The Causes And Consequences Of The Treaty Of Versailles

1464 Words6 Pages
Treaty of Versailles

In January,1919 the allied leaders attended a peace conference to discuss about the peace terms they would offer to the central power in Paris. Twenty-seven victorious Allied powers were present, but the meetings were dominated by the ‘Winners’, Britain, France and USA. Russia was not summoned because she was not trusted after the Bolshevik Revolution of November 1917 and had already made peace with Germany. The treaty was crafted so that Germany would be disabled and it wouldn’t restart another war and the country was severely treated as her most worthy assets were taken. The stipulations of the treaty were categorized into three groups: Territorial, Military and Financial and economic. Germany was coerced by the war guilt clauses to take full responsibility for starting the war and had to pay restitutions that was set to be £6,600 million. The German economy by 1921 was in high difficulty as it was facing huge debts during the war, and was printing lots of money. The continuous printing of more money eventually led to hyperinflation. However, by the end of 1923 Gustav Stresemann (a German politician and statesman who served as Chancellor during that time) had a plan, to pay restitutions and to rebuild Germany within the boundaries. Had it not been for the change in the terms of payment under the Young plan in 1929, Germany would have still paid this bill until 1984.

Germany was also forced to sign a 'blank cheque ' because if they did not, Britain