TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Treaty of Versailles

Treaty of Versailles

Introduction

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919 in the Hall of Mirrors, at the Palace of Versailles, between France (Georges Clemenceau), its allies (United States: Woodrow Wilson; Italy: V. E. Orlando; Great Britain: David Lloyd George) and Germany. It brought an end to World War I. The negotiations, from which Germany was excluded, were not without difficulties. Clemenceau, eager to affirm French hegemony in Europe, encountered the opposition of Great Britain and the United States; the Japan had claims based on a conflict with China; the refusal to recognize Italy's right to annex Fiume and Dalmatia provoked the momentary departure of Orlando.

Discussion

Preceded by the League of Nations pact, the treaty included territorial, military, and financial clauses. The first consisted of the restoration of Alsace-Lorraine to France; the ceding of the districts of Eupen and Malmédy to Belgium; the areas of Posnania and part of West Prussia to Poland, which also gained access to the sea (Polish Corridor); the administration of the Saar by the League of Nations for a period of 15 years (after which a plebiscite would be held), as well as in Silesia and East Prussia; the abandonment by Germany of its colonies, the mandates of which would be given to France, Belgium, Great Britain, the Union of South Africa, and Japan. The military clauses of the treaty stipulated that the German army could not exceed 100,000 troops and 16,000 for the navy (with no submarines), and the air force would be disbanded. The financial clauses outlined the reparations to be paid by Germany in goods and supplies as well as in money in installments. Finally, to guarantee the application of the treaty, which would become effective in January 1920, it was determined that the left bank of the Rhine River (the Rhineland) would be occupied by Allied forces (as well as three bridgeheads on the right bank: Mainz, Coblenz, and Cologne) for a period of 15 years, after which the Rhineland would be demilitarized. This treaty, which was imposed on Germany, was never accepted by that nation. To erase the diktat of Versailles became one of the political goals of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi followers. (Boemeke, 2005)

The Withdrawal Of The United States

Alone among the major victorious powers at the peace conference, the United States failed to ratify the Versailles Treaty. The U.S. Senate, whose consent to treaties was required by the American constitution before they became part of American law, rejected the peace treaty twice, on 19 November 1919 and 19 March 1920. The major reason for the Senate's opposition was that President Wilson had linked the peace treaty with Germany to the constitution (or Covenant, as it was called) of the new League of Nations organization, which he had persuaded the conference in Paris to approve as the best hope for the future peace of the world. The Republican majority in the Senate, led by the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, Henry ...