The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles in France, which officially ended the WWI. The terms of the treaty were worked out at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920 and it was signed by the representatives of Germany and the Allies: British Empire, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil , Cuba, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Siam, Czechoslovakia, and Uruguay.
The Treaty of Versailles was entered into on January 10, 1920, after its ratification by Germany and the four main allied powers: Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan. The US refused to ratify it, in conjunction with the unwillingness of the US to associate itself with the League of Nations, whose charter was an integral part of the Treaty of Versailles. Later, in August 1921, US diplomats concluded a special treaty with Germany, almost identical to the Treaty of Versailles, that did not contain articles relating to the League of Nations.
Agreement Conditions
Negotiations among the Allies began on January 18, 1919, in the construction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France. Initially, 70 delegates from 27 countries took part in the negotiations. After the defeat, representatives of Germany, Austria, and Hungary were excluded. The Russians were also excluded from the negotiation process since Russia already had a separate peace with Germany.
During the negotiations of the Paris Peace Conference, only the representatives of the Big Four countries remained. After the territorial claims in modern Rijeka were rejected, Italian Prime Minister Orlando left the negotiations, and only returned in June 1919, with the goal of signing the peace treaty.
Ultimately, the final terms of the treaty were determined by the leaders of the Big Three Allies: British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, French Prime Minister George Clemenceau, and US President Woodrow Wilson. Even with this small group, it was difficult to work out general provisions, because their goals conflicted. The treaty was in force on January 10, 1920, after its ratification by Germany and the four main allied powers: Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
Restrictions Imposed on Germany
Germany was given full responsibility for damage inflicted during the war. Article 227 accused the former German Emperor Wilhelm II of committing a crime against international morality and demanded that he be brought to trial as a war criminal. Articles 228-230 declared many other Germans as war criminals. Article 231, the “War Guilt Clause,” assigns all responsibility for the war to Germany and its allies, which had to bear full responsibility for all the damage done to the Allies’ civilian populations.
The Treaty of Versailles aimed to redistribution of Europe in favor of the victorious states. According to the terms of the peace treaty, Germany returned France to Alsace-Lorraine, surrendered Belgium to the district of Eupen-Malmedy, as well as the so-called neutral and Prussian parts of Moraine. Poland – Pozen, parts of Pomerania and other areas of Western Prussia were also relinquished. Danzig and its district were declared a free city. The Memel region was transferred to the control of the victorious powers.
The question of nationality for Schleswig, the southern part of East Prussia and Upper Silesia, was to be resolved by a plebiscite. As a result, part of Schleswig passed in 1920 to Denmark, part of Upper Silesia in 1921 to Poland, and the southern part of East Prussia remained with Germany. Czechoslovakia took a small section of the Silesian territory.
The lands of Lower Silesia, and much of Upper Silesia, remained with Germany. Saar was to be switched after 15 years under management of the League of Nations, and after those 15 years had to be decided by plebiscite. The coal mines of the Saar were transferred to France. The eastern borders of Poland were established along the line of the Bug River, west of Brest and Grodno.
Under the treaty, Germany recognized and pledged the independence of Austria, and recognized the complete independence of Poland and Czechoslovakia. The entire German part of the left bank of the Rhine, and a strip of the west bank 50 kilometers wide were demilitarized. As a guarantee of Germany’s compliance with Part XIV of the Treaty, a provision was made for the temporary occupation of part of the territory of the Rhine river basin by the Allied forces for 15 years.
German Colonies
Germany was deprived of all its colonies, which were later divided between the main victorious powers on the basis of the League of Nations mandate system. Germany on the Versailles Peace Treaty surrendered all concessions and privileges in China, from the rights of consular jurisdiction and from any property in Siam, from all treaties and agreements with Liberia, recognized the protectorate of France over Morocco and Britain over Egypt. Germany’s rights in relation to Jiao-Zhou and the entire Shandong province of China went to Japan.
Reparations and Restrictions of the Armed Forces
Under the treaty, the German armed forces were to be limited to a 100,000-strong land army. Compulsory military service was abolished, the bulk of the surviving navy was transferred to the victors, and strict restrictions were imposed on construction of new warships. Germany was forbidden to have many modern types of weapons, including combat aircraft and armored vehicles. Germany undertook to reimburse in the form of reparations the losses incurred by governments and individual citizens of the Entente countries resulting from military operations.
According to Article 116, Germany recognized the independence of all territories that were part of the former Russian Empire by August 1, 1914, as well as the abolition of the Brest Peace of 1918 and all other treaties it concluded with the Bolshevik government.
On October 3, 2010, Germany completed the last tranche of 70 million euros in the payment of reparations imposed on it by the Treaty of Versailles (269 billion gold marks – the equivalent of about 100,000 tons of gold). Payments ceased when Hitler came to power, but were resumed after the London Treaty of 1953.