EUROPE AFTRE WORLD WAR ONE OF 1914- 1918.

THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE OF 1919 VERSAILLES PEACE SETTLEMENT

OF 1919.

The World war one ended on 11th/Nov/1919 whn Germany agred on the armistice(cease fire)
ie the war was followed by a peace conference of 1919 that was held in paris the capital city
of france hence leading the paris peace conference of 1919, also known as the Versailles peace
settlement of 1919.

The paris peace conference of 1919 or Versailles peace settlement gathered 27 nations. All in
all a number of countries were represented at paris peace conference or Versailles peace
settlement except Russia because of the Russian revolution of 1917.

It took 5 months of bargaining and using diplomacy among the allied powers before the
main treaties were ready the delegates from the central powers(triple alliance members) had
no share in this discussion and their role was simply to sign the drafted treaties.

The conference lasted a little more than a year ie it started on Jan/ 18/1919 and ended on
21st/ Jan/ 1920.

Discussions were confined to the victor powers ie Britain, USA, France and Italy.
GeorgeLloyd represented Britain, George Clemenceau represented France, Woodrow Wilson
represented USA and prime minister Orlando represented Italy.

In may 1919 the treaties were ready but the most out standing was the Versailles peace treaty
which was signed with Germany but others included St-Germany which was signed with
Austria- Hungary, Neuilly which was signed with Bulgaria, Trianom which was signed with
Hungary and severes which was signed with Turkey.

The treaty of St- Germaine with Austria of 1919.

This was signed between Austria – Hungary and the victorious powers ie Britain, France,
USA and Italy.

Its terms included

1- It separated Austria from Hungary and confirmed that Austria was no longer a leading
power in the union
2- Austria’s territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia were declared into a new
state called Yugoslavia which also included the former kingdom of Serbia
3- Bohemia and Moravia became the new states of Czechoslovakia
4- Austria lost Galica to Poland and Aaland to Italy.
5- Her army was restricted to only 30,000 men.

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6- She was forbidden to ever unite with Germany.
7- Austria suffered severe economic problems after the war as much of its industries went
to Czechoslovakia.

THE TREATY OF NEUILLY OF NOVEMBER 1919 WITH BULGARIA

This treaty dealt with Bulgaria. Bulgaria had played a relatively smaller part in the war
compared to others nations and this is why she was treated less harshly.

Its terms included

1- She lost lands to Greece, Rumania and Yugoslavia and its access to the Mediterranean
sea.
2- She was to limit her armed forces to only 20,000 soldiers.
3- Had to pay a war indemnity(fine) of 100 million pounds.

THE TREATY OF TRIANON WITH HUNGARY OF 1920

This dealt with Hungary and was signed on June/18/1920 like the treaty of St. Germaine,
the treaty of Trianon involved the transfer of territotories.

Its terms included

1- The territory of Transylvania was transferred to the state of Rumania

2- Slovakia ,Luthenia were transferred to Czechoslovakia.
3- Slovenia and part of Croatia under Hungary was added to Yugoslavia.

THE TREATY OF SEVRES WITH 1920.

This was the last of the treaties to be arranged by the victorious powers. It dealt with
Turkey and was signed in August 1920.

Its terms included

1- Turkey lost the territory of Smyrna to Greece.

2- Syria was declared amandate territory of France.
3- She was also to lose the straits running directly into the black sea.
NB
(a) Unlike the other treaties, servers was not a successful treaty. The Turks were out raged
by it and thus the Turkish nationalists led by Mustafa Kemal challenged the terms of
the treaty by force when they forced the Greek out of Smyrna. By the terms of the
treaty of Lausanne of 1923, Smyrna was returned to Turkey.
(b) It should be noted that there is a difference between the Versailles peace treaty of 1919
and the Paris peace conference of 1919. The Paris peace conference of 1919 was the

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major conference held in Paris by the representatives of the victorious nations after
world war one. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 on the other hand was one of the
five treaties signed in the Paris peace conference Versailles peace settlement of 1919
and it was prepared by the allies for Germany to sign alone although its final contents
included some aspects of the other treaties signed with the rest of the defeated powers
ie Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey.

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES OF 1919

(The Versailles peace treaty of 1919)
This was signed on 28 /June/1919 in the hall of mirrors at Versailles between
th

Germany and the victor powers ie USA,Britain,Itlay and France. This treaty had about
404 articles which were given to Germany to sign and it was signed on the anniversary
of the murder of Arch Duke France Ferdinand and his wife sophie.(28th June)
NB. The Versailles peace settlement or paris peace treaty of 1919 was combination of
various treaties ie St. Germaine Versailles peace treaty, Trianon sevres and Neuilly.
The Paris peace conference/Versailles peace settlement of 1919- 1920 was based on 14
points which were raised by the American president Woodrow Wilson and open
covenants were to be encouraged.
1- Secret treaties were to be abolished and open covenants were to be encouraged.
2- All international water bodies were to be free for navigation for all nations ie
Atlantic ocean, Red sea, Black sea, Mediterranean sea.
3- There was to be aban/ reduction on military arms and ammunitions ie
disarmament of all nations.
4- Economic barriers were to be removed especially those affecting the free trade
policy.
5- Alsace and Lorraine were to be given back to France.
6- Self determination and independence was to be given to small stateside Bosnia, Her
zegovia, Albania, Montenegro, Syria, Iraq etc.
7- There was to be an international organization in the world to promote peace and
security.
8- Belgium was to be evacuated and its neutrality was to be maintained.
9- An independent state of Poland was to be guaranteed and she was to have access to
the Baltic sea leading to creation of polish corridor.
10-Germany was to leave all Germany territories(colonies)
11-Italy was to receive her share of territories that were promised to her by the victors
before she joined them in the first world war.
12-An independent state of Austria was to be recognized and that Austria and
Germany were never to unite again.
13-To ensure the independence of all subject races at the ottoman empire.

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 14-All prisoners were to set free.
NB. George Clemenceau, the prime minister of France who was the chairman in the
Paris peace conference/Versailles peace settlement of 1919- 1920 dismissed the 14
points of Woodrow Wilson and he said
“God gave us 10 commandments and we broke them and Woodrow Wilson has
given us 14 ,let wait and see”

THE AIMS AND OBJRCTIVES (TERMS) OF PARIS PEACE

CONFERENCE/VERSAILLES PEACE SETTLEMENT OF 1919.
1- To avoid any future war in Europe and maintain peace in the world at large.
2- To set up an international organization to help in solving problems of the time.
3- To create national states out of the major European empires ie Germany empire,
ottoman empire and Austrian empire.
4- The peace makers during the Paris peace conference wished that individual
races in Europe determined their own future and decide to which states or
country they should belong.
5- The peace makers especially France wanted to weaken Germany and prevent her
from resurrecting her military might ie France insisted that Germany should be
weakened for good.
6- To disarm both the victors and vanquished/ defeated powers.
7- To find strategies of preserving the territorial integrity of countries and
independence among European countries.
8- To re-organise/redraw the European map and restore the balance of power.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE OF 1919

(VERSAILLES PEACE SETTLEMENT OF 1919)
QUESTION
1. Account for the problems by the Paris peace conference (Versailles peace
settlement) of 1919.

