Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles: The End of the Great War

By the autumn of 1918, the Central Powers were collapsing. Bulgaria surrendered on September 29, followed by the Ottoman Empire on October 30, and Austria-Hungary on November 3. Germany, however, was the grand finale. To add a touch of drama, the Allies set the official time for Germany’s unconditional surrender at 11 a.m. on November 11—though the actual surrender happened at 5 a.m. In those six hours the fighting continued on the front, claiming more lives. One American soldier, who had just written to his fiancée about coming home, was ordered into a last, pointless assault. He died in No Man’s Land, a tragic and totally pointless end.

At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns finally fell silent. Soldiers climbed out of the trenches, dazed but relieved, exchanging cigarettes and food in the newfound peace. A few hundred miles away, Allied leaders gathered outside Paris in Versailles to draft the treaty that would formally end the war. Germany, forced into unconditional surrender, wasn’t invited to the negotiations.

At the table sat the "Big Four": British Prime Minister Lloyd George, French Premier Clemenceau, Italian Prime Minister Orlando, and U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. Their task? Deciding the future after a war that left 15 million dead, 20 million wounded, and entire nations shattered. The financial toll was staggering: $190 billion spent on destruction, with the added cost of rebuilding cities, caring for the wounded, and supporting widows and orphans. The war was over, but the consequences were only beginning.

The Fourteen Points

President Wilson saw the horrors of World War One as an opportunity to change the world. Wilson proposed a plan that he called “The Fourteen Points”. In his plan he laid out a vision of a world where domination of others and war would be replaced with cooperation and negotiation. Some of the highlights of his plan included:

Limiting the number of weapons a country could have
Providing for human rights for colonial subjects
Abolishing secret treaties
Redrawing the map of based on ethnic boundaries. (this would solve the Balkans problem that caused the war)
Absolute freedom to navigate the seas and trade freely.
Establishment of a League of Nations.

Wilson was shocked when people both at home and in Europe rejected what he saw a permanent solution to war. Back home Congress wanted to return to the old days of isolationism and rather than be bothered with a peace treaty involving Wilson’s Fourteen Points they simply repealed the declaration of war on the Central Powers. That’s right, Congress simply pretended that war had never happened. The French also weren't all that impressed by Wilson's Fourteen Points. At one point during the conference, Premier Clemenceau declared “Wilson bores me with his Fourteen Points”.

France, having suffered the most, wanted revenge. Nearly all of the fighting along the Western Front was on French soil. 90% of French men had been called off to war–75% of them wouldn’t come back. Returning soldiers were missing arms and legs. Many of its villages and towns lay in ruins. Some had been wiped of the map. Its forests and farm fields had been transformed into a nightmarish landscape of bomb holes, trenches, and dead bodies.

The French demanded a harsh punishment of Germany. In their version of the Treaty of Versailles Germany was going to pay. On June 28, 1919 after more than 8 months of arguing over the details the Big Four finally agreed on Germany’s fate. In exchange for peace Germany would accept 100% of the blame for causing the war. It would give up some of its coal-rich territory to France. It gave up its entire air force, most of its navy and its army was limited to 100,000 men. Most humiliating of all Germany would have to pay for the entire cost of war–132 billion marks (or $400 billion in today’s money)– on its own, while trying to rebuild its own shattered economy.

Fun fact: Germany finished paying off its war debt in 2010!

The League of Nations: A Great Idea, Poor Performance

After the devastation of World War I, the world was desperate for a way to avoid another massive conflict. That’s where the League of Nations came in—a big idea dreamed up by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The goal? Get countries to settle their arguments by talking it out instead of fighting. The League was like a global peace club, where if one nation stepped out of line, the others would team up to stop it. It sounded amazing on paper—like the world was finally learning its lesson.

When the League started in 1920, people had high hopes. Based in neutral Geneva, Switzerland, it worked on important issues like workers' rights, stopping human trafficking, and improving public health. But there was a major problem right from the start: the United States, the country that created the League, didn’t even join. Congress was worried about getting dragged into more global drama, so they decided to sit this one out. Without the U.S., the League was like a team missing its star player—not exactly intimidating.

