- Alsace-Lorraine had to be given back to France
- Germany lost part of its country to Belgium, Denmark and Poland
- Germany was not allowed to keep it’s land it won of Russia
- The Saar coalfields were to be taken over by France
- Germany lost all it’s colonies in Africa and East Asia
- Germany was forbidden with uniting with Austria
- The German army was reduced to only 100,000 men
- The German navy was only allowed 6 battleships and no submarines
- No German troops were allowed in the Rhineland
- Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war
- Germany had to pay £6,000 million in reparations
Economic
The economic side of the treaty was not very good for Germany. They had to pay £6,000 million to France in reparations. This was a lot of money for a country to give to another back then. Germany would lose most of its money and might go broke. This will have an affect on the food and money spent on health. Germany also had to accept the blame for starting the war. In the long run, Germans would have to live with the fact that people think they were responsible for the war. They will be mocked and disgraced for it.
Military
On the military side of things, the German army was reduced to only 100,000 men. This would mean that if someone were to attack them, they wouldn’t be able to defend themselves. The navy was also reduced to only 6 battleships and no submarines, meaning they can’t defend well. No German troops were allowed on the Rhineland. This was the part of land that separated Germany and France. This will not affect Germany that much because they weren’t allowed to attack France anyway. Germany was not allowed to unite with Austria. This would prevent them from starting an army again.
Territorial
Alsace-Lorraine was to be given back to France. This meant that all the things that Germany had got there now belonged to France. Germany also lost part of its land to Belgium, Denmark and Poland who had everything that Germany had once had there. The Saar coalfields were given to France and that was Germany’s main sources of income so they would have less money coming in. Germany’s empire was destroyed too.
I think that the things that were too harsh to Germany were that they had to give the Saar coalfields to France. Germany now lost most of its money because along with that, they had to give £6,000 million to France too. Germany had to accept the blame for starting the war, which they didn’t and now they have to live with that for the rest of their time being known as Germany. Germany’s army being reduced to 100,000 men was not good for them because they couldn’t defend themselves. All of Germany’s battleships being taken away and only having 6 left and no submarines meant that they couldn’t do anything out at sea.
The things that were fair on Germany were that they were not allowed to unite with Austria because they would only want to do that to start up an army. A german troop not allowed into the Rhineland was fair because they would have no need to go there. Alsace-Lorraine being given back to France would just have taken Germany’s moral down because they won it fairly but didn’t affect them much.
After seeing what was fair and what was harsh I think that the treaty was too harsh on Germany because they lost a lot of money, which will lead to a lower standard of living and would kill a lot of poor Germans. Germany’s army and navy being reduced to a stupid number meant they can’t defend themselves and can easily be attacked or taken advantage of. Germany was made into a helpless country that had to accept that they started the war. I think they were treated way to harshly.