1. The peace makers at the Paris peace conference/Versailles peace settlement of

1919 faced the problem of language ie it was not easy to get a single language
which was to be used in the conference during discussions and this created the
problem interpretation and inaccuracy of reporting especially by the
Journalists.
2. There was the problem of reconciling the secret treaties which were signed
before and after world war one and here Woodrow Wilson had suggested that
only open treaties should be signed but the Allied or victor powers were not
happy with it as this was to favour Germany.
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 [

3. There was the problem of public opinion most especially in countries like
France ie the people in such countries were chanting slogans like “Germany
must pay” and “Hang the Kaiser”. This gave the delegates (peace makers) at
the Paris peace conference ie Woodrow Wilson, George Llyod, George
Clemenceau, Orlando a very serious problem and difficult time of regarding
whether to consider the people’s public opinion or that of Germany.
[

4. There was a problem of humanitarianism ie after the war, many people were
displaced and were starving and this was mostly felt in the central and Eastern
Europe. Therefore the peace makers were faced with the problem of how to help
such people on humanitarian ground e.g food, clothes, clean water, shelter,
drugs etc.

5. The Paris peace makers also had disagreements on many issues most
especially regarding the punishment of Germany ie George Clemenceau of
France wanted Germany to be heavily punished yet Woodrow Wilson the USA
president wanted Germany to get a fair punishment and this brought
disagreement among the peace makers and became a serious problem during
the Paris peace conference of 1919.
[[

6. There was also selfishness at the Paris peace conference ie each states man
/representative wanted to exploit any given opportunity during the conference
to satisfy the interests of his own country and this particularly applied to
Britain and France hence becoming a serious problem during the Paris peace
conference of 1919.
[[[

7. There was a problem of George Clemenceau ie the conference faced a problem

of chairmanship ie George Clemenceau was nick named “The tiger” because of
his toughness during the conference most especially against Germany . He
even reminded Woodrow Wilson of USA who wanted fair punishment to
Germany that the war had not been fought on American soil but in Europe
hence the chairmanship of George Clemenceau brought mis-understanding
between USA and France that presented a very big problem at the Paris peace
conference of the 1919.
[[[[

8. The time factor was also a serious problem to the peace makers at the Paris
peace conference of 1919 ie the task they faced was huge but they had a very
short time to deal with the defeated powers and wanted the outcome to be in
the interest of their individual countries, they didn’t have enough time to
remain in the conference and identify the problems facing European countries
at the time hence the outcome of the conference was totally half baked and this

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 was a very serious problem during the Paris peace conference (Versailles peace
settlement) of 1919.
[[

9. There was also a problem of racial complication most especially in central

Europe ie they had a task of redrawing the map ofv Europe but they didn’t
have enough information regarding the different states and races of Europe ie
Germany lost her control over Poland which had 1million Germany
nationals, Yugoslavia which had 2million German Nationals etc. and this made
Adolf Hitler to attack these countries that ended up causing world war two in
1939-45

STRENGTH OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE SETTLEMENT /PARIS PEACE

TREATY OF 1919 – 1920.

The settlement started on 18th /Jan/1919 and ended on 21st/Jan/1920 and it took
5months of serious bargaining and out of this a number of treaties that dealt with
the defeated or vanquished powers were realized. At the conference, the defeated
powers had specific treaties that signed ie the Versailles peace treaty specifically for
Germany, treaty of St. Germaine for Austria, treaty of Trianon for Hungary and
treaty of Sevres for Turkey.
The summation of these treaties was what was concluded in Versailles peace
settlement or the Paris peace treaty of 1919
The following are the strong points of the Versailles peace settlement/Paris
peace treaty of 1919

1. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 laid foundation for the establishment
of the League of Nations as an instrument of peace. This was one of the most
important points of Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points. He had realized that the
differences and conflicts among the powers had driven them into a catastrophe
(WW1), partly because they failed to solve their issues through round table
discussions. This caused the breakdown in European diplomacy and therefore
the LON was created in 1920 out of the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 as
a major venue through which grievances would be channeled such that
diplomacy can prevail and this led to peace between 1920-1939 (19 years)
hence a big achievement of V.P.S of 1919.

2. The Versailles peace settlement/Paris peace treaty of 1919 granted

independence to small states and nationalities. It should be remembered that
their existed four old empires in Europe ie Ottoman empire, Germany empire,
Russian empire and the Austria- Hungary empire. These had been a source of

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 trouble for Europe, but peace makers at Versailles destroyed them and
therefore giving opportunity to not only the establishment of new states but
also give such states self-determination and independence e.g Hungary was
separated from Austria to become an independent state, Bohemia and
Slovakia were united to create a new state of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia was
also created from the empire of Russia, Poland, Finland, Lithuania and Latvia
were also declared independent, from the Ottoman empire Iraq, Iran, Jordan,
Palestine were also declared independent hence a big achievement registered
by V.P.S OF 1919.

3. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 ensured that Alsace and Lorraine were
given back to France. It should be noted that the two provinces had been
taken away by Germany after the France-Prussian war of 1870-71. There
provinces were rich in iron and coal respectively and were given to Germany
by the Frankfurt treaty of 1871. However the delegates at the Versailles peace
conference respected Woodrow Wilson’s idea of returning the two provinces to
France in order to defuse the enemity between France and Germany that had
caused ww1. Infact the French population in these provinces was also tired of
being under Germany dominance hence a big achievement registered by U.P.S
[
of 1919.

4. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also ended ww1 which broke out in
1914 ie Britain, France, and USA etc. and officially ended in 1918. The victor
powers decided to meet the vanquished/defeated powers ie Germany, Austria,
Turkey etc. at Versailles in Paris city and mapped out a way of bringing about
relative peace. They agreed to address the challenges of Europe and it was at
Versailles that Germany was forced to denounce war and accept the war guilt
clause of the Versailles treaty of 1919. It was also in this peace settlement that
the treaties of Trianon , St Germain, Sevres and Neuilly were signed by the
defeated powers ie Bulagaria, Austria, Turkey, Germany etc. This ushered in
relative peace and unity until 1939 when yet another war broke out hence a
big achievement registered by the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 in
bringing to an end of ww1.

5. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 attempted to reward Italy for her
participation on the side of the allies during the war. It should be recalled that
although Italy was a member of Triple alliance of Bismarck but she joined the
allies (Triple entente) to fight against the central powers with a promise that
she will be given territory as a reward at end of the war. Indeed at Versailles
peace conference, she given some territories e.g she got the cities of Trieste,
Tryol, Pola, which containing about 250,000 Germans, she was also given

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 Istria containing about 40,000 slavs. In this way the Versailles peace
settlement of 1919 recognized the good job done by Italy in fighting alongside
the victors’ powers (Triple entente) ie Britain, France, and USA etc.

6. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also ensured that people in the
colonies were given fair treatment especially the states that had been taken as
mandate states ie Togo land, Cameroon, Tanganyika and Namibia. It should
be donated that Germany was defeated in ww1 and all her colonies were taken
as mandate states by the victor powers especially Britain and France but
under the supervision of the League of Nations. However the people in the
former colonies of Germany especially Cameroon, Togo, Tanganyika etc were to
be treated fairly and at least this appeared better than the old colonial role of
grab and take hence a big achievement made V.P.S of 1919.

7. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 maintained the neutrality of Belgium

which had been violated by Germany on the eve of the outbreak of ww1.
Germany directed her troops through Belgium in trying to attack France
which signified that Belgium neutrality and independence had been violated
which was contrary to the terms of 1839 London agreement that had granted
it. It should be noted that from Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points, the settlements
called for complete evacuation of Germany troops from Belgium. On top of her
neutrality, she was also given some territories such as Eupe and malmedy.
Therefore the V.P.S re-emphasized that Belgium was neutral and her integrity
and boundaries must be respected hence a big achievement made by V.P.S of
1919.

8. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also ensured that the people of
Austria-Hungary were given the opportunity of independent development. The
conference realized that the union between Germany and Austria-Hungary
had started the alliance system which was one of the causes of ww1, however
at Versailles peace conference, the victor powers ie Britain, France, USA and
Italy agreed that Austria and Hungary must be separated as two independent
states and that the union with Germany must never be accepted. Therefore
the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 disintegrated the dual monarchy of
Austro-Hungary and also ensured re-occurrence of a union for whatever
reason between Austria and Germany can never take places as a way of
maintaining peacein Europe.

9. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also granted freedom of navigation on

all international water bodies ie it declared free navigation on all international
water bodies except those that were territorial. It should be recalled for a long
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 period of time, such water bodies were a source of economic conflicts ie
Britain had monopolized continental waters e.g Mediterranean sea, Adriatic
sea, Baltic sea etc, her claim of control over those water bodies stretched as
far back as 1830’s. Therefore the Versailles settlement of 1919 opened all
these water bodies to all European nations at all time, this also eased
movement of people on Europe continent, increased the volume of trade and
promoted co-operation among European countries hence a big achievement

10. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also agreed on the establishment
of an independent country of Poland. Throughout history Poland had been
under Russian foreign control even when Napoleon1 established the Grand
Dutch of Warsaw, Poland still remained under the control of France. The
Vienna peace settlement of 1814-15 returned it after the defeat of Napoleon 1
to Russia. The poles polish attempted to revolt in 1830, 1846 and 1863 to get
their independence but in vain.
However the delegates at Versailles peace conference created a new
state of Poland in relation to Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points in which she
was given access tothe Baltic sea, she was given Germany territories of
Posen and port of Danzig which was an out let to the sea, more territory
from Eastern Prussia was added on Poland and came to be known as the
polish corridor, hence a big achievement registered by V.P.S of 1919.

11. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also restored the principle of
diplomacy and mediation on continental Europe which had collapsed following
the collapse of the concert of Europe by 1830. It should be recalled that the
Vienna peace settlement of 1814-15 was the last of such arrangement after
the defeat of Napoleon1 in 1815 where the powers settled the continental
problems through collective responsibility. Although such arrangement had
given birth to the congress system again by 1830, the system of concertism
had crumbled/collapsed. The system especially during the Bismarckan era,
the efforts were fruitless. Therefore the Versailles peace settlement of 1919
brought about a meaningful European diplomacy where the powers of Europe
discussed, mediated and came up with conclusive actions on most of the
continental problems. Therefore the Versailles peace settlement of 1919
restored the principle of diplomacy and round table discussions in Europe
hence a big achievement.
12. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also managed to disarm
Germany and her allies ie Austria, Turkey etc in a bid to maintain peace in
Europe. The war had partly occurred because of the arms race that was

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 started by Germany. Thereforeto ensure that such cata trophy never occurs,
the victor powers issued the disarmament clause in which Germany’s army
was reduced to only 100,000 soldiers, the victor powers ie Britain, France,
USA and Italy ensured that forceful military conscription that characterized
Germany was banned, it stopped Germany from manufacturing heavy war
material such as sub marines, tanks, battle ships etc, her naval force was
reduced only to be battle ships of second class grade, all her air craft and sub
marines were destroyed. Also her allies such as Austrian army were restricted
to only 30,000 soldiers, Bulgaria to only 20,000 soldiers. Therefore the
disarmament of Germany and her allies weakened them to the extent that they
were un able to plan another war for at least a periodof 20 years (1919-1939).

THE WEAKNESSES OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE SETTLEMENT OF 1919

Though the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 attempted to bring lasting peace on
Europe, however the methods that the peace makers used were somehow
unrealistic. The Versailles peace settlement had several weaknesses and therefore
unrealistic as seen below
1. The organization of the conference was not properly done because decision
making process was dominated by the three big powers e.g France under
George Clemenceau, Britain under George Lloyd and USA under Woodrow
Wilson. The defeated parties were only to remain observers, more over the
treaties that were signed for the vanquished states such as the Versailles,
sevres, Trianon, Neuilly etc were only presented to them for signatures and
any objection were to be put in writing officially . Therefore the conference
and settlement the defeated parties only waited for the verdict ie it was a
dicta’t. Therefore the defeated countries ie Germany felt unhappy with the
outcomes of the settlement and even later resisted it.
2. The venue wherethe Versailles peace settlement of 1919 was signed also left a
lot to be desired. It should be remembered that the conference and settlement
were held in the French capital Paris and particularly at Versailles in the hall
of mirrors. The settlement should have been signed ona neutral ground that
would make the defeated powers including Germany comfortable but the fact
that the victor powers agreed to sign the conference in France, the very
country that was humiliated by Germany in 1871. Ie the same venue where
Germany Empirewas proclaimed following the defeat of France in Franco-
Prussian war of 1870-71. The French mood right from 1871was that of
revenge ie she had lost Alsace and Lorraine her mineralized provinces etc
hence France was determined to humiliate Germany as they were humiliated
in the France-Prussian war of 1870-71.

