History

T

he T r eat y of Ver sai l l es, si gned i n 1919, was the peace t r eat y w i th Germ any wh i ch f o l l owed

r educt i on of Germ any ?s arm y and navy, as wel l as the abo l i t i on of i t s ai r f or ce. T he si gn i f i can ce of the T r eat y to Germ any i n the per i od 1919- 1923 can be assessed by l ook i ng at whether the T r eat y weakened and i so l ated Germ any du r i ng th i s per i od and whether the T r eat y caused or added to si gn i f i can t po l i t i cal and econom i c p r ob l em s i n Germ any. T h i s w i l l show that the T r eat y was si gn i f i can t because i t d i d i so l ate Germ any f or a t im e, bu t that i t d i d not r eal l y weaken Germ any, and that the T r eat y m ade wor se, bu t d i d not cause, cer tai n ex i st i ng po l i t i cal and econom i c p r ob l em s i n Germ any. T he p r ov i si on s i n the T r eat y that Germ any be excl uded f r om the L eague of Nat i on s, l ose ter r i tor i es and co l on i es and d i sarm d i d l eave Germ any i so l ated , at l east un t i l 1922, when i t si gned the T r eat y of Rapal l o w i th Russi a. T hey d i d not r eal l y weaken Germ any, however . Asi de f r om Russi a, i t r em ai ned the coun t r y i n Eu r ope w i th the b i ggest popu l at i on . Geogr aph i cal l y, i t was p r obab l y

the Fi r st Wor l d War . I t set ou t the term s of the peace w i th Germ any. T he Germ an pub l i c had hoped f or a set t l em en t based on US Pr esi den t Wood r ow W i l son?s Fou r teen Po i n t s, bu t they wer e ou t r aged when the term s wer e pub l i shed . T he term s i n cl uded : the estab l i shm en t of the L eague of Nat i on s, f r om wh i ch Germ any was excl uded ; a war gu i l t cl ause, m ak i ng i t cl ear that Germ any was gu i l t y of star t i ng the war ; a r equ i r em en t that Germ any pay r epar at i on s f or the dam age caused by the war (wh i ch i n 1921 wer e set at £6.6 b i l l i on , bu t wh i ch wer e l ater r educed ); ter r i tor i al ad justm en t s wh i ch r esu l ted i n Germ any l osi ng si gn i f i can t ter r i tor i es al ong both i t s easter n and wester n bor der s am oun t i ng to 13% of i t s l and and 12% of i t s popu l at i on ; the l oss of Germ any ?s co l on i es to the L eague of Nat i on s; a p r oh i b i t i on on Germ any un i t i ng w i th Aust r i a; and the

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