What were Germany's objections to the Treaty of Versailles and How far were these Views Justified?

What were Germany’s objections to the Treaty of Versailles and How far were these Views Justified?

Subsequent to the German government conceding defeat in World War I, Britain, America and France wrote up a treaty that Germany had no option but to sign. This treaty was the Treaty of Versailles and was widely considered to be one of the harshest treaties ever written. The German public obviously had many objections to the terms of the treaty and this essay will discover what these objections are and how far they are justified.

Article 231 of the treaty was the ‘War guilt clause’. Although this clause did not technically affect Germany economically or social it was the clause that the Germans resented the most as it stated that Germany was fully reasonable for the War. This was because Germany was a very proud nation and a global super power for numerous years. The public also strongly believed that Germany had not been the sole cause of World War I and felt they had acted in self-defence. The views of the German public to this clause are perfectly justifiable. To claim Germany is solely responsible for World War I is completely unrealistic as it was Austria-Hungary who declared war on Serbia starting a chain of events resulting in a war involving most of Europe. However Germany’s claims that the attacking Russia was an act of self defence was not completely true as Germany was in no direct danger and it is likely that Austria-Hungary plight was an excuse to take on Russia.

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Another main term in the Treaty of Versailles was the reparations (compensation) that the allies claimed they were owed for the destruction caused by the war, which the allies ultimately considered to be the fault of the Germans. A fixed sum of £6600 million was to be paid back in annual instalments. The Germans felt this sum was ridiculously high and that the allies were simply trying to make a profit out of the war. In all probability Germany could not afford this sum as the Germans had already lost around 10% of its industry and 15% of its agricultural land through the war and their economy was at the lowest it has been for many years. The Germans also felt the war was not all there own doing so why should they pay for damage caused by other nations. Germans criticisms of the clause are somewhat justified in places. The sum the allies requested German to pay was too high especially considering the economic state of Germany at the time. The allies were effectively trying to ruin the whole German economy by making them pay back these huge debts. Therefore in this clause the Germans had a right to be heavily critical.

The third term of the Treaty of Versailles was the military restrictions placed on the German army. This clause forced Germany to disband its air force, limited its army to 100,000 soldiers, limited their navy to 15,000 soldiers with just six battleships and the Germany army was not permitted into the Rhineland for fifteen years. For a strong military nation like Germany this was reduced their army to a humiliating low level. Germany obviously had strong objections to this term. Germany claimed that they would no longer be able to defend itself if these restrictions were in place making the country defenceless against an extremely hostile Europe at the time. This term was also a harsh one on Germany, although you can see the obvious reasoning behind the clause, top stop another outbreak of war. The Germans argue the clauses made them defenceless which is true, but the Allies could not have realistic of been expected to allow Germany to remain as a super power as before, it was far too risky. Therefore this clause was harsh, but many will say fair.

The final main term of the Treaty of Versailles was territorial loss for Germany. Germany lost 13% of its land contained around 6 million people, the mains areas of land lost were: West Prussia, Alsace-Lorraine, The Saarland and Eupen and Malmedy. They also lost of its colonies and they became ‘mandates’ ran by the allies; this was the clause that destroyed Germany role as a global super power. The Germans argued that this term has destroyed all the work that Germany had done in the last century to get so powerful and it also depleted the Germans economy as, less people means less income for the government. The clause was another that was harsh on Germany, but you could see the allies reasoning behind it. The Germans view that the clause destroyed Germany’s global power and economy is justified, however the term was vital to prevent Germany from a global power and danger to everyone.

In conclusion, Germany had many complaints about the Treaty of Versailles. Most of the complaints made are justified such as the ‘reparations’ being ridiculously too much and ‘war guilt clause’ was also very unrealistic blaming Germany for the whole of the war. However, some of Germans objections were not justified, such as military restrictions, as the Allies have just been involved in a war and had to reduce the threat imposed by Germany. All in all the Treaty of Versailles was generally too harsh on Germany, but some of the terms were justified.

By Luke Freeman