Germany and the Treaty of Versailles

Question 1

What did Germany expect a peace treaty to be based on?

Answer 1

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

Question 2

What is a diktat?

Answer 2

A peace agreement forced upon a country. The Allies did not let the Germans have any input.

Question 3

What was the main motivation of the French in the peace process?

Answer 3

To ensure that the Germans could never invade France again.

Question 4

What size was the German army to be reduced to?

Answer 4

100,000 men

Question 5

What were the military provisions in the Treaty?

Answer 5

Conscription was banned, Germany was not allowed to produce many types of weapons, no air force, only a few ships allowed in the navy, no submarines allowed, no training academies.

Question 6

What happened to the areas of Alsace and Lorraine?

Answer 6

They were given to France

Question 7

What happened to the Saar region of Germany?

Answer 7

It was placed under international control. The French exploited the coal mines.

Question 8

Which countries were given land that once belonged to Germany?

Answer 8

France, Poland, Denmark, Belgium

Question 9

What happened to Austria under the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 9

It became a separate country. Any future union between Germany and Austria (called the Anschluss) was banned.

Question 10

What happened to all of the German colonies?

Answer 10

They were taken away from Germany and looked after by the League of Nations.

Question 11

What were the reparations?

Answer 11

Germany had to pay for the cost of the war. The reparation figure was 132 000 million gold marks (US$32 billion).

Question 12

What was Clause 231 of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 12

It was the ‘war guilt clause’. Germany was to accept responsibility for all of the death and destruction caused during the war.

Question 13

How did the Germans initially react to the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 13

They were shocked and angry. Chancellor Scheidemann announced that the German government would not accept it.

Question 14

Why did Germany have no choice but to accept the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 14

The Allies continued the blockade of Germany until June 1919 and were prepared to resume the war if necessary.

Question 15

What did General Groener believe Germany should do about the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 15

He believed Germany should accept it, otherwise Germany would ‘disappear from the map’.

Question 16

When did Germany sign the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 16

28 June, 1919

Question 17

What happened to the Rhineland?

Answer 17

The Rhineland (between the Rhine River and the French border) was not to have any German troops located there. It created a buffer zone between France and any German troops.

Question 18

How much Germany’s natural resources were lost under the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 18

48% of its iron ore and 16% of its coal resources. This would impact upon Germany;s ability to recover in the 1920s.

Question 19

What was a long term impact of the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 19

The Herman people felt bitter and humiliated. They associated these feelings with the new republic and democracy.

Question 20

How did the Treaty of Versailles help groups on the extreme left and extreme right?

Answer 20

They used the feeling of humiliation against the new republic and encouraged Germans to overthrow the new democratic system.

Question 21

How did Germany suffer economically under the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 21

They were forced to pay reparations, but the treaty reduced Germany’s ability to pay. By 1923 the German economy had collapsed.

Question 22

Why was the Treaty of Versailles an unrealistic long-term treaty?

Answer 22

The great sense of humiliation and bitterness meant that Germany would eventually try to reject the harsh treaty.