The impact of the Versailles settlement on Germany Flashcards
(31 cards)
When and where was the conference to settle peace terms ?
Palace of Versailles in Jan 1919
When could Germans see terms of the Jan 1919 peace conference ?
7 May as they were not allowed to attend
When did allies say Germans had 7 days to sign the treaty ?
16th June
What did the peace treaty provoke ?
a political crisis and the formation of a new gov
When was the Versailles treaty signed ?
28th June
What is Diktat ?
dictated peace
Why did the Versailles treaty create problems ?
hatred of the treaty and those who signed it continued to cause political divisions throughout the Weimar Republic
What territorial losses were in the Treaty of Versailles ?
the treaty removed 13% of German territory and all oversea colonies
they also lost 75% of its iron ore, 68% of zinc ore, 26% of coal and 15% of arable land
What disarmament was stated in the treaty of Versailles ?
to surrender all heavy weapons, army limited to 100,000 men
Germany was also forbidden to use tanks or gas and the navy was allowed a maximum of 6 battle ships and no submarines
they were also forbidden from having an airforce.
What did articles 231 state ?
that Germany had to accept responsibility for the war.
What did the war guilt clause in the treaty of Versailles make Germany do ?
it made Germany liable to pay reparations to the allies to cover the cost of damage suffered in the war
fixed by a commission in 1921 at 6.6 billion
They also had to hand over most of their merchant shipping fleet, railway locomotives and rolling stock, patent and overseas investments.
What happened in the Rhineland after the treaty of Versailles ?
it was permanently demilitarised
allied also occupied the area to ensure Germany kept to treaty
What happened in the Saarland after the treaty of Versailles ?
it was placed under the League of Nations control for 15 years
France, Belgium and Italy provided with free coal
What were additional terms of the treaty of Versailles ?
- Austria was forbidden from uniting with Germany
- Germany not allowed to join new League of Nations
- Kaiser and others to be put on trial for war crimes
What was the German public’s reaction to the treaty of Versailles ?
as neither ordinary soldiers or the civilian population was told of the horror of Germany’s military situation by autumn 1918 it came as a shock creating resentment and refusal to accept moral responsibility
What did the German public’s objections to the treaty focus on ?
- Wilson’s 14 points and the separation if East Prussia from the rest of Germany was a major source of resentment
- the war guilt clause - unjust humiliation
- reparations - would cripple German economy
- allied occupation of parts of western Germany outraged German nationalists
- disarming of Germany and its exclusion from League of Nations - unjust discrimination
What was Chancellor Scheidemann’s view of the Treaty of Versailles ?
he believed accepting it would reject German honour. and wanted to reject it
this caused him to resign
Who was Chancellor Scheidemann replaced with ?
Gustav Bauer
What was the army’s view on the treaty and what were they planning to do?
Hindenburg and other army officers discussed resisting signing the treaty through renewed military action
Was Ebert ready to support rejecting the treaty ?
yes if he believed it would be successful however Groener told him it wouldn’t be so he signed the treaty
What was the policy of fulfilment ?
to outwardly comply with the treaty whilst negotiating modifications to it
What were Weimar republic opponent parties forced to state?
the DNVP, DVP and DDP had to state that those who had voted for the treaty were not being unpatriotic
What did the signing of the treaty do for the republics image?
they associated the republic with weakness and failure
How did right wing groups view the signing of the treaty ?
they saw it as a ‘stab in the back’ and that the politicians who signed it were ilegitimate as they betrayed Germany. They called these politicians ‘November criminals’
