The treaty of Versailles was a diktat. This meant the Germans had no say whatsoever in the initial planning and negotiation of the treaty. This was not at all fair on Germany or the German people. The German people 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 with the Big Three over the terms of the treaty. However this did not happen. Instead Germany had to sign the treaty of Versailles and had no choice about it. Furthermore, Germany was not treated with respect or authority which fuelled the anger of Germans. However, Woodrow Wilson wanted a treaty without a victory and felt that if the treaty of Versailles was a dictated on Germany, it could lead to another war. This is exactly what happened.
The war guilt clause also angered the German nation. The war guilt clause meant that Germany had to accept the punishment and the blame for starting the First World War. However, this bitterly unfair on Germany because of the fact they did not start the war. This humiliated and destroyed German pride. Germany felt that at the very least that the blame should be shared amongst all of those who also helped to start the First World War. Germany was instead blamed for starting the war and was expected to pay for all the damage caused by it in the form of reparations. However the Germany economy was already in ruin. Which meant it would be impossible to pay the reparations. German people feared that the reparations payments would cripple them.
The major powers agreed, without consulting Germany, that Germany had to pay reparations to the allies for the damage caused by the war. The exact figure of the reparations payments was £6600 million. This was an enormous figure which was impossible for Germany to pay in the current state of its economy.If the terms of the reparations payments had not changed under the Young Plan in 1929; Germany would not have stopped paying them until 1984. The German people were strongly against the reparations not just because of the extreme price but because it was based on the War Guilt Clause which Germany was strongly against because of the fact that they had not started the war. In addition the amount of reparations Germany had to pay was ridiculous because of the fact its economy was already exhausted due to the First World War. Lloyd George had noticed this and wanted Germany not to be treated too harshly. He could predict another war appearing if the treaty of Versailles was too harsh on the German people. This was proved to be correct. People had very little food and feared that the reparations payments would cripple them. As a result of the harshness of both the war guilt clause and reparations payments this would’ve resulted in another war.
The loss of territory also angered the German nation. Germany’s overseas empire was taken away. It had been one of the causes of bad relations between Britain and Germany before the war. Former German colonies became mandates which were controlled by the League of Nations, which meant that effectively France and Britain controlled them. This also affected the German economy as now France and Britain took away the colonies which were a vital source of money. As a result Germany could no longer make money from colonies and instead Britain and France could expand their empires across Europe and in Africa. France also regained Alsace Lorraine. Before the war Germany had won this territory from France however under the treaty, it meant that France could regain territory. Territories such as the Polish Corridor, Upper Silesia and also West Prussia were given to Poland. This was 10% of Germanys land taken away from them. In addition industrial areas such as the Saar land was given to the French to help France raise money to repair itself as most of the fighting had taken place on French soil. The Saar land was also an important area of industry which was also seen as a vital source of revenue. Germanys European borders were very extensive. Furthermore, the treaty also forbade Germany to join with its former ally Austria. This was also known as Anschluss. Germany lost 12.5% of its population as a result of the loss of territory. This meant that whilst self-determination was given to countries such as Estonia, it also meant that people in these areas were also mainly German. This meant that German-speaking people were divided. This went against their idea of self-determination and further angered them and made the treaty unfair. Germany lost 16% of its coalfields and almost half of its steel and iron industries. Under the treaty of Versailles the Rhineland became demilitarized. This was done in the aim of stopping Germany from attacking its neighbour France as they both shared borders. As a result of this no German troops were allowed into the Rhineland. The loss of territory was a massive factor which affected German pride. The territories which Germany lost were vital sources of income. Now that they had been taken away, it made paying reparations even harder. It was made even worse as Danzig was given to Poland. This was a port which would’ve been used for trade. Overall the loss of territory was a major blow to German pride and to its economy.
The disarmament terms upset Germany. An army of 100,000 men was very small for a country of Germany’s size. The army was also a symbol of German pride and strength. Despite Wilsons fourteen points calling for disarmament of all countries, none of the Allies disarmed to the extent that Germany was disarmed in the 1920s. This further angered the German nation and made the treaty unfair. This was a major concern of all powers especially France. Conscription was banned which meant that all recruits had to be on a voluntary basis. Furthermore Germany was allowed to build armoured vehicles, submarines or aircraft. This further weakened the German army. The navy could only build six battleships. This meant that Germany would be weak at fighting at sea and thus crippling the German army even more. Furthermore the Rhineland became demilitarized. This meant that no German troops were allowed in that area. This was an important piece of land as it was the border between Germany and France. Germany was extremely angered about the terms of disarmament. This could also lead to problems in the future. Furthermore, the reduction of armed forces was a major blow to German pride and strength as now the German army was very small and weak.