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3. The chairmanship of the conference and the settlement also raised eye brows.
It should berecalled that atthe Versailles peaceconference, the chairmanship of
GeorgeClemenceau the French premier who was biased from the start. This
was because Clemenceau had bitter memories of the defeat of France in 1871
and in 1914 they were defeated again in the handsof the Germans. Therefore
the chairman hated the Germans so much that during the Paris peace
conference of 1919 he greatly used his position as the chairman to influence
the decision making in favour of France. Something that ended up
annoyingGermany hence the settlement was unable to bring about lasting
peace.
4. Although the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 established new states that
were independent, however these states were too weak to defend themselves
against European aggressors e.g at the Versailles peace settlement of 1919,
Poland was created after removing some territory from Germany , it also
created Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia but these states were too weak that
Germany invaded them one after the other because they had Germany
population which later sparked off the ww11 in 1939. E.g Adolf Hitler
attacked Czechoslovakia in 1938, Austria 1938 and Poland in 1939 because
they were weak. Therefore the Versailles peacesettlement of 1919 failed to
create total peace in Europe because of these weak states it created that
couldn’t defend themselves.
5. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 was unfair because it left out Russia
which was not invited simply because of her communist inclination. In 1917
the Bolsheviks had taken over power in Russia after a successful socialist
revolution which kept Russia, far away from the allies who were capitalists. It
should also be remembered that Russia had fought with the Triple entente
during the first world war in which she had lost a number of troops and
civilians, she had also been the biggest loser in terms of territory following
the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, but the victor powers looked at Russia with
suspicion and mistrust to the extent that they didn’t invite her in the
Versailles conference of 1919 which left a lot to be desired.
6. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also was unrealistic because it
ignored and abused the spirit of Germany nationalism from the Versailles
peace settlement out of which the Versailles treaty of 1919 was derived, the
people of Germany were unfairly treated because they were unfairly
subjected to foreign controlyet they had struggled so much for their unity
following “the blood and Iron policy” of Bismarck e.g many Germany
speaking people (Germany Nationals) across the continent were partitioned
and handed over to countries such as 2.5m in Czechoslovakia, 2m in
Yugoslavia 3m to Austria and 1m to Poland. This annoyed Germany under

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 Adolf Hitler and he decided attacked all these countries inorder to liberate
fellow Germans from such countries thatfinally ledto the outbreak of ww11 in
1939.
7. The foundation of the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 lacked universal
legality. Many of the provisions of the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 were
based on Woodrow Wilson’s 14 points which there fore meant thatits
outcomeswere questionable. It was as a result of Woodrow Wilson’s personal
analysis and how peace would prevail after the war and the settlement was not
born out of discussion of the parties involved in the war. Therefore it was for
this reason why it was not universally accepted e.g the French prime minister
Clemenceau rebuked the points “God gave us ten commandments and we
broke them, but Woodrow Wilson has given us 14, let’s wait and see”This
showed that Wilson had just drafted his own ideas hence the V.P.S had
loopholes and that’s why it was rejected by GermanyJapan and Italy and
therefore it couldn’t bring lasting peace.
8. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 was unfair because it led to loss of
territories by some countries together with their population cases in point
Austria lost some territories and was reduced to a small state ie it lost Bosnia
and Herzegovina that she had annexed in 1908, Turkey also lost the territory
of Thrace to Greece, Germany lost Tanganyika to Britain, cameroon and Tongo
to France etc. This under mined the territorial integrity of these countries and
they weren’t even consulted when such adjustments were made. This loss of
territories by some states later led to outbreak of ww11 in 1939 ie Germany’s
invasion of Poland on 1st/Sept/1939 this sparked off the outbreak of ww11 in
1939.
9. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919also poorly rewarded some of the
countries that fought alongside the victorsespecially Italy. It’s true that the
settlement attempted to reward Italy when she received the territories of
Trieste, Tryol, Istria to the peace makers this was just compensation but to
the Italians the Versailles peace makers only gave them peanuts which
werenot commensurate to the energy/forcethey put in while fighting against
the central powers. Although she had been promised a.lot of territories by the
allies ie Britain, France etc before she joined the war, the Versailles peace
settlement of 1919, therefore did not properly reward Italy which left the
Italians dissatisfied and it was for this reason why Mussolini attacked
Ethiopia, Albania and Greece inorder to compensate Italy and even later on
Mussolini joined Adolf Hitler and Hirohito formed Berlin – Rome- Tokyo
alliance that caused ww11 in 1939.
10. The Versailles peacesettlement of 1919 also was signed in revengeful
mood of the victor powers which was in itself unfair. It should be noted that

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 right from the start, all the deliberations at the conference and its outcomes
were inclined to revenge on Germany “This was seen in the comments that
were made when Woodrow Wilson advised on treating Germany fairly, other
statesmen at Versailles peace conference insisted on the slogan“Hang the
Kaiser and make Germany pay”.This was perceived as the highest form of
injustice done to the Germans and that’s why they rejected the outcomes of
the settlement because the spirit in which it was done was that of revenge ie
Hitler told the Germans that Germany was stabbed in the back by Versailles
peace makers.
11. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 was also unrealisticunfair
because it insisted on disarming only the defeated or vanquished powers ie
Germany, Austria, Bulgaria etc although in one of Woodrow Wilson’s 14
points, all countries were advised to disarm including the victors ie Britain,
France etc to a level of only domestic safety. However the delegates
didn’thave the efforts to disarm the allies especially Britain, USA and
France and only insisted on dis arming the vanquished/defeated powers
cases in point Germany only remained with 100,000 troops, 6 battleships of
second class grade, her military capacity was further reduced when she was
instructed not to produce submarines , aircrafts, tanks etc Austria’s armed
forces were also reduced to about 30,000, Bulgaria to 20,000 men. This was
unfair disarmament programme to the defeated powers and even forced Hitler
rearm Germany leading revival of arms race that caused ww11 in 1939.
12. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 was also unfair when it solely
held Germany responsible for the outbreak of ww1 in 1914. It wasn’t logical to
blame Germany alone for causing ww1 in 1914 yet all powers of Europe
eventually involved themselves e.g although Germany began the arms race,
even other countries such Britain, France, USA etc took part in the
manufacture of deadly weapons, involved themselves in hostilities and
rivalries with members of antagonistic alliances etc which made them active
participants in this war. Therefore the delegates put the war on Germany
alone and exonerating themselves was too unfair to the vanquished powers,
it’s no wonder the settlementfailed to bring about lasting peace in Europe.

13. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 was also unrealisticbecause of

the disagreements thatcharacterized the conference. It should be noted that
the deliberations at Versailles were stormy because of the selfish interests
that each of the statesmen had. They were dominated by conflicting interests
over the vanguished statese e.g George Clemenceau wanted to permanently
cripple Germany to prevent her from ever raising again, LIoyd George was

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 inclined to taking all Germany’s colonial possessions to strengthen the British
over sea empire, orland of Italy wanted to get Italy as many territories as
possible as promisedby the allies, while Woodrow Wilson just wanted peace
and fair treatment for the defeated powers, promote international trade and
reconciliation. Therefore disagreements and selfish interests from the victor
powers led to sharparguments and counter arguments which made the
Vanquishedpowers doubtful about the credibility of the conference and
settlement in general.
14. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919also contributed to the rise of
dictators. It was out of the Versailles peace settlement of 1919 and the
dissatisfactions that emanated from it that made men such as Adolf Hitler of
Germany, Hirohito of Japan and Mussolini of Italy prepare for war of revengeto
over throw the settlement they accused the liberal governments thataccepted
to sign the terms of the settlement and therefore they established fascist
regimes which begun to terrorize the world in response to the unfair terms of
the settlement. Such dictators over threw the liberal government e.g Mussolini
in 1922, over threw victor Emmanuel 111, Adolf Hitler in 1934 replaced the
Weimar republic and established the Nazi dictatorship, Hirohito also took over
Japan and these dictators led to the outbreak of ww11 in 1939 and this was a
result of the V.P.S of 1919.
15. The timing of the conference was also wrong ie it was held when the
mood of hatred and revenge was still high in most European countries e.g in
both Britain and French people were chanting slogans like “Germany must
pay”and “Hang the Kaiser”. Therefore under such circumstances it was
quite hard for the peace makers at the Paris peace conference to come out
with moderate peace terms hence this ended up annoying Germany which
made the treaty become weak since it was challenged by the defeated powers
16. The defeated/vanquished powers were not allowed to presenttheir views
and defend themselves. Therefore the Vanquished powersie Germany, Austria,
Bulgaria etc were not happy with the Versailles peace makers since the terms
were just dictated and the treaty become unfair and vanquished powers
reacted by rejecting it ie Germany under Hitler which partly caused ww11 in
1939.

