Arts

Treaty of Versailles

Map: Germany after Versailles Treaty.

The Germans did not want to accept the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, but the leadership was compelled to sign the treaty when the German General Staff indicated that resistance was impossible. On June 28, 1919, German representatives signed the treaty at the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles (once the home of French kings). From the German perspective the terms of the treaty were harsh and unfair: far right political parties including the National Socialist Party capitalized on the unpopularity of the treaty and vowed to free Germany from its terms.

Territorial Terms

Germany lost 13 percent of its territory. Areas lost included: Alsace-Lorraine, Danzig, a strip of territory through East Prussia that formed the ‘Polish Corridor’ to the sea, the Saar industrial region with rich resources of coal, iron and steel, Silesia, and an area along the Belgian border. Plebiscites were held in Silesia and the Belgian border for local populations to vote on which nation they wanted to be affiliated with. In March 1921 a hotly contested plebiscite took place in Silesia. 707.000 voted to join Germany; and 479,000 voted for Poland. Since the Allies suspected that the Germans had used excessive pressure to influence the vote, it was decided that the region would be divided on the basis of majority German or Polish voting. The result was that most of the heavy industry of the area came under Polish control.

Economic Terms

Economic terms of the treaty were similarly harsh. Germany was forced to pay reparations of damages incurred during the war. The reparations were fixed in 1921 at 132 billion gold marks. Nine-tenths of the German merchant fleet was confiscated and German rivers were opened to international traffic. The League of Nations made German colonies mandated territories of Great Britain, France and Japan.

Military Terms

The treaty provided for the disarmament of Germany in order to prevent a resurgence of German power in Europe. The army was reduced to a peace-keeping force of 100,000 men who were on long term contracts and there were no provisions for the regular training of new recruits. The General Staff and military schools were eliminated. The German air force was abolished and the navy was cut down to a maximum of 6 small battleships of only 10,000 tons each, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers and no submarines. The Rhineland area was demilitarized and occupied by Allied troops; in the early 1920s these occupying forces would try to collect raw materials in payment for the overdue reparations payments. Overseeing these provisions was the Allied Control Commission which remained in Germany until 1926 to verify that Germany was complying with the disarmament provisions. (See details below on the specific military provisions.)

War Guilt

For the Germans one of the most humiliating aspects of the treaty was Article 231 which held Germans responsible for causing World War I. The unpopularity of the treaty persisted throughout the years of the republic. Public resentment remained even when the Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann (1924-1929) made several gestures to indicate German acceptance of the treaty terms. In 1925 Stresemann signed the Locarno treaties with France, Great Britain, Belgium and Italy indicating that Germany would recognize the territorial settlements in the west. In 1926 Germany joined the League of Nations under Stresemann’s insistence that Germany would best benefit by complying with the world community rather than remaining an alienated nation. German nationalists were so incensed by Stresemann’s fulfillment policy that plots to assassinate the Foreign Minister abounded in the mid and late 1920s.

“The Military Provisions of the Versailles Treaty” as they appear in the treaty:

Section 1: Military Clauses
Chapter 1: Effectives and Cadres of the German Army
Art. 159. The German military forces shall be demobilized and reduced as prescribed hereinafter.
Art. 160.

(1) By a date which must not be later than March 31, 1920, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry.

After that date the total number of effectives in the Army of the States constituting Germany must not exceed one hundred thousand men, including officers and establishment of depots. The Army shall be devoted exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and to the control of the frontiers.
The total effective strength of officers, including the personnel of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed four thousand.

(2) Divisions and Army Corps headquarters staffs shall be organized in accordance with Table No. 1 annexed to this Section.

The number and strengths of the units of infantry, artillery, engineers, technical services and troops laid down in the aforesaid Table, constitute maxima which must not be exceeded.

The following units may each have their own depot:

An infantry regiment;
A cavalry regiment;
A regiment of Field Artillery;
A battalion of Pioneers.

(3) The divisions must not be grouped under more than two army corps headquarters staff.

The maintenance or formation of force differently grouped or of other organizations for the command of troops or for preparations for war is forbidden.

The Great German General Staff and all similar organizations shall be dissolved and may not be reconstituted in any form. . .

Chapter II: Armament, Munitions and Material.

Art. 168. The manufacture of arms, munitions, or of any war material, shall only be carried out in factories or works the location of which shall be communicated to and approved by the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, and the number of which they retain the right to restrict.

Within three months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, all other establishments for the manufacture, preparation, storage or design of arms, munitions, or any war material whatever shall be closed down. The same applies to all arsenals escept those used as depots for the authorized stocks of munitions. Within the same period the personnel of these arsenals will be dismissed. . .

Art. 170. Importation into Germany of arms, munitions and war material of every kind shall be strictly prohibited.

The same applies to the manufacture for, and the export to, foreign countries of arms, munitions and war material of every kind.

Art. 171. The use of asphyxiating, poisonous orf other gases and all analogous liquids, materials or devices being prohibit4ed, their manufacture and importation are strictly forbidden in Germany.

The same applies to materials specially intended for the manufacture, storage and use of the said products or devices.

The manufacture and the importation into Germany of armoured cars, tanks and all similar constructions suitable for use in war are also prohibited.

Louis Snyder, Documents in German History, pp. 378-380, as cited in Paul Bookbinder, Weimar Germany: The Republic of the reasonable (Manchester University Press: Manchester and New York, 1996), Selected Documents, Document 4, pp. 237-239.

Next: Weimar Culture

Back: The Weimar Constitution

Related:

	Seeds of Bitterness
	The Establishment of the Weimar Republic
	The Weimar Republic Constitution
	Treaty of Versailles
	Weimar Culture
	Weimar Politics
	Weimar Economy
	Weimar Foreign Policy
	Locarno Pact

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