Which clause blamed germany for the war

The war decimated farmland, towns, and battlefields around Europe. And according to many, Germany was to blame. Though contemporary historians are still split on who should be held responsible for World War I, the treaty blamed and punished Germany. Much of that idealistic plan was scuttled during negotiations when the other Allied nations shifted their priorities toward reparations.

The document stripped Germany of 13 percent of its territory and one tenth of its population. The Rhineland was occupied and demilitarized, and German colonies were taken over by the new League of Nations. The German army was diminished to , men and the country was forbidden to draft soldiers.

Its weapons were largely confiscated, and its navy stripped of large vessels. Germany was forced to put Wilhelm II, its emperor, on trial for war crimes. The United States did not ratify the treaty due to political division between Democrats and Republicans.

Though there was a real desire for peace in the wake of the disastrous war, the treaty did not achieve its intended effects. In , ninety years after the Treaty of Versailles went into force, Germany finally paid off the last installment of its war debt. By then, another world war was behind it. Today, the Treaty of Versailles lingers as a study in how, when it comes to war, unintended consequences can negate even the best intentions. All rights reserved. Culture Explainer.

United States president Woodrow Wilson smiles as he leads the procession that followed the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Although Wilson personally negotiated the treaty, it was never ratified by Congress. Article 51 took the territory of Alsace-Lorraine, which Germany had seized during the and gave it back to France. Articles and Article forced the Germans to dismantle their fortifications along the Rhine river.

Article 80 required Germany to respect the independence of Austria. Articles compelled Germany to renounce territorial claims and recognize the independence of Czechoslovakia, a new nation formed from several provinces of former German ally Austria-Hungary, whose western portion had a sizable minority of ethnic Germans.

Articles gave what had been German West Prussia and other territory with ethnic German inhabitants to newly-independent Poland. Article stripped Germany of its colonies in China and Africa, which Qualls explains was a particularly humbling provision. Articles reduced the size of the German army, which had reached 1. It even specified strict limits on the number of infantry, artillery and engineers, and limited the officer corps to 4, Articles disarmed the German military, limiting the number of weapons and even how much ammunition it could possess.

Smaller artillery pieces, for example, were allotted 1, rounds, while bigger guns got just shells. Germany could only manufacture new war materiel in a few factories approved by the Allies.

The Germans had to turn over vast amounts of equipment, from tanks and machine guns to telephones. Articles prohibited Germany from having an air force, except for up to seaplanes to work in minesweeping operations.

The enormous losses on all sides resulted in part from the introduction of new weapons like the machine gun and gas warfare. Military leaders failed to adjust their tactics to the increasingly mechanized nature of warfare. A policy of attrition, particularly on the Western Front, cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

No official agencies kept careful track of civilian losses during the war years. Scholars suggest that as many as thirteen million non-combatants died as a direct or indirect result of the war. The conflict uprooted or displaced millions of persons from their homes in Europe and Asia Minor. Property and industry losses were catastrophic, especially in France, Belgium, Poland, and Serbia, where fighting had been heaviest.

Eight of these points dealt specifically with territorial and political settlements to accompany a victory of the Entente Powers Great Britain, France, and Russia. One important point was the idea of national self-determination for ethnic populations in Europe. Other points focused on preventing war in the future. The last principle proposed a League of Nations to arbitrate international disputes. Many of them believed then that the Fourteen Points would form the basis of the future peace treaty.

Viewing Germany as the chief instigator of the conflict, the European Allied powers decided instead to impose harsh treaty terms upon defeated Germany. The treaty was presented to the German delegation for signature on May 7, , at the Palace of Versailles near Paris. The Treaty of Versailles held Germany responsible for starting the war and liable for massive material damages. Germany lost 13 percent of its territory, including 10 percent of its population.

The Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to:. Further, all German overseas colonies were taken away from Germany and became League of Nation Mandates. Perhaps the most humiliating portion of the treaty for defeated Germany was Article , commonly known as the "War Guilt Clause.

As such, Germany was to be held liable for all material damages. France's premier, Georges Clemenceau, in particular, insisted on imposing enormous reparation payments. While aware that Germany would probably not be able to pay such a towering debt, Clemenceau and the French still greatly feared rapid German recovery and a new war against France. The French sought to limit Germany's potential to regain its economic superiority and also to rearm.

The German army was to be limited to , men. Conscription was forbidden. The treaty restricted the Navy to vessels under 10, tons, with a ban on the acquisition or maintenance of a submarine fleet.

Germany was forbidden to maintain an air force. Finally, Germany was required to conduct war crimes proceedings against the Kaiser and other leaders for waging aggressive war. The subsequent Leipzig Trials, without the Kaiser or other significant national leaders in the dock, resulted largely in acquittals.