The+Treaty+of+Versailles

=Treaty of Versailles: Overview=

The Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty that ended World War One. It was signed on June 28th, 1919. The main purpose of this treaty was to get Germany to assume full responsibility for the cause of the war, and to have them pay reparations for it. There were overall, 440 clauses in the final treaty. The first 20 clauses dealt only with establishing the League of Nations. The last 414 clauses were about creating a punishment for Germany. There were hundreds of people involved in the process of creating this document and in the final signing of it that took place in the Hall of Mirrors at the Versailles Palace near Paris.

=The Main Points:=

Germany was forced to assume full responsibility for the cause of the war. Germany had to pay £6,600 million in reparations to pay for the damage done during the war. Germany could no longer have an air force, or be in possession of submarines. They were allowed to have a small army and a small navy, but they were not allowed to place troops in the Rhineland. Germany's colonies were given to Britain and France. These colonies include: Alsace-Lorraine, Eupen, Malmedy, and North Schleswig. A League of Nations was set up to maintain world peace.

Germany had two choices: 1. to sign the treaty, or 2. to be invaded by the Allies. They signed the armistice because they had no other choice. = = ="The Big Three"=

David Lloyd George of Britain, Clemenceau of France, and Woodrow Wilson of America were known as the "Big Three." These three men all had different views on how Germany should be treated.

David Lloyd George:
====His view was that Germany should not be treated with leniancy, but they should not be treated as harshly as for them to turn to communism. He feared that the rise in communism in Russia would spread to Western Europe. He also believed that a communish Germany would be more dangerous than a defeated Germany. This is why he appeared to be 'soft' on Germany, compared to others.====



Clemenceau:
====His view was simply that Germany should be affected in a way that they could never start another war again. He wanted Germany to be affected in such a harsh way that they could almost not come back from it. He had the harshest view on how Germany should be treated.====



Woodrow Wilson:
====Wilson could not believe that Germany was capable of such damage. He wanted the policy of isolation. Although Wilson was reluctant to leave the League of Nations, he still wanted as little involvement in European affairs as possible.====





=Impact:= = = ====Because of Germany having to give up its territories, this treaty greatly affected the geography of Europe. Since Germany also had to pay reparations, it lost many of its sources of raw materials, therefore greatly affecting its sources of income. Because of how harshly Gemany was treated, it caused them to want revenge. It also cause a great amount of people to distrust the Weimar Republic. This led to many uprisings, some were the Kapp Putsch, and the Munich Putsch.====


 * [[image:treatyofversailles:map003.gif width="332" height="301" caption="This shows the territorial losses Germany suffered from because of the treaty."]] ||
 * This shows the territorial losses Germany suffered from because of the treaty. ||

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