17. The Versailles peace settlement of 1919 also put in place a weak
organization in the name of the LON (League of Nations) that was informed in
1920 but lacked means to enforce and implement the peace terms agreed
upon in the conference ie the LON was “a toothless lion that couldn’t bite”.
And lacked the military strength to protect the terms of the Paris peace treaty
of 1919 hence a sign of failure

14
QUESTIONS
1. Examine the achievements and weakness of the Versailles peace settlement of
1919.
2. Examine the strength and weakness of the Versailles peace settlement of
1919
3. Examine the achievements and failures of the Paris peace treaty of 1919.

THE VERSAILLES PEACE TREATY OF 1919

The Versailles peace treaty was signed on 28 th/June/1919 in the Hall of mirrors at
Versailles between Germany and the victorpowers ie USA, Britain, Italy, and France.
This was the same venue where the Germany unification process was
declaredcomplete in 1871. This treaty had about 404 articles which were given to
Germany to sign and it was signed on the anniversary of the murder of Arch Duke
Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie (28th June).

The representative of the victor powers were George LIoyd of Britain, George
Clemenceau of France, Woodrow Wilson of USA and Orlando of Italy and Germany
was represented by the Weimer republic. The Germany representatives didn’t take
part in the discussion, but were presented with the treaty for signing hence it was a
dicta’t.

The treaty contained articles that were detailed on how Germany was to be treated,
following the fact that she was the biggest among those accused of causing ww1 in
1914. The Verdict was indeed harsh for Germany and it greatly displeased the
Germans. Something that made Hitler reject it and partly caused the outbreak of
WWII in 1939.

The aims and objectives of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919

1. To re-organize Europe with the purpose of maintaining world peace and
security.
2. To redraw the map of Europe and restore balance of power and this was
because Germany had changedthe European map and the balance power.
3. To redraw strategiesthat would preserve the territorialintegrity and
independence of small states.
4. To reconcile the differences between Germany and the victor powers after ww1.
5. To free different races that were being occupied and dominated by European
powers like Germany and her allies.
6. To disarm both the defeated and the victor powers and avoid the arms race
and militarism on the European continent.

15
 7. The victor powers like British and France wanted to destroy Germany and her
allies in order to safeguard themselves against future Germany aggression.

THE TERMS OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE TREATY OF 1919

1. The territorial clause. Germany was to lose most of her territories in Europe
and Africa ie Alsace and Lorraine to France, Europe and Malmedy to Belgium,
Posen to Poland and Saarland province and Danzig were put under the LON
and these were rich in minerals like Iron, coal etc and profits got from the two
provinces were to go to France, Germany also lost the Rhine land region which
was demilitarized.
2. Related to the above was the demilitarization clause ie Germany was told to
demilitarize the Rhine area. This meant that the strip of land in western
Germany between River Rhine and the French boarder was to be evacuated by
Germany troops. It should be recalled that after the Franco-Prussian war of
1870-1871 Germany had stationed her troops in this zone in preparation for
France’s war of revenge. By the terms of the Versailles peace treaty, Germany
was even stopped from building military fortications in the Rhine area/region.
In essence the demilitarization clause of the treaty gave France the chance to
militarize the Rhine area.
3. The disarmament clause. Following this clause, Germany was to be reduced
militarily to a tune only necessary for home protection. She was to be kept
away from ever threatening peace again. In this clause Germany was stopped
from manufacturing any war material e.g submarines, tanks, battleships, war
planes etc. her naval capacity was only reduced to 1500 naval forces and 6
battleships of second grade class. The size of the Germany’s armywas to be
restricted to 100,000 troops instead of 4 million she had before ww1. This was
meant to reduce Germany’s military strength.
4. The war guilty clause of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919put the entire
blame on Germany for causing ww1 in 1914. This was the most severe part of
the treaty which was embedded in article 231. This clause placed the sole
blame of the waron Germany’s shoulders. The articleparticularly stated“The
allied government affirms that Germany accepts the responsibility for
causing the war and the damages to the allied powers, as a result of the
war imposed on them by the aggression of Germany and her allies”.
5. The war indemnity/reparation clause as a result of Germany’s war guilt, she
was required to pay war reparations to the victor powers. The purpose of this
moneywas to compensate the enormous cost of the war. The war reparations
were worked out by a special reparation committee or commission and
therefore fixed the reparations sum at 6.5 billion pounds to be paid in

16
 installments. She was to also deliver to the allies part of these sum inform of
ships which were to be built for them for 5 years, chemicals, cattle, coal etc.
6. Germany was to return all the confiscated property from France. The delegates
at Versailles agreed that Germany was to return whatever she took from
France after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. The humiliation of France
had seen her losing her art work/pieces, trophies and her flag that Germany
took. All these were to be returned to France with no objection.
7. Germany was to accept and respect the independence of small states that were
created more especially Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia Poland. The Germany
territory of the Rhine land was put under the control of the Allied powers for
5years inorder to watch the activities of Germany.
8. The LON (League of Nations) was to be formed to maintain international peace
and security. Therefore it was because of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919
that the European continent was to have an international organization that
was to preserve world peace and stability.

THE WEAKNESSES OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE TREATY OF 1919

1. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 was just imposed on Germany since she
did not take part in the discussions at Versailles. The delegates at Versailles
didn’t give chance to Germany to deliberate any issues in the treaty. The treaty
was only presented to Germany given 3days to respond and thereforeGermany
was forced to accept the unjust treaty which was an indicator that the treaty
just dictated ie it was “a dicta’t” and imposed on Germany and was not
negotiable. To worsen matters, the big powers threatened to renew war on
Germany if she had failed to sign hence rendering the treaty unfair to
Germany and that’s why Adolf Hitler of Germany rejected it.
2. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 unfairly executed the disarmament
programme on Germany. The aims of the peace makers of the Versailles peace
settlement of 1919 were to disarm all nations including the victors however in
executing the disarmament clause, Germany was unfairly disarmed. The
Germany troops were reduced from 4millions to only 100,000 soldiers,
restricted in producing submarines, tanks, aircraft etc which militarily
weakened Germany and made her vulnerable to any external attack. The
victors on their other hand continued manufacturing such dangerous
weapons. This made Adolf Hitler to rearm Germany that led to revival of arms
race that caused ww11 in 1939.
3. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 had another weakness when it solely held
Germany responsible for the outbreak of ww1 under the war guilty clause.
This put Germany in position one according to the treaty. It should however be
recalled that although Germany was provocative to other countries before

