Treaty of Versailles
A Brief Outline of Our Fourteen Core Values
A speech Wilson gave to Congress in January 1918 lay out his idealistic vision for the world after World War I, which was at the time sometimes called "the war to end all wars." Wilson's so-called Fourteen Points underlined the need for national self-determination for Europe's various ethnic people in addition to specific territorial settlements predicated on an Allied victory.
To prevent another global conflict on this magnitude, Wilson advocated the establishment of a "universal association of nations" to adjudicate international conflicts and encourage collaboration between nations. The name "League of Nations" was adopted for this group throughout time.
German leaders assumed Wilson's vision would form the basis of any future peace deal when they signed the armistice ending World War I on November 11, 1918. In the end, this would not be the case.
First Peace Conference in Paris
On the anniversary of German Emperor Wilhelm I's coronation at the Palace of Versailles following the Franco-Prussian War in 1871, the Paris Peace Conference opened for business on January 18, 1919.
As a result of Prussia's triumph, the German states were united, and the French regions of Alsace and Lorraine were annexed by Germany. Georges Clemenceau, the French prime minister at the time, and his countrymen still felt the sting of that defeat in 1919 and set out to exact revenge in the treaty that ended World War I.
Articles of the Treaty of Versailles
Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France, and, to a lesser extent, Vittorio Orlando of Italy dominated the peace negotiations in Paris. Not only did Germany not send a representative to the Paris Peace Conference, but neither did Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, or Turkey, the other vanquished states. Russia, which had fought alongside the Allies until the Russian Revolution of 1917 led by the Bolsheviks, also stayed out of the war. The Big Four were at odds with one another in Paris. For Clemenceau, the top priority was preventing another German invasion of France. He wanted to prevent Germany's economy from bouncing back too quickly after the war by demanding hefty reparations.
In contrast, Lloyd George believed that restoring Germany's standing as a reliable trading partner for Britain should be a top priority. Orlando sought to strengthen Italy's position as a global force so that it could compete with the world's other big nations.
Wilson aspired to build a new world order based on his Fourteen Points, and he was hostile to Italian territorial ambitions and existing arrangements regarding land between the other Allies. Other leaders judged Wilson to be too naive and idealistic, and they found it challenging to implement his policy ideals.
The European Allies ultimately imposed severe peace terms on Germany, with the country ceding some 10 percent of its territory and all of its overseas possessions. The Treaty of Versailles also mandated the occupation and demilitarization of the Rhineland, severely restricted German military capabilities, prohibited the country from retaining an air force, and mandated that war crimes trials be held against aggressive German officials like Kaiser Wilhelm II.
The most essential part of the pact was Article 231, also known as the "war guilt clause," which required Germany to take full responsibility for beginning World War I and pay massive reparations for Allied war losses.
Exactly how did the terms of the Treaty of Versailles cause World War Two to break out?
Exactly five years after Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo, prompting the onset of war, the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919. The harsh terms imposed on Germany helped assure that the peace would not survive long, despite the fact that the treaty included a covenant founding the League of Nations, an international body aimed at preserving peace.
Germans viewed the treaty as a diktat, or dictated peace, and they resented having the entire responsibility for the war laid at their feet. Germany's total reparations bill eventually exceeded 132 billion gold Reichsmarks, or roughly $33 billion, an amount so large that few people believed the country could afford to pay it in full. Economists like John Maynard Keynes even predicted the collapse of the European economy if Germany paid in full.
Not only did Keynes voice his disapproval of the Treaty of Versailles, but other notable figures did as well. French military leader Ferdinand Foch skipped the signing ceremony because he didn't trust the treaty to protect France from a potential German invasion. Meanwhile, the United States Congress rejected the treaty and instead negotiated a separate peace with Germany. There was never any chance of the United States joining the League of Nations.
Fraudsters in November
Many regular Germans felt betrayed by their leaders, the "November Criminals," who signed the Treaty of Versailles and set up the postwar government in the years that followed.
Throughout the 1920s and '30s, radical right-wing political forces like the National Socialist Workers' Party, or the Nazis, gained popularity by vowing to undo the embarrassment caused by the Versailles Treaty.
German economic instability caused by the Great Depression after 1929 weakened the Weimar Republic administration and paved the way for Adolf Hitler's ascent to power in 1933.