Germany was banned from joining the League of Nations until it had shown that it was a peace-loving country. Germany felt humiliated and insulted as a result. To most Germans, the treatment of Germany was not in keeping with Wilsons fourteen points. Furthermore, while self-determination was given to countries such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania German speaking people were divided by the terms forbidding Anschluss with Austria or hived off into new countries such as Czechoslovakia to be rule by non-Germans.
However the German complaints about the treaty fell on deaf ears. In particular, many people felt that Germans were themselves operating a double standard. This meant that they were being hypocritical with their comments towards the treaty. Their call for a fairer treatment did not square with the harsh way they had treated Russia in the Treaty of Brest-Livtosk in 1918. The Treaty of Versailles was a lot fairer compared to the Treaty of Brest-Livtosk. Furthermore, most of Germany’s economical problems also fell on deaf ears. This was because part of the economical problems had been self inflicted. Other states raised taxes to pay for the way. However the Kaisers government planned to pay war debts by extracting reparations from the defeated states. This could not now happen as firstly the Kaiser abdicated into exile. Secondly, because Germany had lost the war. However had Germany won the war, we get the idea of what the treaty from Germany would have been. The first point is the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, a very harsh treaty dictated by Germany and supported by the majority of the Reichstag. This seems to point towards a potentially harsh treaty from the Germans if they had won. Germany was also relying heavily on foreign loans, loans that were only taken with the idea that they would pay them back from the losing opponent’s reparations. This suggests that they would also have demanded reparations from the loser.
In conclusion I do not agree with this statement to a certain extent that Germany was treated fairly at Versailles for various reasons. I agree that Germany was not treated fairly at Versailles and that the treaty was harsh for various reasons. Firstly the treaty was a diktat. This meant that Germany could not negotiate during the proceedings of the treaty. But at first it was meant to be a cease-fire which meant that Germany could have a say of their future. But a little while later the Big Three decided to exclude Germany from the peace negotiations. However I think had Germany been able to participate in the negotiations Germany would’ve agreed and accepted the terms of the treaty and it would not cause problems for the future. Furthermore Germany was banned from joining the League of Nations. This was very harsh and humiliated Germany. I think if Germany had been able to join the League of Nations at an earlier stage there wouldn’t have been a big conflict between other countries at a later stage. As a result of being excluded it led to bad communication between the League of Nations and Germany. Also Germany would’ve had support from other countries that were in the League of Nations. So if for example, there was a conflict between another country. The League of Nations would help solve the problem without having a war. The disarmament terms were also unfair. The restriction of the soldiers was the harshest. An army of 100,000 men was far too small to defend a country the size of Germany. In addition the army was a strong symbol of strength of pride. However because of the treaty it was a major blow to both strength and the pride of Germans. Also it was an outrage because of the fact no other country had disarmed to the extent that Germany had. However if Germany had been kept at any size it had liked, then another war could’ve quickly emerged. Also the reparations that Germany were expected to pay would’ve crippled the country. This was made harder as main sources of revenue were taken away in the form of territories and land which contained important industrial areas such as the Saar land. The war guilt clause was also harsh for German people to accept because of the fact that they had not started the war. I think at the very least the war should be shared upon all of those who helped start the war. In addition, the fact that Germany lost a lot of territory was unfair. This was because for example some of the land that was given to Estonia contained a lot of German people in there. This meant that German-speaking people had been divided and Germany lost a lot of its population. However, land such as Alsace Lorraine was given back. This was a good thing because of the fact this land was Frances before Germany had invaded it. Also the fact that the Rhineland became demilitarized meant that Germany could not attack France again.
However, all of the calls for a fairer treaty fell on deaf ears. This was mainly because it was seen as hypocritical and showed the double standards of Germans who wanted a fairer treaty. This was because of the treaty that Germany had given to Russia was something even harsher than the Treaty of Versailles. It was also a diktat. But Germany got off lightly with this treaty as it wasn’t as harsh as the treaty of Brest-Livtosk. However if Germany had received a treaty that wasn’t as harsh then the German people wouldn’t have been outraged. As a result, the German people stored this anger.
I believe that the harshest term of the treaty was the reparations payments. This is because France and Britain demanded that Germany pay huge reparations that further strained the German economy to well beyond the breaking point. Germany's industry was destroyed, unemployment was through the roof, and the currency known as the Mark was worthless. Hyperinflation added to the misery. Germany's cries for relief from these harsh terms were rejected. The French and British knew full well that that Germany couldn't possibly repay that amount of money - most of its industry was concentrated in the Rhineland, which had been occupied by Allies. As a result of the humiliation and the unfairness of this treaty, it allowed parties such as the Nazi party to gain popularity. As a result Hitler was elected as chancellor and within a few years of his reign he became a Fuhrer. Due to the fact this treaty was very harsh for people living in Germany at the time such as Hitler, they wanted revenge. As a result World War Two began in 1938.
