WWII_Causes-Web-Quest_Versailles

Germany and the Treaty [ UBRAT ] Frederick Scheidemann, the German Chancellor (June 1919) then he resigned rather than agree to the Treaty
 * May the hand wither that signs this treaty.

|| == Links  == [|The Berlin Times] (pdf) - an excellent pupil assignment [|BBCi site] - simple statement [|Germany humiliated]

[|Germany's Reaction - Sources] [|Brockdorff-Rantzau on the economic articles] [| of the Treaty] - difficult but worthwhile [|The Official German reaction to the Treaty] - difficult
 * Original Sources **

[|Why was there opposition in Germany to] [|the Treaty of Versailles?] || This cartoon appeared in the German satirical magazine //Simplissimus,// 3 June 1919.
 * === Source A  ===

German outrage
When the Germans heard about the Treaty of Versailles, they felt ‘pain and anger’. They felt it was ** __ u __nfair **. 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 **__ b __lame** 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 ** r eparations**; 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 **__ a __rmy**. 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 **__ t __erritory**. 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. || == New Words  ==

Clause 231 : the paragraph blaming Germany for the war.
to pay for damage done during the war.
 * reparations ** : the money Germany had

==  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. ||
 * [[image:http://www.johndclare.net/images/ToV5_map.jpg width="162" height="230" align="right" caption="Verlorenes Land.JPG (28515 bytes)" link="http://www.ww1-propaganda-cards.com/images/Verlorenes%20Land.JPG"]]

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 D  eutsch-österreich (German  Austria).

Many similar propaganda postcards were produced

Is Source C different to D?

|| 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. || ==  ==
 * ==  Did You Know?   ==

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. ||