The Treaty of Versailles (1919): revision sheet
Homework for 4 November 2026: read Chapter 1, learn the Treaty of Versailles, and bring your textbook. Watch the video first, then learn this page.
1. Key dates
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 8 Jan 1918 | Wilson's Fourteen Points |
| 3 Mar 1918 | Brest-Litovsk: Germany forces a very harsh peace on Russia |
| 9 Nov 1918 | Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicates; Germany becomes a republic |
| 11 Nov 1918 | Armistice: fighting stops at 11 a.m. |
| Dec 1918 | British general election: Lloyd George wins; voters want Germany punished |
| 18 Jan 1919 | Paris Peace Conference opens (32 countries; Germany not invited) |
| 25 Mar 1919 | Lloyd George's Fontainebleau Memorandum warns against a harsh peace |
| 28 Jun 1919 | Treaty signed in the Hall of Mirrors, where the German Empire was proclaimed on 18 Jan 1871 |
| Mar 1920 | US Senate rejects the treaty; the USA never joins the League |
| 1921 | Reparations fixed at 132 billion gold marks (about £6.6 billion) |
| 1924 / 1929 | Dawes Plan / Young Plan ease the payments |
| 1926 | Germany joins the League of Nations |
2. The Big Three
| Leader | Main aims | What he got | Satisfied? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Woodrow Wilson (USA, President) | A fair, lasting peace; Fourteen Points; self-determination; a League of Nations; disarmament; not to crush Germany | The League (its Covenant is Part I of the treaty); new states such as Poland and Czechoslovakia | No. Treaty harsher than he wanted; the US Senate rejected it, so the USA never joined his League |
| Georges Clemenceau (France, Prime Minister, "the Tiger") | Security, revenge, make Germany pay; Alsace-Lorraine back; a tiny German army; ideally a Rhineland separated from Germany | Alsace-Lorraine; army of 100,000; Rhineland demilitarised and occupied; Saar coal mines; reparations | Partly. Many French people wanted an independent Rhineland and doubted the League could protect France |
| David Lloyd George (Britain, Prime Minister) | Please voters ("make Germany pay", "Hang the Kaiser") but a balanced peace: Germany as a trading partner, no war of revenge, protect the Empire and naval supremacy | German navy cut to 6 battleships and no submarines; German colonies became mandates (many run by Britain); reparations | Partly. He feared some terms were too harsh and could cause a future war |
3. The terms: Land, Army, Guilt, Reparations (+ the League)
Alternative mnemonic used in many textbooks: BRAT = Blame, Reparations, Army, Territory.
- Land (about 13 per cent of Germany's European land, about 10 per cent of its people)
- Alsace-Lorraine back to France (Art. 51).
- Saar: governed by the League of Nations for 15 years, coal mines to France, then a vote (Art. 45–50).
- Posen and West Prussia to Poland: the Polish Corridor cut East Prussia off from Germany (Art. 87).
- Danzig: a free city under League protection (Art. 100–102).
- All colonies lost (Art. 119) and run as League mandates (Covenant, Art. 22).
- Anschluss (union with Austria) forbidden (Art. 80).
- Army
- Army limited to 100,000 men (Art. 160); conscription abolished, volunteers only (Art. 173); no tanks (Art. 171).
- Navy: 6 battleships, 6 light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, no submarines (Art. 181, 191).
- No air force (Art. 198).
- Rhineland demilitarised (Art. 42–43) and occupied by Allied troops for 15 years (Art. 428).
- Guilt: Article 231, the war guilt clause: Germany accepts responsibility, with its allies, "for causing all the loss and damage" of the war.
- Reparations (Art. 232–233): amount left to a Reparation Commission, fixed in 1921 at 132 billion gold marks (about £6.6 billion). Eased in 1924 and 1929; Germany only ever paid part of it.
- League of Nations: created by the treaty; Germany excluded until 1926; the USA never joined.
German reaction: a Diktat (dictated peace: no negotiation); the leader of the German delegation called the war guilt clause a lie; President Ebert called the terms "unrealisable and unbearable"; nationalists spread the stab-in-the-back myth and blamed the "November Criminals". Hitler later used both ideas.
4. Key vocabulary
| English | Français | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| armistice | l'armistice | agreement to stop fighting |
| peace treaty | le traité de paix | formal agreement that ends a war |
| the Big Three | les « Trois Grands » | Wilson, Clemenceau, Lloyd George |
| self-determination | le droit des peuples à disposer d'eux-mêmes | a people's right to rule itself |
| League of Nations | la Société des Nations (SDN) | international body to keep the peace |
| reparations | les réparations | payments for war damage |
| war guilt clause | la clause de culpabilité (article 231) | Germany accepts blame |
| demilitarised zone | la zone démilitarisée | no troops or forts allowed |
| conscription | le service militaire obligatoire | compulsory military service |
| mandate | le mandat (de la SDN) | territory run for the League by another country |
| free city | la ville libre | city not ruled by any one state (Danzig) |
| Diktat | le diktat, la paix imposée | a peace forced on the loser |
| stab-in-the-back myth | la légende du « coup de poignard dans le dos » | false claim the army was betrayed at home |
| Anschluss | le rattachement de l'Autriche à l'Allemagne | union of Germany and Austria |
| Hall of Mirrors | la galerie des Glaces | room at Versailles where the treaty was signed |
5. Exam-style questions and PEEL plans
PEEL = Point, Evidence, Explain, Link back to the question.
Q1. Explain why Clemenceau wanted a harsh peace. (8 marks)
- P: He wanted security for France. E: German armies invaded France in 1870 and 1914. E: A weak German army and a demilitarised Rhineland would stop a third invasion. L: So harshness meant safety.
- P: France had suffered terribly. E: About 1.4 million French soldiers dead; the north-east devastated. E: French voters expected Germany to pay. L: So he demanded reparations.
- P: Revenge for 1871. E: Alsace-Lorraine lost in 1871; Empire proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors. E: Signing there in 1919 reversed the humiliation. L: Harshness was also about national pride.
Q2. Explain why many Germans hated the Treaty of Versailles. (8 marks)
- P: It was a Diktat. E: Germany was not invited to the conference and could not negotiate. E: Germans felt the peace was forced on them. L: Anger at how it was made, not only what it said.
- P: Humiliation of guilt. E: Article 231; the leader of the German delegation called it a lie. E: Germans rejected the blame, and the clause was used to justify reparations. L: Guilt felt both unfair and costly.
- P: Losses of land and military power. E: Polish Corridor, Saar, colonies; army of 100,000, no air force. E: A proud military nation felt weak and exposed. L: This fed the stab-in-the-back myth.
Q3. "The Treaty of Versailles was too harsh on Germany." How far do you agree? (16 marks)
- P (agree): Germany lost land, people, colonies and its armed forces. E: About 13 per cent of its land; army 100,000; 132 billion gold marks. E: Germans in Poland and Danzig were denied self-determination; Anschluss banned. L: From a German view, very harsh.
- P (disagree): Compare with other treaties and with France's losses. E: Brest-Litovsk 1918 took lands holding a third of Russia's people; north-east France was in ruins. E: Germany kept about 87 per cent of its land and was not broken up; reparations were eased and only partly paid. L: Less harsh than Germans claimed.
- Judgement: Harsh enough to make Germans bitter, but not strong enough to keep Germany weak: a compromise that satisfied nobody.