Things really fell apart in the 1930s. Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, and the League did nothing. Then Italy, led by Mussolini, took over Ethiopia in 1935, and the League’s response was weak at best. Countries started ignoring it altogether. By the time Hitler began his rampage through Europe, the League was basically powerless. It officially shut down in 1946, replaced by the United Nations, which took another shot at keeping world peace. The League of Nations had good intentions, but without enough support or muscle, it just couldn’t get the job done.

Europe Redrawn

World War One did more than just cause a whole of lot death and destruction. Once the smoke had settled the face of Europe was completely changed. Old empires had been carved up and new countries had been created. Wilson pushed hard for a free and democratic Europe. He wanted to ensure that the new countries not return to imperialism but instead be free to govern themselves. The old Ottoman Empire was gone and in its place was the new and democratic country of Turkey. The rest of the empire though was divided up between the French and British who made the Middle East into a mandate. The British took control of Palestine, Iraq, and Jordan. The French won Lebanon, and Syria. Technically, these lands were under the control of the new League of Nations and were given as mandates (sort of like foster care for nations). Bu tin reality they were colonies like any other. So much for the dawn of democracy.

Austria-Hungary was wiped off the map as well. New countries like Czechoslovakia, Austria, Hungary, and Yugoslavia were born. Italy picked up a few territories along its border with Austria-Hungary as well. Germany kept most of its land but was forced to give up its rich coal fields in Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar to France. It also gave up a large chunk of real estate to create the country of Poland. Germans in the Sudetenland now found themselves under the authority of Czechoslovakia.

Why the Treaty of Versailles Matters

The British and Italians were tired of war too and went along with the French. Sadly, four years of terrible war had taught these politicians nothing. When word reached Germany of the terms of the treaty people were outraged. The other countries had done just as much to instigate the war as Germany had. Unlike the Allied forces who returned home to victory parades and celebration the returning Germans soldiers came home to country on the brink of starvation and in total chaos. The German Kaiser was gone–he fled to Holland– and the Communists were trying to start a revolution. Some soldiers survived the war only to be shot in a riot. Among the angry and bitter soldiers who came back to the new Germany was a lance-corporal named Adolf Hitler.

Germany After the War

In 1919, German citizens were up in arms over the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles that they had just been forced to sign by the victorious Allies. World War One was now officially over, European cities were reduced to rubble, farms were little more than crater holes, 15 million people were dead, and the economy was a total wreck. With the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires gone, that left Germany holding the hot potato called war guilt. France had suffered the most and wanted nothing short of revenge. In the treaty Germany had no choice but to accept some strict terms. The German monarchy was replaced with Germany’s first attempt at democracy known as the Wiemar Republic.

The German Empire lost land to France and Poland. Its ability to raise an army was seriously limited and its navy and air force was completely dismantled. To make matters worse, while Great Britain and the United States were partying it up during the Roaring 20s, Germans were expected to repay the Allies for the war debt by the tune of 100 billion tonnes of gold. (Equivalent to half of the total amount of gold ever mined). Germans were bitter, disillusioned and angry. Nobody was more angry and bitter than Adolf Hitler who heard the news from his hospital bed as he was recovering from a gas attack. Like many right-wing nationalists, Hitler immediately pointed the finger at the Jews and Socialists for betraying the German people.

Hitler’s ideas were gaining support in the early 1920s mostly because inflation was out of control. Germany borrowed heavily to pay for the war and now it not only had to pay back its debt but also repay war reparations to France and Britain. To make matters worse the government was printing money to pay off expenses and inflation was totally out of control. German marks became worthless and people raced to buy foreign currency. By 1923, things had really gotten out of hand. The price of bread skyrocketed to one billion marks a loaf! People would go shopping using wheelbarrows of cash. Some folks wallpapered their homes with worthless German marks. The government was blamed and so were the Jews- many of whom were business owners and bankers. Reichsmarks were called "Jew Confetti". In this atmosphere of fear and hatred, Nazism began to take hold.