Conditions of the Treaty of Versailles

Overview of Treaty

The treaty consists of many pages and articles (terms) outlining conditions that Germany was forced to agree to. The key aspects of the treaty are identified below:

1. The German Army was limited to only 100,000 men of all ranks.
2. No large artillery pieces, tanks or aircraft were allowed for the German military.
3. Limits on German Army Reserves. Men who joined the German Army had to stay in for twelve years and officers had to stay in for twenty-five years. This meant that only a limited number of men in Germany would have military training.
4. No General Staff was allowed. The purpose of a General Staff was to plan for war. This was were Von Schlieffen had developed his plans, therefore, no General Staff equals no war plans, then no war.
5. The German Navy was limited to six cruisers, two old battleships and some smaller ships for port duties.
6. Submarines were completely forbidden. The threat of these weapons during the war caused serious problems for the Allies.
7. The Allies were to occupy the Rhineland for 15 years in an area called the “demilitarized zone.” Germany was to pay for the cost of the Allied troops stationed in this area. This condition was to help limit French fears of fighting on French soil.
8. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France. This was a sore spot for France because Bismarck had taken the provinces away after the Franco-Prussian War.
9. Parts of Germany that were occupied by Polish people were given to the new country of Poland. This was part of Wilson’s Fourteen Points to create countries made up of ethnic groups, not run by foreign powers.
10. All German overseas colonies were divided up and given to France, England and in the Pacific to Japan.

The last condition has been considered historically the most controversial condition of the Treaty of Versailles. The Allies declared that Germany was responsible for the war and therefore had to pay reparations (compensation for damages). The total cost was to be calculated as equal to the damages caused by the war to civilian property. A special committee was to be established to set the price for the German government to pay.

Germany was very upset by the conditions laid out in the treaty. The unhappiness caused by the Treaty of Versailles was to have far reaching implications upon European history a short twenty years later.

Austria-Hungary and Turkey

Separate treaties were written and signed by all other countries that fought with Germany. Austria-Hungary was broken into a number of smaller nations including Czechoslovakia, Poland and Yugoslavia. The Turkish Empire was also broken up and new countries were created from areas under her former control. The conditions placed upon these countries were considered less harsh than upon the Germans, who the allies believed had started the war.