17
 1914, she did not fight alone, but the victor powers put the whole blame on
her , while Germany had involved herself in arms race, Britain and France
quickly followed, Germany participated in acquisition of colonies so were
Britain and France, she started the alliance system but also Britain , France
and Russia made a counter alliance (Triple entente). Therefore putting the
whole blame on Germany for causing this war and exonerating themselves was
very unfair to Germany and its not surprising Adolf Hitler rejected it when he
became the leader Germany in 1934.
4. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 imposed a heavy war indemnity on
Germany which was unrealistically high ie The war reparation clause dictated
6.5billion pounds to Germany to pay for next 30years to victor powers which
was too high for any country to pay yet Germany ravaged by the ww1, on top
of that even the economically potential areaswhich would enable Germany in
paying the war indemnity especially the soar land coal region, even when the
efforts were made by classical economists such as Keynes in advising the
victors in reducing the war indemnity to about 2million fell on deaf ears. And
when Hitler rose to power in Germany he refused to clear the war indemnity
that partly caused ww11 in 1939.
5. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 was also unfair because it abused and
violated the spirit of Germany Nationalism. Following the territorial
adjustment clause of the treaty, many Germans were denied their right of
self-determination when the treaty made them become foreigners in the newly
created independent states ie Czechoslovakiahad 2million German, Yugoslavia
2.5m, Austria 3m, Poland 1m German nationals. To Germany this was unfair
because this undermined Germany nationalism and they faced discrimination,
oppression and repression in such states something that forced Adolf Hitler to
attack such states that ended up causing ww11 in 1939 hence a sign of
failure by Versailles peace treaty of 1919.
6. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 denied Germany her colonial possessions
yet the victors enjoyed their far distant colonies ie Germanywas unfairly
treated by the decolonization clause of the treaty ie she lost her colonies in
Africa and Asia which were to be treated as Mandate states and to worsen
matters the LON handled over these colonies to Britain and France e.g
Cameroon and Togo to France and Tanganyika to Britain, Namibia to south
Africa. Therefore the loss of such territories made the treaty unfair to
Germany because it were the enemies of Germany ie France and Britain that
continued exploiting them ie they became sources of raw materials to their
industries and markets for the manufactured goods and its not surprising that
when Hitler rose to power in Germany he rejected the treaty.

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7. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 instructed Germany to demilitarize the
Rhine region/area which alsoshowed signs of unfairness. The zone was the
boarder between France and Germany but the Germans had militarized the
areaafter the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 ie from 1871-1919 and made it
the main defence againstany French attack in her possible war of revenge
against Germany. The treaty instructed Germanyto demilitarize the area ie
remove all her troops and military fortifications she had built along this area
which left Germany defenseless and vulnerable to any external attack via
Rhine region hence Germany was unhappy about this and its not surprising
that when Hitler rose to power he remilitarized the Rhine region that partly led
to the outbreak of ww11 in 1939.
8. Besides the above the timing of the signing of the treaty was also unfair and
left many questions unanswered ie the treatywas signed on 28 th/June/1919 a
date that createdmixed feelings among many Germans. It was the 5 th
anniversary of the Sarajevo double murderFranz Arch duke Ferdinand and his
wife Sophie who were assassinated on 28 th/June/1914. One wonders why the
treaty was signed on the same day that coincided with the Sarajevo incident
which clearly showedthat the punishments given to Germany were highly
connected to the Sarajevo incident which was unfair for holding Germany
responsible for the action, she never did.
9. Another weakness of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 was that it did not
bring Kaiser William11 and other criminals to book yet they partly caused the
war. The blame for the war was put on Germany as a country but the activities
of Kaiser as an individual were not considered yet he was not a peace lover ie
he was a war monger e.g it was him who refused Britain’s gesture for
friendship, he also began the arms race, designed the programme in 1899 of
the Berlin Baghdad railway line, sent congratulatory telegram to Paul Kruger
upon defeating Britain in 1894 James raid etc. But by 1919 Kaiser had
abdicated the throne and fled to Holland, even the Dutch government refused
to hand over this criminal which later became the basis for other aggressors
like Hitler and Mussolini to behave the same way something that partly
caused ww11 in 1939.
10. The treaty was also weak simply because the decisionmaking was
dominated by mainly 3 countries ie Britain, France and to a smaller extent
USA and the resolutions tended to favour Britain and France at the expense
custody to Saar region which had coal and other minerals like Ironwhich
formerly belonged to Germany, France and Britain gained mandatory colonies
in Africa like Tanganyika for Britain, Togo and Cameroon to France that
formerly belonged to Germany etc. Therefore the Versailles peace treaty of
1919 was unfair to Germany and this partly forced Hitler to attack

19
 Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia Poland in compensation for the loss of her colonial
territories during the treaty that partly caused ww11 in 1939.
11. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 created weak states which it couldn’t
protect and defend something that caused future trouble that partly led to the
outbreak of ww11 of 1939-45. These included Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia
Poland etc. where were very weak and unable to defend themselves against
any external aggression and they became an easy target to the future
Germany aggression during Adolf Hitler’s leadership something that sparked
off the outbreak of ww11 in 1939 ie Germany’s invasion of Poland on
1st/Sept/1939 sparked off the outbreak of ww11 in 1939.
12. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 partly contributed to the occurrence
of economicdepression of 1929-35. This was mainly because of its poor
economic terms that the treaty had imposed on Germany ie Germany was
heavily punished by imposing on her a heavy war indemnity of 6.6 billion
pounds, she was not allowed to freely export and import goods yet Germany
was a great trading partner to most European countries. This kind of
situation therefore affected free trade on European continent and laid a
ground for the occurrence of the economic depression between 1929-1935
where economic activities came to a standstill in Europe leading to high
unemployment, low incomes, low investment etc. hence a sign of weakness of
the Versailles peace treaty of 1919.
13. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 failed to ensure lasting peace in
Europe because it led to the outbreak of ww11 in 1939. The treaty sowed
seeds for the outbreakof ww11 because countries like Germany and Italy
wanted to change the settlement which they considered unfair. For example
Germany later invaded Poland and Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia etc where
German Nationals that had been included in those countries by the Versailles
peace treaty of 1919 became foreigners . This was interpreted as an aggression
and the allied powers ie Britain, France, USA etc therefore decided to declare
war on Germany in 1939.
14. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 failed to cater for Italy and Japan. It
should be noted that Italy and Japan had fought with the allied powers
against Germany up to 1919when she was defeated. However according to the
Italians the rewards given to their country by the Versailles peace treaty were
peanuts e.g no single Germany colony was givento Italy yet Britain and France
took over Tanganyika and Togo amongothers respectively. The same was true
withJapan. Italy and Japan therefore became very bitter and therefore they
later decided to form an alliance of the Axis powers ie Berlin-Rome-Tokyo axis
and this revived the alliance system in Europe that eventually caused world
war one between 1914-1918

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 15. TheVersailles treaty of 1919 led to the rise of dictators/dictatorial
regimes in Germany and Italy. In Germany, Adolf Hitler decampaigned the
Versailles peace treaty of 1919 and therefore he received massive support from
the Germans which enabled him to take over power from the Weimar republic
in 1933. In Italy Bedito Mussolini was given support because of his criticism of
the unfairness of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 to Italy. This assisted him
to over throw the liberal and democratic government of king victor
Emmanuel111 and established dictatorial regime in Italy in 1922. These two
leaders became aggressive which undermined European peace ie Hitler
attacked Poland on 1st/Sept/1939 that sparked off the outbreak of ww11 in
1939.

