Transcript The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles, France
The Paris Peace Conference:
Terms and Conditions of
Surrender
“The Big Four” at the Paris Peace
Conference
From left to right: David Lloyd George (Britain), Vittorio Orlando
(Italy), Georges Clemenceau (France), and Woodrow Wilson
(United States of America)
Map of Europe is Redrawn
Terms of the Treaty:
Military
1. Germany would be disarmed (no air force, no
U-boats, no tanks, no battleships)
2. Germany’s army restricted to 100 000 troops
Terms: Territory
1. The Rhineland (area
between France and
Germany) was
demilitarized
2. France annexed the
provinces of Alsace
and Lorraine, which
had been taken from
France by Germany in
the Franco-Prussian
war
Terms: Territory (con’t)
3. France could
occupy the Saar for
15 years. This was an
area rich in coal and
iron ore
4. In the East,
Czechoslovakia and
Poland got large
chunks of German
territory
Terms: Territory (con’t)
5. Danzig (Polish
corridor), important
for shipping, was
given to Poland
6. Germany forced to
recognize
Czechoslovakia,
Poland, and Austria
as independent
countries
War Guilt Clause
Germany was forced
to accept total and
sole responsibility for
causing the war. This
was seen by the
Germans as a
national humiliation.
Reparations
Germany would have
to pay $33 billion
German territory had
been totally immune
from damage, while
large areas of France
and Belgium had
been devastated
George Edmund Butler's painting
Zonnebeke (completed about
1918) captures the devastated
Belgian landscape in the
aftermath of the great battles of
1917.
The League of Nations Created
• Created after the war
to help keep the
peace
• Failed to prevent
WWII, and was later
replaced by the
United Nations
Reactions to the Treaty of
Versailles - Germany
German representatives were shocked,
and at first refused to sign. The Allies
threatened to re-start the war, and resume
a naval blockade on materials entering
Germany
Reactions…Canada
Prime Minister Robert
Borden admitted the
Treaty was harsh, but
believed it should be
harsh. Britain’s
general view was the
same.
Canadian Prime Minister
Sir Robert Borden
Reactions…America
President Woodrow
Wilson argued for a
policy of forgiveness
toward the defeated
nations, but had little
power because
America joined the
war so late.
American President:
Woodrow Wilson
Reactions…France
French negotiators
wanted to be sure
that Germany would
never again be a
threat – they wanted
an even tougher
treaty.
Georges Clemenceau –
President of France
Repercussions of the Treaty
Ferdinand Foch…French
General in Chief of Allied
Armies commented on
the Treaty…
“This is not a peace treaty; it
is an armistice of 20
years.”
He was right. Adolf Hitler
started World War II just
20 years and one month
later.
Source: DesRivieres, Denis, et al. Experience History:
Canada Since WWI. Don Mills: Oxford University
Press, 2006.
Adolf Hitler