31.

With reference to the First World War answer the following questions:

Mention three points under the Treaty of Versailles, which affected Germany.

The Treaty of Versailles:

a. Germany lost territory - Germany lost land. Alsace-Lorraine was given back to France. Malmedy was given to Belgium. North Schleswig was given to Denmark (after a plebiscite). Memel was given to Lithuania. West Prussia (including the ‘Polish corridor’) and Upper Silesia were given to Poland. Danzig was made a ‘free city’. This was designed to weaken Germany. A smaller country, reasoned Clemenceau, would be less of a problem. In all, Germany lost 10% of its land, 12% of its population, 16% of its coalfields and half its iron and steel industry. Germany had less land, fewer people, less taxes and less power.

b. Armed forces - The Rhineland had to be de-militarised. This was to protect France from future invasion by creating a ‘buffer’ zone between France and Germany. This weakened the Germans so much that they could not even put down internal riots – when they sent in the army to deal with a rebellion in April 1920, the French invaded to make the German army leave. The Treaty restricted the Germans’ armed forces to only 100,000 men in the army, no submarines or aeroplanes, and only six battleships. In addition, conscription was banned (soldiers had to be volunteers).

c. Economy - The Treaty’s territorial decisions affected Germany’s economy. The loss of the Saar reduced Germany’s industrial strength. The loss of West Prussia took away Germany’s richest farming land. But reparations did the greatest economic damage to Germany. Germany had to pay for all the damage of the war – a sum eventually set at £6,600 million – in instalments, until 1984. This ruined Germany’s economy, damaged by the war, and led to the hyperinflation of 1923.