THE STRENGTH / ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE TREATY OF

1919
1. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 confirmed the creation of a peace making
body known as the League of Nations in 1920. This was derived from Woodrow
Wilson’s14 points arguing European powers to form an
internationalorganization that would act as channel for conflictresolution. This
was the first of its kind in Europe and the world at large. The LNOmanaged to
maintain peace for at least 20 years until the outbreak of the 2 nd world war in
1939. Therefore the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 restored the principle of
diplomacy and round table discussions hence a big achievement registered by
the Versailles peace treaty of 1919.
2. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 ended ww1 and this led to relative peace
on the European continent for at least a period of 20years (1919-1939).
Germany and her allies were told to denounce. The war at Versailles peace
treaty and Germany in particularwas forced to acceptdefeat. Therefore terms
of the treaty weakened Germany which greatly led to peace and security in
Europe and theworld at large hence a big achievement made by the Versailles
peace treaty of 1919.
3. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 helped France to get back her lost two
provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany. It should be recalled that
these two provinces had been annexed by Germany from France after the
Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, following the terms of the Frankfurt treaty of
1871 after the Franco-Prussian war. These provinces were rich in Iron and
Coal respectively and yet they were taken against the will of France. Therefore
the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 gave them back to France as a way of
bringing back peace and reconciliation between the two countries hence the
strength of the treaty.

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4. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 managed to disarm Germany and her allies
thereby maintaining relative peace for some time. It should be recalled that
Germany had started the arm race which was quickly adopted by other
countrieshence causing ww1. However the Versailles peace treaty contained
the possibility of another similar war through the disarmament clause in
which Germany was reducedto a capacity of only 100,000 troops, \she was
refused from conscription, prevented from manufacturing deadly weapons
which greatly weakened her and reduced her militarily. Therefore the
disarmament clause of the Versailles peace treaty saved the world from
Germany aggression for a period of 20years (1919-1939).
5. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 managed to force Germany to return all the
confiscated property to France following the effects of Franco-Prussian war of
1870-1871. The Germans humiliated France in various ways, however of all
those, the greatest humiliation that Germany did was to force France
surrender all the flags as a sign of defeat, on top of the above, she also
surrendered her trophies, art pieces that Germany took in 1871. Therefore the
return of these confiscated propertiesto France was a sign of relief. Although
most of them had disappeared, but it was a positive gesture from the
Versailles peace treaty of 1919.
6. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 was also credited for granting Poland
accessto sea and guarantee her independence. For long Poland had been
under the control of Russia and was a land locked country, however, following
the territorial adjustment clause of the treaty, Poland was granted access to
the Baltic sea, the treaty also gave some Germany territory such as polish
corridor, East Prussia to Poland. This was made to strengthen the economic
position of Poland which was granted access to the Baltic sea. Poland
remained independent until Adolf Hitler attacked her in 1939. Therefore the
treaty guaranteed the independence of Poland.
7. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 was also credited for disallowing the union
between Germany and Austria which was also embedded in the treaty of
St.Germain. It should be noted that such a union had been the cause of the
alliance system that destablished Europe and therefore created two hostile
camps ie Triple alliance and Triple entente. Therefore in the abid to prevent
the re-occurrence of the same, the Versailles peace treaty for bade Germany
and Austria from ever uniting again which kept Europe at peace until 1936
when Adolf Hitler attacked Austria and reunited it with Germany hence a big
achieved registered by the Versailles peace treaty of 1919.
8. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 confirmed France’s dominance of the North
African countries of Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria. It should be remembered
that Germany had conflicts with France over Morocco which conflict resulted

22
 into thefirst Morocco crisis of 1905 and the 2 nd Balkan crisis of 1911 when the
Kaizer sent his warshippanther that landed at the Morocco sea port of Al-
Ghadir. Although the agreementwas signed betweenthe two countries,
Germany had never fully accepted French occupation of Morocco. Therefore
after the defeat of Germany in ww1, the Versailles peace treaty of 1919
absolutely confirmed France’s control over Morocco and other North African
countries e.g Tunisia and Algeria hence abig achievement
9. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919demilitarized the Rhine area/region inorder
to create peace ie Germany was forbidden from maintaining an army in the
Rhine as well as constructing fortifications on the Rhine River. By denying
Germany to militarise the Rhine, France was able to have a guarantee that
Germany would not attack her from the western side of the Rhine land which
in itself was attempt to maintain peace in Europe hence a big achievement.

The impact of the Versailles peace treaty on Germany

The impact of the Versailles peace treaty on Germany was largely destructive or
negative and that’s why Germany under Adolf Hitler soon rejected the terms of the
treaty and pursued rearmament as well as militaryaggression on Europe such that
by 1939, world war two broke out.

Below were the effects (impact) of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 on Germany

1. It was dictated and imposed on the German people ie the Germany

government (weimer republic) was forced to sign and accept the treaty and this
made the Germany government (Weimer republic) become very unpopular for
accepting such a harsh and unfair treaty and it’s not surprising that the
Weimer republic was later replaced by Nazi government under Adolf Hitler in
1933-1945.
2. The heavy war indemnity which was imposed on Germany ie 6.6billion pounds
led to economic hardships in Germany ie the economic depression of 1929-35
that led to difficulties that greatly affected the Germans ie it made the
Germans suffer from high unemployment, high cost of living, poor standard of
living and poverty etc.
3. The treaty made Germany surrender her territories under it ie Alsace and
Lorraine to France, the French treasures like the art pieces, trophies and flags
to France. These had been consificated by Germany during the Franco-Prussia
of 1870-71. This also further annoyed and humiliated the Germans hence
making Germany under Adolf Hitler to reject the treaty and its terms
4. Germany lost all her colonies in Africa and Europe under the decolonization
clause ie Cameroon and Togo to France, Tanganyika to Britain, Namibia to

23
 south Africa, sear land to France, Europe and Malmed to Belgiumetc. This
greatly weakened the economic activities in Germany yet it strengthened
those of her enemies ie such territories were are sources of raw materials to
her industries and markets for her manufactured goods and led to high
unemployment, high inflation poverty etc in Germany.
5. The Versailles peace treaty instigated a revolution in Germany by the right
wing opponents of President Ebert. This was after Germany Weimer republic
government accepted to sign what they (opponents) saw as an unrealistic
Versailles peace treaty. The revolution was however suppressed, but it created
instability in Germany which greatly undermined the survival of the Weimer
republic.
6. The treaty led to hyperinflation in Germany ie in the wake of trying to
overcome the economic crisis created by the Versailles peace treaty of 1919,
the government reacted by printing more money (Deutch marks) but this
instead caused severe or hyperinflation. Money was increasingly becoming
virtually worthless such that workers needed to carry sacks of moniesin order
to buy small items. Prices shot up in a spell of minutesamong other economic
disasters in Germany which increased the suffering of the Germans.
[

