What are the consequences of the Versailles peace? Terms of the Versailles

The First World War, which began in 1914, culminated in the signing of the Versailles Treaty of June 26, 1919. Nearly 40 countries took part in hostilities, and these are two-thirds of the world's population. The human sacrifices were huge - about 36 million dead.

The Versailles Peace Treaty documented the victory for the Entente countries: France, Great Britain, Russia, etc. After the lost war, Germany and its economy found themselves in the deepest depression. The country lost part of its territory, and also suffered great human losses.

The annexed lands

So historically, the defeated party always pays for its mistakes. At the same time signing any documents carries with it any sanctions. What are the consequences of the Versailles peace for Germany prepared by the victorious countries?

In accordance with the document, the lands of Lorraine and Alsace passed to France, Pomerania, Poznan and Upper Silesia to Poland, Memel to Lithuania, and Schleswig to Denmark.

For a long 15 years Germany had to remain without its Saar coal basin. On this huge annexed territory, the total area of which amounted to about 70 thousand square meters. Km, and the population was about 7 million people, there was a large part of the resources, extremely necessary for the restoration of the German economy. On these lands there were significant reserves of coal and iron ore, as well as zinc and metallurgical plants were located.

Restrictions on armament

Now everyone knows what the consequences of the Versailles peace are. And no matter how hard they were for Germany, it somehow managed to preserve its basic socio-economic base of militarism, which remained almost untouched. In addition, the Germans left the bulk of their armed forces.

Thus, the Treaty of Versailles allowed Germany to have a naval fleet consisting of 12 torpedo boats, 6 battleships, 12 counter-destroyers, and 6 light cruisers. As for the ground forces, their number should not exceed 100 thousand people, while the number of officers was sharply reduced. There was a ban on the production of complex military equipment, which included airplanes, tanks and armored cars.

Reparations

In addition to restrictions on weapons and annexed territories, what are the consequences of the Versailles peace for Germany? According to the document, the losing side had to pay a considerable sum to the winning countries: 132 billion gold marks, which corresponded to 33 billion dollars.

The question of reparations was discussed at the London conferences more than once, beginning in May 1921. The fact is that the German government asked to postpone the payment of debts for 5 years. This was supported by the leadership of Great Britain. The British even promised France to write off all military debts to them in return for a simplified decision on the issue of deferring the German payment. But Paris refused such an offer. The delegation, led by JL Bartu, stated that the German reparation laid by his country is much greater than the debt of France to the United Kingdom.

Some states that signed the Versailles peace were afraid that payment obligations would remain only on paper. Therefore, the French delegation demanded that it be provided with guarantees that reparations by the German side would be made. Therefore, as a pledge, Paris offered to transfer to him the rights to operate and temporary confiscation of German mines in the Ruhr. In addition, they also wanted to get dye factories located on the left bank of the Rhine, and a number of other enterprises.

Occupation of Ruhr

I must say that the United States tried to find a compromise in the issue of reparations between Germany and France. They even proposed the creation of a special committee, which would include independent financial experts. These specialists were supposed to make an assessment of the solvency of Germany. But the reparations commission did not wait for the experts' conclusions. At the end of December 1922, she voted and, based on its results, passed a ruling that Germany was not fulfilling its obligations on payments, and, as a result, declared a default in Germany. For this decision, France, Italy and Belgium voted. Against this only the United Kingdom. In this situation, the conditions of the Versailles peace gave the French the right to occupy the Rhineland.

In January 1923, Belgian and French troops entered the territory of the Ruhr. Italy also formally supported the occupation, but did not actually participate in it. Ruhr, as the most developed industrial part of the country, was withdrawn from the jurisdiction of Germany. This zone was cut off from the rest of the German economy and lost all of its contractual and production ties with it.

Economic decline

What are the consequences of the Versailles peace, which led to the occupation of the Rhine zone? I must say that this event provoked an unprecedented crisis in Germany. The rate of the national German currency collapsed overnight, and the debt obligations were completely devalued. A panic was spreading in the country, which embraced both the poorest sections of the population and the middle class.

There, then there were actions of civil disobedience, which then grew into mass protests against the government and foreign intervention. At the end of the summer of 1923, the economic crisis led to the resignation of the government headed by William Cuno. Politicians began to talk about a new round of the revolutionary movement.

The postwar policy of Germany

Former allies, not agreeing about the Rhine zone, began to quarrel among themselves. Imperialist Germany used these strife in its favor. She was negotiating with one or the other, while deceiving everyone. As a result, the Versailles peace itself left almost all the military power to the country, which was considered defeated. And while allies were engaged in intrigues, Germany was accumulating forces for a new and more powerful strike.

The negative political consequences of the Versailles peace were that the disagreements between the partners were getting deeper. This was especially noticeable in relations between Britain and France, Japan and the United States. In addition, the contradictions between the two different systems - socialist and capitalist - were rapidly escalating. The Treaty concluded at Versailles was designed to put an end to the war, and eventually made it a constant threat hanging over the whole world.