Treaty of Versailles: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Versaillestreaty.jpg|thumb|right|The treaty was an International affair]]

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The '''Treaty of Versailles''' of [[1919]] was the [[peace treaty]] which officially ended [[World War I]] between the [[Allies]] and [[Germany]]. After six months of negotiations at the [[Paris Peace Conference of 1919]], the treaty was signed as a follow-up to an [[Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)|armistice]] signed months before, in the forest of Compiègne (which had put an end to the actual fighting). The treaty required that [[Germany]] claim full responsibility for causing the war, and pay large amounts of compensation ([[war reparations]]) to the allies. Germany also lost territory to many surrounding countries, had its military forces severely limited and was stripped of its overseas and [[African]] colonies. Representatives of the new German government ([[Weimar Republic]]) were forced by the victors to sign the treaty; otherwise fighting was threatened to begin anew. Germany's foreign minister, [[Hermann Müller (politician)|Hermann Müller]], undersigned it on [[June 28]], [[1919]]. The treaty was ratified by the [[League of Nations]] on [[January 10]], [[1920]]. In Germany the treaty caused a shock &ndash; often referred to as a trauma or anti-Versailles-complex &ndash; which eventually contributed to the collapse of the Weimar Republic in [[1933]] and [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power. iloveyou