What was the impact of the Peace Treaty on Germany up to 1923?

Question 1

What was Germany’s general objection to the treaty?

Answer 1

• That it was too harsh.
• Not based on Wilson’s 14 Points.
• Negoatiated in Paris (hardly neutral).
• German delegates not allowed to debate the terms.
• The new democratic republic was being punished for what its previous leaders (the Kaiser) had done.

Question 2

What did Germans refer to the treaty as?

Answer 2

• a “diktat” or a dictated peace.
• a ‘mutilated’ peace.

Question 3

Why did they describe it as a ‘Diktat’?

Answer 3

• They were excluded from the negotiations leading up to the treaty.
• They were simply handed a draft copy and were invited to express comments and criticisms in writing.
• Given 5 days to study 500 Articles. (Hardly sufficient time)

Question 4

What would have happened if the Germans refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles?

Answer 4

• The Allied naval blockade would have continued and the Allies would have restarted the war.

Question 5

What was insisted to be included in the Treaty of Versailles by the lawyers of the Allies?

Answer 5

• Article 231 or the War Guilt Clause

Question 6

Why did lawyers of the Allies insist to include the War Guilt Clause?

Answer 6

• So that they could establish a legal basis for reparations: if you cause damage, and it is entirely your fault, then you must pay compensation

Question 7

Why did Germany contest the War Guilt Clause?

Answer 7

• They were not convinced that they, together with their allies, were totally responsible for starting the war.
• After all, it could be argued that the first military action in the immediate lead-up to the conflict was the Russian mobilisation of July 1914.
• The pre war arms race was entered into by all the Euroean powers.
• There was no inquiry into ‘war guilt’ - so it was not ‘proven’.

Question 8

What was the Treaty a symbol of for Germans?

Answer 8

• It was a symbol of Germany’s dishonour and humiliation.
• Especially the disamamanet clauses - Germany’s military tradition was a ‘proud’ one.
• It provide the basis for much nationalist ‘agitation’.

Question 9

How was the authority of the new Weimar Republic undermined by the Treaty?

Answer 9

• The ‘Stab in the Back’ Myth began.
• Right-wing politicians and activists expressed their disapproval by supporting attempts to overthrow the government, such as the Kapp Putsch of 1920
• Right-wing extremists carried out a number of assassinations of high-ranking government ministers, such as Walter Rathenau (foreign minister) and Matthias Erzerger (finance minister) over 300 between 1919 - 23 -
• Left-wing extremist groups exploited the unpopularity of the Weimar Government by promoting rebellions, such as that in the Ruhr of March 1920
• Many members of the army, furious with the government for agreeing to disarmament clauses of the Treaty, joined the Freikorps, militia groups.

Question 10

What did the Germans claim that the signing of the treaty

was the same as?

Answer 10

• Signing a ‘blank cheque’ as there was no figure stated in the treaty.
• The task of determining reparations was given to a commission.

Question 11

How did Germany face major economic problems in general terms?

Answer 11

• They lost valuable economic resources - e.g coalmines of the Saar and Upper Silesia.
• They had to repay war debts together with reparations.
• War debt was already contributing to inflation - reparations was making it worse.

Question 12

What did French and Belgiam troops do in January 1923?

Answer 12

• French and Belgium troops occupied the Ruhr region, Germany’s most valuable industrial area, with an intention to seize coal and other resources to the value of the missed payments.

Question 13

How did the German government respond?

Answer 13

• They told the German population of the Ruhr to offer passive resistance or peaceful strike action because the German Government was not in a position to order armed resistance

Question 14

How did the French respond to Passive Resistance?

Answer 14

• The French responded by expelling more than 100,000 Germans from the region and killed over 130.

Question 15

What did the German government do to make up for the lost revenue and what did it cause?

Answer 15

• They started to print money, which stoked up the existing high inflation into hyperinflation.
• This caused the German mark to become worthless and middle class savings lost their value.
• This meant eggs, cigarettes and bags of sugar were used as a form of currency (bartering)

Question 16

What did Gustav Stresemann, the Chancellor who was voted in in August 1923, do in September 1923?

Answer 16

• He took the unpopular, but pragmatic decision of ending the passive resistance in the Ruhr.

Question 17

What did Gustav Stresemann introduce in October?

Answer 17

• He introduced the temporary new currency, the Rentenmark, with a strictly controlled circulation and soon after this he agreed to resume reparation payments.

Question 18

How did the Dawes plan assist Germany?

Answer 18

• The Dawes Plan, introduced a more flexible repayment schedule - 1 billion marks in the first year increasing to 2.5 after 5 years.
• Provided an 800 million mark loan.
• Called for the withdrawal of the French & Belgians from the Ruhr (resororing it to Germany)
• Germany was producing more steel than Britain and France by 1926.

Question 19

What were the reasons for Germany’s dislike of the disarmament clauses?

Answer 19

• They were partly due to do with the status and prestige but there were also practical objections - Germany was surrounded by potentially hostile nations and the army was too small to deal with internal threats.

Question 20

How was the Treaty of Versailles different to Wilson’s Fourteen Points?

Answer 20

• There is no mention in the Fourteen Points of war guilt or reparations
• The Fourteen Points proposed disarmament for all and a general assembly of nations. In the Treaty, Germany was required to disarm but there was no equivalent requirement for the victorious countries
• Germany was not allowed to join the League of Nations, at least not for the time being
• The Fourteen Points stressed the idea of self-determination yet in the treaty it was clear that this was not to apply to Austria, Alsace-Lorraine or, until 15 years had passed, the Saar Basin (& Germany los 10% of its territory)