Early in 1919, the Allies decided to move forward with drafting a treaty that would closely reflect the interest of the various national delegates in Paris. The Germans, however, were hesitant to respond until they were allowed to review the full text of the Versailles Treaty, which filled almost two hundred pages. (The delegates had done a thorough job describing the steps that Germany would be expected to follow.)
In June of 1919, the Allies stated bluntly that they intended to mount a joint invasion of German territory if the terms of the treaty were not immediately agreed to. The head of the new German government responded that he was willing to
sign the Treaty, but only if certain very damaging sections were first removed: One of the treaty provisions
stated that Kaiser Wilhelm and other high-ranking German officials
could be tried as war criminals, and another required that Germany accept
full responsibility for the war. Once again, the Allies threatened to march across the Rhine, and they gave the Germans only twenty-four hours to make a final decision.
Borders
Germany was forced to give up 25,000 square miles of territory in which seven million mostly German-speaking people lived. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was abrogated, or cancelled, which meant that all of the territory Germany had gained from Russia would become independent states. Germany was required as well to pull all of its troops out of Belgium and to send all coal mined in their Saar region to the League of Nations for 15 years. Finally, the treaty returned the provinces of Alsace-Lorraine to France, and Germany had to recognize both Polish and Czechoslovakian independence.
Colonies
Germany had to give control of all of its colonies to the League of Nations, which distributed power over them among France, Britain, Portugal, Belgium, and South Africa. The Germans also had to give up their territories in China to Japan. Since Germany had been a late entry into European colonialism, many of their territories were located in small island chains. The Versailles Treaty gave all of the island territories in the northern hemisphere to Japan, and Australia took over control of former German colonies in the southern oceans.
Military
The primary purpose of the Treaty of Versailles was supposed to be preventing any future conflicts that might lead to a multinational war. The Allies placed most of the responsibility for avoiding armed aggression on Germany, which was allowed to maintain an army with no more than 100,000 soldiers. The Rhine River region where most of Germany’s armaments had been produced was also to be demilitarized, including any fortifications. One reason for the war had been weapons contracts between the Central Powers, so Germany was prohibited from participating in the arms trade, and they were prohibited from developing chemical weapons, armored vehicles, or military aircraft. The size of their navy was also restricted.
Reparations
The Treaty of Versailles established a Reparation Commission to calculate how much money Germany was expected to pay, to compensate the Allied nations for war losses. Meanwhile, the Versailles Treaty required Germany to pay about $5 billion in gold and property until a final amount of reparations could be determined. The 1921 London Schedule of Payments instead required Germany to pay $33 billion to compensate for civilian damage caused during the war. In any case, the German government negotiated a significant reduction and, despite many payment defaults, the final installment of the reparations was finally paid in 2010.
Guarantees
According the Versailles Treaty, the Rhineland would be occupied by Allied troops for fifteen. After five years, if the situation remained calm, Allied troops would be removed from the area, and all German territory would be evacuated by the Allied occupation force, including the Ruhr industrial region. The vast majority of German steel and iron were produced in this location, and it was believed that without these factories it would be difficult for Germany to re-arm itself.
League of Nations
The Versailles Treaty established a League of Nations along the lines that Wilson had envisioned. All international disputes between members of the League would be negotiated openly to avoid military conflicts; also, labor issues such as workman’s compensation, unemployment insurance, old age pensions, and child labor were all regulated at the international level. (The U.S. Congress had passed child labor laws in 1918 and 1922, but the Supreme Court declared both unconstitutional. This was another reason why the U.S. did not join the League.)
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