Treaty Of Versailles - Repercussions
After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, in 1919, resentment in the German people could not be hidden. They blamed the “November Criminals”, as they had signed a peacethat would lead to the destruction and humiliation of Germany. This resentment and humiliation was accumulated and later displayed with violence and desire for revenge. The aspects of the Treaty thatwould humiliate the German population were: Loss of Territory, War Guilt, Reparations and Disarmament.
The loss of territory, such as Alsace-Lorraine to France and territories as the Polish Corridorand land to Belgium, Denmark and to the new Czechoslovakia made the German population be divided and feel heavily the punishment for the outbreak of war. This is portrayed in Source C, which statesthat the peace was dictated by the winners, in order to not only boost their power and control over Europe, but also to put economic and geographic barriers to the losers for them not to have theopportunity to rise in power and become a threat again. While the loss of territory dealt with economic and political aspects, the war guilt was an issue that dealt with the loss honor and the humiliationof Germany. Source A shows that the peace neither destroyed nor conciliated Germany, but left it scourged, resentful and humiliated. This created an atmosphere in Germany that would lead to the riseof an extreme right-winged party as the Nazis. Last but not least comes disarmament. This, as shown in Source E, where we can see a disarmed Germany that is on its knees and is being humiliated anddestroyed by the dictators of the peace. Clemenceau is ready to execute a vulnerable Germany as a punishment for the outbreak of war.
All these arguments were used by the Germans in order to criticizeand continue creating the feeling of resentment and vengeance that surrounded Germany. The feeling that the peace would not last long was among everyone in Europe…
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