Versailles Treaty: A Fragile Peace | Germany | '
Philipp Scheidemann's hopes for extenuating circumstances remained unfulfilled. German Reich Chancellor who emerged from the revolution considered the decisions agreed upon at the Paris Peace Conference unacceptable. "Which hand would not wither, which put itself and us in such shackles?" Asked the Social Democrat. Scheidemann, who had proclaimed the republic in Berlin on November 9, 1918, summed up the widespread mood in his homeland. The peace treaty proved a heavy mortgage for the newly emerging democracy.
The German Reich was committed to billions in reparations, lost its colonies in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and had to cede 13 percent of its territory to other states. Among other things, Alsace-Lorraine went to France, West Prussia mostly to Poland. In addition, the victorious powers led by the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy declared Germany and its allies responsible for the war alone. They had "forced" their opponents to war and were responsible for "all their losses and damages."
Winner among themselves in Versailles (from left to right): The Heads of Government David Lloyd George (Great Britain), Vittorio Orlando (Italy), Georges Clemenceau (France) and Thomas Woodrow Wilson (USA)
On June 28, 1919, the peace treaty was sealed in the Palace of Versailles near Paris without the signature of the resigned head of government Scheidemann. But even so, Germany signed only in protest, after the war winners had threatened with the invasion of their troops. The Rhineland was already occupied since the truce of 11 November 1918. Because of the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles in the German perception was a "dictates peace". The Marburg historian Eckart Conze considers this allegation in the ‘ interview to be "undoubtedly" justified. The Germans were not involved in the peace negotiations and had no share in the drafting of the treaty.
The "dictates peace" was later mitigated
Even if Germany had been imposed harsh conditions, it could have remained a strong nation-state in the middle of Europe. Furthermore, the reparation burden, which was initially not specifically defined, was adjusted to the German solvency and its economic capacity. By the end of the decade, Germany was able to reduce the amount of 132 billion marks imposed by the victorious powers in 1921 to 36 billion by renegotiations. "In the face of the global economic crisis, the payments in 1932 even stopped completely," Conze recalls an at least financially positive development for Germany.
Nevertheless, the Weimar Republic named after the first venue of its Constituent Assembly was finally on the brink. The many enemies of democracy – monarchists, National Socialists – fought the republic from day one. In their eyes, only the democratic forces were to blame for the results of the peace conference and not the authoritarian empire that had lost the war. "This perfidious reasoning was so effective because the German population almost completely rejected the Treaty of Versailles," says historian Conze.
Adolf Hitler totally ignored the peace agreement
However, no direct route led to the 1933 Nazi dictatorship. The future was open to the people of 1919, too. But the right-wing Republic opponents had used the Treaty of Versailles as an instrument "to fight democracy and finally destroy it". Political killings were not uncommon. The most famous victim was Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau, who was shot in 1922 by right-wing extremists in Berlin. For them, the Liberal Democrat was a hated symbol of the so-called "policy of fulfillment" against the victorious powers of the First World War.
German Foreign Minister Walter Rathenau was shot dead on 24 June 1922 by right-wing extremists in Berlin
The hopes for lasting peace were not fulfilled with the Treaty of Versailles. With the seizure of power by Adolf Hitler, the time of German restraint was over. The Nazis upgraded despite prohibition and forged new alliances with fascist countries such as Italy and Spain. Britain's appeasement missed its target, the United States of America no longer played an active role in Europe. And the League of Nations, established under the Peace Treaty, proved too weak to prevent the next global catastrophe.
Emmanuel Macron warns of the old "old demons"
Eckart Conze has analyzed the reasons for the failure in a book: "The Great Illusion: Versailles 1919 and the reorganization of the world." After the Second World War, however, the victorious powers tried to learn lessons from the situation after 1918. "These include the unconditional surrender of the German Wehrmacht and the assumption of supreme government in Germany by the Allies." Above all, however, attempts were made after 1945 to develop international structures and institutions that would prevent a relapse into confrontational nationalism and political unilateralism.
Historian Eckart Conze from the University of Marburg
At least in the Western world, under the leadership of the US, "multilateral organizations and a rule-based international system" would have developed, says Conze. This order seemed to spread to the whole world after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the end of the Cold War. "Today, however, she faces more challenges than ever before." A new nationalism and unilateralism, fed by populism and authoritarianism, threaten the stability of the international order. The French President Emmanuel Macron warns therefore of the "old demons" of the interwar period, which are awakened to new life. "That's another reason why 'Versailles' has come closer to us again," says Conze.
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