|
May
the hand wither that signs this treaty.
Frederick
Scheidemann, the German Chancellor (June 1919)
then
he resigned rather than agree to the Treaty |
Links
The
Berlin Times (pdf) - an excellent pupil assignment
BBCi
site - simple statement
Germany
humiliated
Podcast:
- Giles Hill on reactions to Versailles
Original Sources
Germany's
Reaction - Sources
Brockdorff-Rantzau
on the economic articles of the Treaty - difficult but
worthwhile
Why
was there opposition in Germany to the Treaty of Versailles?
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Source A
 
This cartoon appeared in
the German satirical magazine Simplissimus, 3 June 1919.
Click here for the interpretation
German outrage
When
the Germans heard about the Treaty of Versailles, they felt ‘pain and
anger’. They felt it was unfair.
It was a 'Diktat' – an IMPOSED settlement. They had not been allowed
to take part in the talks – they had just been told to sign.
The German reaction
On 7 May, the victors
presented their Treaty to the small German delegation.
Count Brockdorff-Rantzau angered the Big Three by giving a long
speech criticising the Treaty; then the delegation left and set
about countering it. A little later, they sent their
counter-proposal based on the Fourteen Points) to the Big Three
-- their reply was so good that one of the British delegation
said it was much better than the Allies' suggestions, and even
Lloyd George wondered for a time if they ought to rethink the
treaty .
Then the delegation went home. Many Germans wanted to refuse
to sign the treaty; some even suggested that they start the war
again. So
it was with great difficulty that the President got the
Reichstag to agree to sign the treaty, and the imperious way the
two German representatives were treated when they were forced to
sign made things worse.
The Germans HATED the Treaty of Versailles
The Germans hated Clause 231; they said they were not to
blame for the war. The soldier sent to sign the Treaty refused to sign it – ‘To say such a thing would be a lie,’ he said. Clause 231 did not physically harm Germany, but it hurt Germany's pride - and it was this, as much as anything else, that made them want to overturn the treaty.
The Germans hated
reparations; they said France and Britain were trying to starve their children to death. At first they refused to pay, and only started paying after France and Britain invaded Germany (January 1921).
The Germans hated their tiny
army. They said they were helpless against other countries. At first they refused to reduce the army, and the sailors sank the fleet, rather than hand it over.
The Germans also hated the loss of
territory. Germany lost a tenth of its land - they claimed that the treaty was simply an attempt to destroy their economy. Other nations were given self-determination – but the Treaty forced Germans to live in other countries. Germans were also angry that they could not unite with the Austrian Germans.
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New
Words
Clause
231:
the paragraph blaming Germany for the war.
reparations:
the money Germany had to pay for damage done during the war.
Did You Know?
Fritz Haber (the
German-Jewish scientist who had invented the use of chlorine gas as a
weapon during the First World War) spent many years after the war
trying to find a way to extract the gold dissolved in seawater.
He hoped it would prove to be a cheap way for Germany to
pay off reparations.
Source B
The
disgraceful Treaty is being signed today.
Don’t
forget it!
We
will never stop until we win back what we deserve.
From Deutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, 28 June 1919.
Source C
Those who sign this treaty, will sign the death sentence of many millions of German men, women and children.
Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, leader of the German delegation to Versailles (15 May 1919).
Did You Know?
The Germans - and many British people - railed against the reparations sum of £6.6_billion as if it were a death-blow to the German nation.
But the First World War had cost Britain £6.2 billion, and by the end of the war Britain's national debt stood at £7 billion, of which £1 billion was owed to the USA and had to be repaid.
Yet nobody suggested that Britain's people were going to starve to death.
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Source D A
German postcard, produced about the time of the Treaty of
Versailles, showing the land where Germans lived.
The areas in red are the lands given to other countries by the
Treaty of Versailles,( including the land
lost by Austria).
Its
title is 'Lost but not forgotten land'.
The
poem under the map reads:
You
must carve in your heart
These
words, as in stone -
What
we have lost
Will
be regained!
|
 Source
E
Another
German postcard produced about the time of the Treaty of
Versailles.
Its
title is 'Hands off German Homeland'.
On
the stone (bottom left) is written 'd.ö.' standing
for Deutsch-österreich (German Austria).
Many
similar propaganda postcards were produced 
Is
Source C different to D? (Click
on the postcards to enlarge) |
Did You Know?
Germany did not pay off the reparations bill
until 2010. Repayment was interrupted by Hitler during his time in
power, which delayed the final pay off to 1996.
However, a clause in the agreement said that Germany would
have to pay interest on the bill if Germany were ever
to reunite, which of course it did in 1990. So the final
historic payment of £59m was made on Sunday, 3rd October
2010, ninety-two years after the war ended.
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Extra:
Study the materials, and the webpage on German
reactions, then list and
explain ALL the reasons why Germans were angry at the
Treaty of Versailles.
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