Weimar Germany - were Germans reactions to the Treaty of Versailles justified?

1. Were German
opinions of the
Versailles treaty
justified?

2. German public and political
reaction to the treaty was
united: all parties opposed the
terms as grossly unfair.
However there is a debate
about whether these opinions
are valid.
Was it correct for Germans to
react in the way they did to
Versailles’ terms?

3. The German government strongly
encouraged public hatred of the
treaty’s conditions.
Philipp Scheidemann,
Germany’s Chancellor in June
1919, resigned rather than sign
the treaty.
He said “may the hand wither
that binds us in such shackles”,
showing his hatred for the treaty.

4. This rhetoric from
Scheidemann followed on from
actions by the government
which undermined the idea of
German defeat in the war.
Returning German soldiers
were given victory parades,
including one through the
centre of Berlin in December
1918.

5. Territory conditions
Most of Germany remained
intact, albeit land was lost in the
east and west. Also much of the
lost land was not crucial to
Germany’s economic recovery.
Alsace-Lorraine was taken by
Germany after they defeated
France in the 1870s; France
simply did the same.

6. The land conditions were also
far less punitive than
conditions Germany had
previously imposed.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk –
signed by Germany and Russia
in March 1918 – took 27% of
Russia’s farmland, 74% of her
coal and meant the loss of 62
million people.

7. However the loss of land – such as
the Polish Corridor and
Sudetenland – meant many
Germans found themselves living
under a foreign government.
The loss of these locations – and
all of Germany’s overseas
colonies – was a humiliation to
the country’s international
standing.

8. Military conditions
Germany’s weakened military
created invasion worries, but
there was little chance of this.
Russia and France had been
weakened by war. Other
neighbouring countries (such
as in Eastern Europe) were
disorganised too.

9. Having a smaller military also
gave Germany the chance to build
an elite, highly trained army.
Furthermore, Germany having a
smaller military could encourage
other European countries to also
reduce their military.
This would result in Germany and
all of Europe being safer.

10. Many Germans however were
still outraged at having a
smaller military.
As well as this being another
damage to national pride, it
resulted in some military men
losing their jobs, creating
unemployment and anger. The
fear of invasion was also hard
to ignore.

11. War guilt
Germans did not believe they
were to solely blame for war. But
their country was guilty of many
terrible actions.
In Belgium, the German army
had destroyed entire towns, and
also killed and raped civilians.
Other Belgians were forced to
work for the Germans.

12. Germany had also encouraged
Austria to go to war with
Serbia (after Franz Ferdinand’s
assassination). This would lead
to more countries joining.
Germany also failed to
understand Britain’s likely
response to the invasion of
Belgium, which was always
likely to be war.

13. However other countries had also
influenced the conflict, including
Russia, who intervened in the
dispute between Austro-Hungary
and Serbia.
Many Germans also worried that
taking the blame for war
dishonoured the war dead,
suggesting they had died for no
good reason.

14. Reparations
Germany was to pay 132
billion gold marks as
compensation for war costs.
However this was less than the
Germans had charged France
after defeating them in 1870.
France was expected to pay
five billion Francs in five
years.

15. Germany was supposed to pay
around 7% of her annual national
income in reparations, but in fact
never paid more than 3%.
However Germans were still
outraged at the costs. They
worried this would stop them
being able to rebuild, and were
angry that failure to pay later led
to French and Belgian invasion.

16. Historians’ views
• R J Evans: takes the view that Treaty of Versailles was greeted
with horror by the majority of Germans, of all social classes
• Colin Storer: The terms of the treaty were considered by all
Germans as unfair and an affront to national honour
• Stephen Lee: because the Allies excluded Germany from the
peace negotiating process Germany came to see itself as a
victim without actually being destroyed
• RM Watt: Weimar government played the victim to avoid
punishment and encouraged German victimhood feelings