After such a devastating war, the victorious Western Powers imposed a series of harsh

treaties upon the defeated nations. These treaties stripped the Central Powers of substantial
territories and imposed significant reparation payments.
Seldom before had the face of Europe been so fundamentally
changed. As a direct result of the war, the German, AustroHungarian, Russian, and Ottoman Empires ceased to exist.
In 1919 the Germans were presented the Treaty of Versailles which was one of the most
well-known treaties, it was presented for German leaders to sign and it forced Germany to
concede territories to Belgium. Germans had returned Alsace and Lorraine, the two french
provinces that were taken after the Franco-Prussian war. The treaty consisted of articles and they
rather humiliating portion was Article 231, known as the War Guilt Clause It basically forced
the German nation to accept complete responsibility for starting World War 1. Germany ended
up losing over one million square miles of land and six million subjects. Germany was also held
accountable for the cost of the war and the Treaty dictated that compensation would have to be
paid to the Allies. These payments, called reparations, would be paid monthly and end up being a
total of about 6,600 million dollars.
Germany had lost some of her most precious sources of Raw materials as her colonies,
and some of the areas ceded to other countries, were rich
sources of income. These factors would make it harder for the
German economy to cope. Further to this it is important to note
the casualties suffered during the war. Germany lost some 1.7
million men during the war, and further 4.2 million are listed as
being wounded.