7. In 1923 Germany to France her industrial territory of Ruhr when the French
and Belgian troops invaded and occupied the disputed Ruhr region and simply
took what was owed to them in the form of raw materials andgoods. This was
legalunder the Versailles peace treaty of 1919. Because of the treaty the
Germany Weimer republicordered theworkers in the Ruhr region to go on
strike so that they were not producing anything for the French to take. The
French troops reacted harshly by killing over 100 workers and expelled more
than 100,000 protestors from the region. However, through the negotiations
done by stress man, Germany’s foreign minister, the French withdraw from
the Ruhr region and Germany hence regained it in 1926.
8. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 totally destroyed the Germany empire ie
over 10million German nationals were put under foreign rule ie this made
these Germans become foreigners in the newly created states e.g 2million
German nationals in Czechoslovakia, 2.5m in Yugoslavakia, 1million Germany
Nationals in Poland under such circumstance, Germany under Adolf Hitler
could accept the treaty and its terms and even forced him to attack these
countries that partly caused ww11 in 1939.
9. Germany was severely disarmed by the Versailles peace treaty of 1919. For
example she was forced to reduce her army to only 100,000 men, to have only
6 small battle ships and not to have armoredvehicles and aircrafts. Her navy
was reduced to 15,000 sailors. This was too small an army which could not

24
 even provide sustainable domestic security. This therefore made Germany
more vulnerable to any attack than ever before.
10. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 led to the rise of Nazism and Adolf
Hitler in Germany in 1933, who was totally opposed to the terms of the
Versailles peace treaty of 1919 that he considered too unfair and realistic. This
made him win the support of the Germany people in the general elections of
1933 which he won and pushed him in the office of chancellorship which
office he laterused to become the president in 1934 when an old man Paul
Hindenburg died and introduced Nazism as an ideology in Germany.
11. The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 led to Germany future aggression ie
Germany was totally dissatisfied most especially after losing many territories
and many of her nationals and this made Germany under Adolf Hitler to
attack and occupy countries like Czechoslovakia in 1938, Austria in 1938,
Yugoslavia in 1938 and finally Poland in 1939 something that sparked off the
outbreak of ww11.

QUESTION

How did the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 affect Germany?

Why did Germany reject the terms of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919

1. The treaty was just dictated and imposed on Germany ie it was “a dicta’t”
Germany was not invited and not even consulted during the discussions ie
she was only presented with the terms of the treaty and forced to sign it.
Therefore under circumstance Germany was forced to reject the Versailles
peace treaty and its terms e.g when Adolf Hitler rose to power he out rightly
rejected it.
2. Germany was imposed on the war guilty clause ie according to Article 231 of
the treaty, the entire blame for the outbreak of ww1 in 1914 was put on
Germany and it clearly stated that others were innocent and victims of
circumstance under Germany aggression and it read in parts.
“………by the war imposed on us by Germany………”
This therefore annoyed the Germans under Adolf Hitler to reject the Versailles
peace treaty of 1919 when he rose to power in 1933.
[[[[

3. Germany was made to pay war indemnity of 6.6 billion pounds as

compensation to the allied powers. This amount of money was too much and
unacceptable to Germany. Therefore Germany was not willing to pay the whole
amount hence this made Adolf Hitler to reject the Versailles peace treaty of
1919when he rose to power in 1933.

25
4. Germany was not happy with the terms of the Versailles peace treaty of 1919
and ended up rejecting them simply because she was the only country to be
disarmed e.g according to the disarmament clause, Germany was to reduce
the number of her soldiers from 4millions to 100,000 soldiers, remained with
6 battles ships, not allowed to produce tanks, war planes, submarines and
above all she had to handover the warships and war planes that survived ww1
to the victors ie Britain and France. This situation therefore made Germany to
become totally vulnerable to external attacks than ever before hence this made
Adolf Hitler to reject the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 and its term when
Hitler rose to power in Germany in 1933.
5. Germany had been made to lose all her colonies both Africa and Europe by the
Versailles peace makers ie Namibia to South Africa, Togo and Cameroon to
France, Tanganyika to Britain, and this came to be known as the mandate
states of the LON. Germany couldn’t accept all this to happen just because it
would weaken her economically hence when Adolf Hitler rose to power in 1933
he rejected the treaty and its terms as this meant the loss of source of raw
materials and market to the Germany industries.
6. The Versailles peace treaty making had been dominated by only 3 leading
states ie USA under Woodrow Wilson, Britain under George Llody and France
under George Clemenceau leaving out representatives of other powers like
Orlandoof Italy, Japan and Germany herself and this therefore annoyed the
Germans under the leadership of Adolf Hitler somethingthat made Germany
reject the Versailles of 1919 and its terms.
7. The chairmanship of George Clemenceau was so much blasedagainst Germany
throughout the discussions and was even heard making states like “make
Germany pay and hang the Kaiser”. Therefore with such kind of chairmanship
the Germans could accept the Versailles peace treaty and its terms under
Adolf Hitler’s leadership.
8. Germany also rejected the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 and its terms simply
because other powers like Italy, Japan and USA also refused to accept the
treaty. This therefore gave Germany confidence and determination to reject the
Versailles peace treaty of 1919 and its terms because even other powers had
rejected it ondwere not supporting it.
9. The venue where the treaty was signed also made Germany reject the
Versailles peace treaty and its terms ie the Hall of mirrors at Versailles. This
was totally unacceptable to the Germans ie it was not a neutral ground and
was a humiliation to them because this was the very place where Germany
declared herself an empire after defeating France and Napo111 in the Franco-
Prussian war of 1870-1871 where she took away her two economic nerve
provinces of Alsace and Lorraine and was the very place she handled them

26
 back to France. Therefore Germany under Adolf Hitler ended up rejecting the
treaty and its terms.

10.Germanyrejected the Versailles peace treaty of 1919 and its terms simply
because it had given France and Britain too much powers, influence and above
all it had put them in a better position to dominate European political affairs yet
it had sidelined Germany. This situation was unacceptable to Germany
especially under Adolf Hitler because to him Germany was still a strong country
and had just been stabled in the back by the Versailles peace makers.
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QUESTIONS

1. To what extent was the Versailles peace treaty unfair to Germany? Ie unfairness of
the treaty to Germany and fairness to other countries
- Two sided
- Calls for a stand point
2. To what extent did Germany abide by the terms of the Versailles of 1919?
- Two sided
- Show acceptance of Weimer republic accepting this terms, discussing term
/clause by term
- Give reasons why Adolf Hitler rejected the treaty
- A stand point
3. “The Versailles peace treaty of 1919 was questionable right from the start”
Discuss
- Two sided
- A stand point
- Questionable –use the unfairness of the treaty to Germany

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