Article 231 Of The Treaty Of Versailles

On June 28th, 1919, Germans had a sense of pride in their home country, celebrating their army’s apparent triumph in a country untouched by other nations during World War I. However, little did they know that on that date, a treaty was signed between Germany and the Allied Powers of the United States, France, Great Britain, and more. This document would officially end World War I with a victory for the Allies over the Central Powers, and ultimately punish Germany for their crimes committed in the fighting. Confused as to how Germany lost in battle despite not being invaded, Germans were encountered with a rude awakening when consequences of their participation in World War I were brought into effect suddenly. The Treaty of Versailles was signed

Perhaps the most damaging article within the whole treaty, Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles stated that Germany was forced to accept full blame of the war, and therefore also acknowledge responsibility for their damages caused to the Allied Powers. Additionally, this simple “war-guilt” clause opened up a new door of repercussion against Germany. By accepting the criticism for starting the war, Germany was essentially telling the Allied Powers that they could send any punishment into effect, and overall made Germany’s punishments undebatable since they allowed them to do whatever they wanted. Even worse, Germany did not technically even start World War I. The actual spark of the war was Bosnia’s assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, to which Austria-Hungary declared war on Bosnia, and the allies of both sides followed. The only factor determining which country would be punished was simple, since Austria-Hungary was divided into separate independent nations, and Germany felt like it was unfair that they were the only country being blamed in spite of other countries participating in the war. No matter how inhumane or unfair the consequences were, Germany was forced into accepting them. One of these outrageous punishments was the French occupation of the Rhineland in Germany. Article 428 of the Treaty of Versailles stated that German territory situated west of the Rhine would be occupied by Allied forces for fifteen years. Unfortunately, the Rhine was the heart of Germany’s industrial and military power. With mostly French and Belgian occupants there, they gradually ensured that Germany’s military and industrial forces would be weakened to a level that was inferior to Allied Powers. More importantly, the foreigners would guarantee that all Germans were following the rules laid out by the treaty and were not violating them. Germans eventually grew