Treaty of Versailles

• History
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 3

The First World War

What you will learn in 

this lesson

• that Germany was heavily punished by      the Treaty of Versailles
• recognise the impact of the Treaty of Versailles for Germany
• how the map of Europe changed after the war

Use these questions to make your own summary

1918 the war was over

Economies had to be restored​

Someone had to be blamed and punished​

A peace meeting had to be held...

Treaty of Versailles (1919)​

Great-Britain, U.S., France​.

Russia and Germany were not allowed to attend these peace negotiations​

Germany got all the blame: pay the countries for their losses, give land to others, no more (valid) army--> angered Germany--> cause for ww2?

The Big Three

Clemenceau

prime minister

France

Lloyd George

prime minister

Great Britain

Wilson

president

USA

Germany: was blamed

On 28th June 1919, the Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles. In it was decided that Germany:

1. was not allowed to have an army bigger then a hundred thousand soldiers; its fleet had to be given to the Allies
   
2. had to give its colonies to France and Britain; Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France
   
3. had to give up ten percent of its territory
   
4. had to pay for the damage, caused by the war (War Reparations) (132 bilion gold marks)
   
5. had to accept the full blame for WW1 (Alleinschuld)

signing of the Treaty on June 18th, 1919, exactly 5 years after the assassination of the archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo

= attitude towards Germany

= reasons for this attitude

= main aim

Treat Germany harshly. Make the bastards pay for what they did. No mercy.

Treat Germany harshly, but don’t cripple it

Don't treat Germany too harshly. 

we suffered the least. A crippled Germany might be vengeful and start another war in the future. A crippled Germany is less likely to become democratic.

we want to trade again with Germany, so Germany’s economy must be rebuilt quickly.  

We suffered the most . We are closest to Germany, so we fear the most of a possible future aggressive Germany.

keep our colonies safe by taking away Germany’s fleet and colonies.

Turn Germany into a peaceful, democratic country. That’s the best way to preserve peace in the future.

Cripple Germany, make Germany pay reparations, get Alsace Lorraine back

Woodrow Wilson

American president​

Wanted to start a union that would make sure that another war was prevented --> league of nations (little brother EU)​

Right to self-determination: right to have your own country and nationallity --> didn't always happen --> new tensions in Europe

Tom and Frank are discussing this cartoon.
According to Tom, the artist agrees that Germany
should pay a lot of war reparations.
Maggie disagrees; she says that the artist
shows that Germany should pay an unreasonable
amount of money. Who is right?

 On the bag ‘Reparations $ 55,000,000,000’. Underneath ‘Germany’. American political cartoon about the German war reparations, c. 1921.

1. Tom
2. Frank

The Treaty of Versailles is often named as one of the causes of Hitler’s rise to power. How do you think the Treaty of Versailles played a role in Hitler’s rise of power?

Hitler, and many Germans with him, referred to the Treaty of Versailles as "Das Diktat von Versailles". What did he mean by that? use internet to find out.