the currencies were fixed. In the case of Germany the currency was floating.
- The value of German mark was 4 to 1 after the war.
- 1922, by the time we get to this assassination the German mark was 500 to 1 American.
- In the mean time, France states that they will no longer accept German reparation in German currency. They must be sent in goods or gold.
- Prompt another crisis in 1923, when France accused German of defaulting a shipment of timber.
- The reaction of the French government is severe. They will send the French army to the Ruhr and begin to seize anything of value. Workers will be deported to France and held to force labour.
- Germany can’t go to war, they urge upon the people not to cooperate with the French.
- The Ruhr is the most industrial part of Germany and with this invasion the Mark collapses. Now 20,000 marks is equivalent to 1 dollar.
- By August it is worth 5,000,000 marks is equivalent to 1 dollar. The mark is becoming worthless.
- The people who are most deeply affected by this are the people that saved up their money for retirement.
- The middle class, their savings are wiped out and they blame somebody. The people hate the government.
- Of course the chancellor resigns. Stresemann will replace him.
- The French and British failed to understand that placing such harsh punishment on Germany would only make the concept of peace less existent. Or maybe they knew but they just didn’t support the cause. OHH!
- The Germans were also solely held responsible for paying for reparations; however, the Germans manage to only pay twenty percent of the costs. But end up paying five billion American dollars of the time both in currency and goods. The currency of Germany slowly decreases in value therefore, the French want goods instead.
- Germany’s economy had been stretched to its limit too, it is important to understand that not only was Germany now responsible for reconstructing her own economy but also to pay for the reparation.
- In addition Germany had lost most of her key sources of raw material, as her overseas colonies were seized by the victors. These colonies were major sources of income for her.
- Germany had also lost around 1.7 million men, and about 4.2 million were fatally injured.
- The reparation imposed on Germany was a reply to the reparation imposed on France by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War.
- However, France still lost one hundred and thirty four billion gold francs while only receiving 20% of that for reparation from the Germans.
- “Apart from losing a province or two Germany had remained intact and had suffered no material damage in the war.”
- “Her economic potential was still immense, and the reparations demanded at Versailles limited neither her growth nor her freedom of manoeuvre. Whereas France had been bruised, bled white and partly destroyed, and spend much of her energies simply in reconstituting her economy, Germany had only to reconvert hers.”
- Germany was also solely held responsible for all reparations. This was more as an act revenge for the French because they had been made to pay for all the reparation in the Franco-Prussian war.
- However, this will cause the same wanting of revenge in the German people later on that the French had from the Franco-Prussian war.
POV#4 – The Treaty of Versailles prompted numerous political responses. Since the government of the day resigned, the coming government which eventually signed the treaty was accused of stabbing the German army in the back by individuals such as General Ludendorff. As the economy suffered even greater, this general theory grew among former soldiers, and there was a general belief that the war was lost not because of the army but because of the politicians. This theory eventually resulted into the fall of the Weimar republic.
Hidden, J. The Weimar Republic. New York: Longman, 1974.
- The German government under Scheidmann was forced to resign as they were in doubt whether to sign the Treaty of Versailles or not.
- The successor of Scheidmann is Gustav, and he eventually signs the Treaty.
- The Treaty of Versailles was responsible for creating the theory that the German army has been stabbed in the back by the German politicians. As it was hard for the Germans to believe that they had lost the war, while their troops were still in France and hadn’t lost any of the grounds they had gained in 1914.
- Numerous individuals in the army such as, Hindenburg and Ludendorff made statements about the army being stabbed in the back.
- This is one of the reasons that lead to an increasing number of people in Germany that did not trust the Weimer Republic and caused uprisings such as:
- The Kapp Putsch & Munich Putsch.
- Political Assassinations.
- The people hated the Weimer Republic even greater for accepting the “War Guilt” clause. Because it required the trial of over nine hundred Germans.
- As well, the Treaty of Versailles called for the trial of the Kaiser.
- Even though this never took place because of the refusal of the Dutch government to hand over the Kaiser to the “Victors”, it did make sure that the restoration of the German monarchy would be impossible.
- The Treaty placed Germany in a period of isolation in Western Europe, as she became an outcast in international affairs and was still deeply feared by the Allies. Overall, the isolation limited the German role in post war atmosphere.
- However, some historians argue that the Treaty of Rapallo illustrates that there existed series of cases for Germany to create relations in the east. Such as the Soviet Union and the newly formed nations (which needed a stronger economic partner).
Conclusion: Overall, the geography of Europe was greatly changed because of the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty consisted of many clauses that required many rich industrial territories being taken away from Germany. Furthermore, the Treaty limited the German army to a very minimal size while making countries surrounding Germany stronger, but eventually Germany successfully evades these military clauses. However, since she was held responsible for paying the reparations to the “Victors” while her economy was stretched to its very limits during the war and this resulted in the staggering fall in the value of the German mark, as the economy suffered even greater, the general theory of the back-stab grew among former soldiers, and there was a general belief that the war was lost not because of the army but because of the politicians. This theory eventually resulted into the fall of the Weimar republic and the beginning of the Nazi government.
