German hate for the Treaty of Versailles

• How was Germany treated?

  • The new German government was not invited to the discussions for the Treaty of Versailles
  • Instead, after the terms were decided, the Germans were told they had to accept them - or else the country would face invasion from Britain, France and the USA
  • The new German government decided to sign the treaty on 28 June 1919, rather than put the country through another war
  • The following day, a German newspaper summed up the feelings of many
• The Treaty of Versailles

  • The war was Germany's fault, so Germany must pay for the cost of war (which was later set at £6.6 billion)
  • The money is to be paid to the winners in installments, lasting until 1988
  • Germany should only have a small army (100,000 soldiers) a small navy (six battleships), and no submarines, tanks or air force
  • Germany must hand over its colonies abroad to the winning countries
  • Large areas of German land are to be used to create new countries for people who had been previously ruled by others (such as Poland and Czechoslovakia)
  • Germany must never unite with Austria again
  • No German soldiers should enter the Rhineland, an area of Germany next to France
• Germany reactions to the Treaty of Versailles

  • Germans hated the treaty for three main reasons
  • Firstly, the Germans felt it was too harsh
  • The treaty took away large areas of land, which meant losing people, factories, farms and mines
  • They had to pay a large amount of money to the winners too
  • They felt humiliated and angry with the way their country had been treated
  • Secondly, Germans hated the fact that the treaty had been forced on them
  • They were ordered to sign it, without discussion
  • They called it a 'diktat' - a dictated peace
  • Finally, many Germans felt that they had not really lost the war at all
  • Instead, Germany's new politicians had betrayed the country by asking for a ceasefire as soon as the Kaiser had left Germany in November 1918
  • Some Germans, including soldiers, thought Germany could have carried on fighting, but was betrayed by the politicians who ended the war (the November Criminals)