Treaty of Versailles - June 28th 1919
PROVISIONS CAN BE PLACED UNDER THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:
Psychological
 War guilt
 No membership of new League of Nations
Economic
 Reparations
 Saar coalfields
Military
 Germany to disarm
 Rhineland demilitarised
 Army of occupation
Territorial
 German colonies to be handed over to the League
 Polish Corridor created splitting Germany from East Prussia
 Sudetenland becomes part of Czechoslovakia
 Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
 Anschluss forbidden
PROVISIONS IN MORE DETAIL:
Psychological
War Guilt
 Germany was to accept the “War Guilt” clause, which made
Germany responsible for causing World War I
1. Of the central powers only Germany had to sign such
a clause
2. With the advantage of historical research, historians
have shown each of the European powers and Serbia
had some responsibility
No membership of new League of Nations
 Germany to be excluded from membership of the new League of
Nations which was set up as part of the Paris Peace Conference at
Versailles
Economic
Reparations
 Principle was established that Germany should pay to compensate
for damage caused to allied civilians & their property
1. The sum set would commit future generations to
paying for a war they did not cause
2. Reparations were later set at 6.6 billion pounds in
1921 to be paid in annual installments
Saar coalfields
 To be administered by the League
 France was to control the mines
1. Control of the mines was a form of reparation
2. The loss of this rich industrial area hindered German
economic progress.
 A League plebiscite (vote) was to be held in 1935 to determine
whether Saar would return to Germany
1. 1935 vote was overwhelmingly in favour of a return
to German control.
Military
Germany to disarm
 Army restricted to 100 000
 Construction of ships over 10 000 tons prohibited as were
submarines
 Single-seated aeroplanes prohibited.
1. The Fourteen Points had called for disarmament by
all countries
2. Germany was the only country required to disarm
Rhineland demilitarised
 Demilitarised zone to be established west of the Rhine river and 10
km to the east.
1. The intention was to secure France’s border
Army of occupation
 Was to be maintained at Germany’s expense until the conditions of
the settlement were met.
Territorial
German colonies to be handed over to the League
 Humanitarian grounds were the reason for this, although Germany’s
record in colonial affairs was no worse than the Allies
 The colonies were administered by the allies as League mandates.
Polish Corridor created splitting Germany from East Prussia
 An independent Poland was established
1. An independent Poland had been removed from the
map in 1815
 The Polish Corridor, giving Poland access to the sea, was created in
West Prussia (German Territory) and cut East Prussia off from the
rest of Germany.
1. The German port city of Danzig became an
International City
2. The Polish corridor included 1 million German
inhabitants
Sudetenland becomes part of Czechoslovakia
 The old frontier as it existed between Austria-Hungary and the
German Empire will constitute the frontier between Germany and
the Czechoslovak State
1. No territory lost
2. However, over 3 million Germany speaking
inhabitants resided in the Sudetenland
Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
 Germany had seized Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, having defeated
France in the Franco-Prussian war.
Anschluss forbidden
 Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence
of Austria
 The Anschluss (union of Germany and Austria) was forbidden
under the St Germain Treaty
The Treaty of Versailles – settlement with Germany
Provision:
Comment:
Article 231:
Germany was to accept the “War Guilt” clause, which
made Germany responsible for causing World War I.


Article 232:
Established the principle that Germany should pay
reparations to compensate for damage caused to allied
civilians & their property.
Reparations were set at £6,500,000,000 in 1921 to be
paid in annual instalments
Article 42:
A demilitarised zone was to be established west of the
Rhine and 10 kilometres east. No German military forces
could be based in this zone.
Article:
Alsace-Lorraine was to be returned to France.
Article:
The Saar coalfields were to be administered by the
League.
 France was to control the mines.
 A League plebiscite (vote) was to be held in 1935 to
determine whether Saar would return to Germany.
Article 102:
An independent Poland was established.
 Posen & West Prussia were included.
 This would create the Polish Corridor giving Poland
access to Danzig.
 The port of Danzig became an international city.
Article 119:
German colonies were to be handed over to the
League of Nations.

The sum set would commit future generations to
paying for a war they did not cause.

The intention was to secure France’s borders.

Germany had seized Alsace-Lorraine in 1871, having
defeated France in the Franco-Prussian war.


Control of the mines was a form of reparation.
The loss of this rich industrial area hindered German
economic progress.
In 1935 the vote was over-whelmingly in favour of a
return to German control.
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


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Article 82:
The Sudetenland was to be included in the new state of
Czechoslovakia.
Article 170-200:
Required Germany to disarm.
 Rhineland demilitarised (*Article 42)
 Army restricted to 100 000
 Construction of ships over 10 000 tons prohibited as
were submarines.
 Single-seated aeroplanes prohibited.
Article 428:
An army of occupation was to be maintained at
Germany’s expense until the conditions of the settlement
were met.
Of the Central Powers, only Germany had to sign
such a clause.
With the advantage of historical research, historians
have shown each of the European powers and Serbia
had some responsibility.
An independent Poland had been removed from the
map in 1815.
The Polish Corridor included 1 million German
inhabitants.
East Prussia was separated from the rest of Germany
Humanitarian grounds were the reason for this,
although Germany’s record in colonial affairs was no
worse than the Allies.
The colonies were administered by the allies as
League mandates.

The Sudetenland included 3 million German
inhabitants.

The Fourteen Points had called for disarmament by all
countries.
Germany was the only country that had to disarm.
