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What was the Treaty of Versailles?Who were the key people involved in drafting the Treaty of Versailles?What were the main provisions of the Treaty of Versailles?What were the results of the Treaty of Versailles?Summary Read a brief summary of this topicTreaty of Versailles, peace document signed at the end of World War I by the Allied and associated powers and by Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France, on June 28, 1919; it took force on January 10, 1920. A brief treatment of the Treaty of Versailles follows. For full treatment, see international relations: Peacemaking, 1919–22. The Paris Peace ConferenceWhen the German government asked U.S. Pres. Woodrow Wilson to arrange a general armistice in October 1918, it declared that it accepted the Fourteen Points that he had formulated and presented to the U.S. Congress in January 1918 as the basis for a just peace. However, the Allies demanded “compensation by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allies and their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea and from the air.” Further, the nine points covering new territorial consignments were complicated by the secret treaties that England, France, and Italy had made with Greece, Romania, and each other during the last years of the war. The treaty was drafted in the spring of 1919 during the Paris Peace Conference, which was conducted even as the world was in the grip of the influenza pandemic of 1918–19. The conference was dominated by the national leaders known as the “Big Four”—David Lloyd George, the prime minister of the United Kingdom; Georges Clemenceau, the prime minister of France; Woodrow Wilson, the president of the United States; and Vittorio Orlando, the prime minister of Italy. The first three in particular made the important decisions. None of the defeated nations had any say in shaping the treaty, and even the associated Allied powers played only a minor role. The German delegates were presented with a fait accompli. They were shocked at the severity of the terms and protested the contradictions between the assurances made when the armistice was negotiated and the actual treaty. Accepting the “war guilt” clause and the reparation terms was especially odious to them.  Britannica Quiz World War I: Fact or Fiction? Did Canada fight on the side of Britain in World War I? Was Italy an ally of Germany in World War I? From the Flying Tigers to the Red Baron, experience the Great War in this quiz. The population and territory of Germany was reduced by about 10 percent by the treaty. In the west, Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France, and the Saarland was placed under the supervision of the League of Nations until 1935. In the north, three small areas were given to Belgium, and, after a plebiscite in Schleswig, northern Schleswig was returned to Denmark. In the east, Poland was resurrected, given most of formerly German West Prussia and Poznań (Posen), given a “corridor” to the Baltic Sea (which separated East Prussia from the rest of Germany), and given part of Upper Silesia after a plebiscite. Gdańsk (Danzig) was declared a free city. All Germany’s overseas colonies in China, in the Pacific, and in Africa were taken over by Britain, France, Japan, and other Allied nations (see mandate). As far as his original 14 Points was concerned, Wilson proposed an end to secret alliances, for he had seen the effects of countries forming secretive military relationships with one another. He encouraged self-determination and freedom of the colonies, freedom of the seas, and the ability to promote open trade. He also advocated for Italy’s borders to be redrawn. The Treaty of Versailles, on the other hand, featured some components that angered the Germans. Many of the global leaders who attended the Paris Peace Conference were upset with Germany, and they wanted to impose harsh penalties. Namely, they wanted the treaty to stipulate that Germany would be forced to give up their colonies, hand over the Kaiser and other German leaders for punishment, and pay reparations, or money owed to other countries that experienced damages and casualties during the war. This essentially put the blame on Germany for the war, and the treaty made it all but necessary that Germany accept that blame. In return, the treaty stated that the Allied soldiers would leave Germany if all the requirements were adhered to. There were nevertheless some shared components between Wilson’s 14 Points and the ultimate Treaty of Versailles. Namely, both called for a reduction of armed forces in Germany. German soldiers would be removed from other territories, while any territories which were taken from France would be returned to them swiftly. Belgium would also be granted its independence, and new nation states would be born from the Autro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, namely Poland, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Hungary, and others. Finally, the two documents both featured the creation of the League of Nations, which would act as a multi-country organization to ensure that something like World War I would never happen again. What was Wilson's goal for the Treaty of Versailles?Wilson desired to create a system that would keep future wars from happening, as well as promoting a U.S. vision of democracy and peace. He believed that the best way to accomplish this goal was through the creation of an international organization called the League of Nations.
What was President Wilson's goal?His objectives include the self-determination of nations, free trade, disarmament, a pact to end secret treaties, and a league of nations to realize collective security. This speech becomes the basis for Wilson's peace proposals at the end of the war.
What were the 5 major results of the Treaty of Versailles?The terms of the treaty required that Germany pay financial reparations, disarm, lose territory, and give up all of its overseas colonies. It also called for the creation of the League of Nations, an institution that President Woodrow Wilson strongly supported and had originally outlined in his Fourteen Points address.
Which of Wilson's 14 points were included in the Treaty of Versailles?The Treaty of Versailles did, however, include one of Wilsons proposals: the establishment of a world organization to provide a system of collective security for all nations; this organization came to be known as the League of Nations.
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