 |
Treaty of Versailles
On June 28, 1919 - the fifth anniversary of the assassination in Sarajevo
that sparked the Great War - Germany signed the peace treaty in the Great Hall
of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France, with no discussion of the treaty's
terms. And the terms were harsh. Germany would disarm and would be allowed no
naval warships or submarines, no tanks, no air force and limited artillery. It
would be restricted to an all-volunteer standing army of no more than 100,000
men. $5 billion in reparations was payable immediately, with estimates of the
civilian damages alone to be as much as $25 billion. Germany would cede all its
overseas possessions to Britain and France and would lose Alsace-Lorraine to
the French. France was given the rights to the coal mines of the Saar region
for 15 years to compensate for the Germans' destruction of French mines during
their retreat.
In all, the crushing terms of the Treaty of Versailles would lead to catastrophe.
The |
|
|
|
German
people, many of whom were convinced they had not really lost the war, bristled
under the harsh terms of the “dictated peace.” Humiliated, some Germans
blamed weak politicians, socialists and the Jews for their situation, sentiments
that would be exploited by an embittered German soldier of the Great War – Adolph
Hitler.
|
|
|
|
| |
Conference
Table
The
Allies, the victors, joined around the conference table to divide the spoils.
The harsh terms of the treaty they created sowed the seeds of discontent and,
in 20 short years, another war. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
