Question

Look at the picture given and answer the following question:

The Germans described the Treaty of Versailles as harsh and humiliating. Give any four reasons that justify this statement.

Answer 1

1. The Treaty declared Germany guilty of aggression.
2. Germany was required to pay for the loss and damages suffered by the Allies during the war. The amount of reparations was fixed at 33 billion dollars. Germany had to cede her merchant ships to the Allies as compensation and had to supply huge quantities of coal to France, Italy and Belgium for ten years.
3. The area of the Rhine Valley was to be demilitarised and the German territory west of Rhine was to be occupied by the Allied Troops for 15 years.
4. Germany lost Alsace Lorraine to France; Eupen-et-Malmedy to Belgium, Schleswig to Denmark. Danzig became ·a Free Port in the Polish territory.
5. Germany ceded parts of her pre-war territory to Denmark, Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia and France.
6. The coal mines in the German area called Saar were ceded to France for 15 years and the area was to be governed by the League of Nations.
7. Germany lost all her colonies to the victorious Allies - Britain, Belgium, South Africa and Portugal.
8. The German Army was restricted to a force of 1,00,000 soldiers and the Navy was limited to 15,000 men and 24 ships. The Air Force and submarines were banned.
9. The Treaty affirmed the complete independence of Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.
10. The Covenant of the League of Nations was added to the Treaty of Versailles.