Also: Versailles Treaty, Paris Peace Settlement 1919
Definition
The Treaty of Versailles, signed on 28 June 1919, was the main peace treaty that ended the First World War between the Allied powers and Germany. It imposed territorial losses, military limits and reparations on Germany, created the League of Nations and is widely seen as contributing to the conditions that led to the Second World War.
The First World War (1914–18) ended with an armistice on 11 November 1918. The victorious powers met at the Paris Peace Conference from January 1919. Germany was not allowed to negotiate. US President Wilson's Fourteen Points called for open diplomacy, freedom of the seas, reduced armaments, self-determination of nations and a league of nations. France, which had suffered heavy losses, wanted to weaken Germany permanently, while Britain sought a balance.
The final treaty was a compromise that satisfied no one fully. Germany saw it as a "diktat," a dictated peace. The US Senate refused to ratify it, so the US never joined the League. Other treaties, such as Saint-Germain (Austria), Trianon (Hungary), Neuilly (Bulgaria) and Sèvres (Ottoman Empire), completed the settlement.
Territory: Alsace-Lorraine returned to France; the Saar under League control for 15 years; land given to Poland, including the "Polish Corridor"; Danzig a free city; German colonies became League mandates.
Military limits: army capped at 100,000 men; no air force, tanks or submarines; the Rhineland demilitarised.
Reparations: Germany to pay for war damages.
War guilt: Article 231 placed responsibility for the war on Germany and its allies.
League of Nations: its Covenant was Part I of the treaty.
International Labour Organization: created under Part XIII.
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