2. The Impact of the Versailles Settlement Flashcards
When was the conference to settle peace terms, and when were Germans invited to attend?
12 January 1918
7 May 1918
How was Germany’s territory affected?
13% of German territory
Alsace Lorraine returned to France
Lands given to allied countries
75% of iron, 68% of zinc, 26% of coal and 15% of arable land
Overseas colonies placed under the League of Nations control
How was Germany disarmed?
Made to surrender all heavy weapons
Dismantle fortifications on the Rhineland
Limited army of 100k, limited Navy of 15k and 6 battleships, forbidden from air force
Forbidden to use gas or tanks
How was the Rhineland affected?
Permanently demilitarised
Allied army based in the Rhineland to ensure Germany fill treaty obligations
Germany made to supply France, Belgium and Italy with free coal
How was the Saarland affected?
Rich coal reserves placed under League of Nations control for 15 years
What was ‘War guilt’?
Article 231 - Germany had to accept responsibility
£6.6 in reparations (fixed in 1921)
How did the German people react?
Horror and disbelief - until 1914 Germany had been a great power
Neither ordinary soldiers or civilians had been told how desperate the military situation was by 1918
Resentment of the treaty
How did German politicians react?
Many shared Chancellor Scheidemann view that accepting it would be incompatible with German honour - German request to negotiate terms were denied
The majority of the cabinet and SPD believed that Germany had no other choice
What did Ebert tell Groener?
He would support rejection of the treaty if there was no military action
What cabinet signed the treaty?
Bauer
What was the Policy of Fulfilment?
Stresemann’s strategy of complying with the ToV to improve relations while negotiating modification
Who used the term ‘November Criminals’?
Right wing nationalists that could not accept the defeat
Saw the government that signed the treaty as having betrayed the fatherland, referring to it as a ‘stab in the back’
What were the Freikorps?
Soldiers who returned but could not adjust the civilian life and wanted comradeship joined military volunteer units
How did Britain react?
Public opinion of satisfaction that Germany had lost their overseas empire
Privately, Prime minister Lloyd George felt that Germany should not be so weak as to be unable to resist the USSR and wanted Germany to become a rich trading power
How did France react?
Felt that they had suffered the most and were determined to seek revenge at Versailles
