Versailles Treaty

http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/1920s/CarlosTreaty.htm



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 Versailles Treaty

World War I ended in 1919 with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors. Symbolically, it was the same place where Otto von Bismarck had celebrated the French defeat in 1871 by proclaiming a German Empire, after the Franco-Prussian war that finalized the unification of the German state and signaled the rise of Germany’s military power. The treaty was finalized by the victors in late April and handed to the German representatives on May seventh. The German populace believed that the treaty was unfair. The Germans tried to have changes done to the treaty, but their efforts were futile. The allies threatened with the continuation of hostilities and the starvation blockade unless the Germans signed: "…in 1919…not only refused to accept the German reservations, but gave twenty-four hours within which to sign without conditions, in default of which the troops would march" (Dawson, 82). German’s military commanders, fully aware that the German military could not form any strong defense, advocated the signing of the treaty. The treaty was signed by Germany on June, 28, 1919.
There was immediate condemnation of the Versailles Treaty by the German populace. The German state was not expecting to lose the War. When the dust settled and the harsh reality of defeat was made clear, the German people were dumbfounded. It was a military defeat, but also a psychological defeat for the German state. "…the German people were expecting victory and not defeat. It was the acknowledgement of defeat, as much as the treaty terms themselves, which they found so hard to accept" (Henig, 27). The terms which caused the most resentment in Germany were the loss of territory, the war guilt placed solely on Germany, the deliberate effacement of the German military and the demands of reparations.

German Loss of Territory

The loss of territory meant an effacement of the German empire that Otto von Bismarck had established under the Prussian Monarchy. The reality of defeat and the fragmentation of the German empire were humiliating to the Germans. Germany lost 13.5 % of its territory under the terms of the treaty. Close to seven million German citizens were placed under the jurisdiction of a foreign nation

France: France took Alsace and Lorraine and the German coal mines in the Saar Region for fifteen years. The Saar region was a highly industrialized region.
Poland: the state of Poland was recreated. Poland took most of West Prussia and much of the Posen province. Upper Silesia was ceded to Poland, but later returned to Germany under a plebiscite. The Polish Corridor was made of land that belonged to Germany before WWI.
Belgium: Small areas of Eupen, Malmèdy, Moresńet, St. Vith
Denmark: Northern Schelswig was ceded to Denmark under article 27 of treaty.
Czechoslovakia: border area near Troppau (present day Opava)The League of Nations took control of the free city of Danzig and the allies took control of the Rhineland for fifteen years. The Rhineland was demilitarized under article 180 of the Versailles Treaty. It was considered the industrial heart of Germany and the source of its military power. Germany also lost its colonies and large merchant 


War Guilt Clause

At the conclusion of the war, Germany was demonized due to the destruction that WWI had caused. All people affected by the war wanted Germany to be punished. It is erroneous to place the full burden of the war on Germany, "Belief in the unique guilt of the Kaiser for the horrors of the World War was unanimous" (Birdsall, 4). The politicians wanted Germany to accept moral responsibility for the war and all the consequences thereof, after realizing that Germany would not be able to pay reparations as high as 33 million. The politicians arrogantly believed they could appease their states by forcing the Germans to admit to a moral responsibility, since it became clear that Germany would not be able to pay high reparations. The accord was reached on April 7, 1919 and adopted as article 231 of the Versailles Treaty:


"The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the damage to which the allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies" (Birdsall, 254).
The political consequence of Article 231 was far reaching. Article 231 was termed the ‘War Guilt Clause.’ "This clause, more than any other in the entire Treaty of Versailles, was to cause lasting resentment in Germany…" (Henig, 19). The guilt clause resulted in German humiliation and rage. Most sectors of German society did not understand why all the blame was placed on the German state.

Dismemberment of German Military Force

The Allied forces were concerned with weakening Germany militarily. Numerous restrictions were placed on Germany’s military. Germany was forbidden to possess submarines and naval aircraft. Under the treaty Germany was limited to:

• 6 battleships
• 6 light cruisers
• 12 destroyers
• 12 torpedo boats
• Navy could not have more than 1500 officers 

When Germany realized that they would not be keeping their Navy, it was decided that it was better to "…sink the fleet on June 22, 1919, when it became clear that, whatever was decided, the ships would not be allowed to return to Germany" (Henig, 17).
Similarly the German Army was to be limited:

• Forbidden to use tanks, military aircraft or heavy artillery
• The Army was to be a volunteer army no larger then 100, 000

The restrictions placed upon Germany were taken bitterly by the Germans. They argued that so many restrictions made them vulnerable to attack. The great German army had been dismantled and that was another humiliating factor of the Versailles Treaty. The Germans had venerated their military superiority since the German wars of unification

German Reparations

Reparations were another factor that led to the German resentment regarding the treaty. France and Britain, both wanted to receive reparations for the damage caused by Germany during the war. At first it was not agreed on the price that Germany should pay, financial reparations as high as 30,000 million were argued during the deliberation of the treaty. A question however lingered, how was Germany to pay such sums if the war had crippled her economy? To resolve this issue, it was agreed that Germany should only be responsible for civilian damage. The sum was set at 6,000 million, which was still very high due to the depreciated German economy.
France above all was the one who wanted to maintain Germany weak. France wanted to repay war debts with German capital. In 1923, the French invaded the Ruhr. In December 1922, the Reparations Commission declared that Germany had defaulted in its deliveries of timber. The French military invasion of the Ruhr spurred German nationalistic sentiments of hostility towards the French. Instead of giving the reparations, the German authorities encouraged the workers to strike. The result was a period of hyperinflation. The German mark, which had been under pressure since 1919, began to depreciate and eventually became worthless. Germans were desperate and were ready to support extremists such as Hitler and the Nazi Party:
"The invasion of the Ruhr in 1923 had been the most serious consequence. Within Germany…diminished the support for the Weimar government. Extremist parties on the right and left were given a boost, because of the alarm at the prospect of complete economic collapse and social disorder. Many historians argue that the invasion of the Ruhr paved the way for Hitler’s subsequent rise to power" (Henig, 35).

Hitler’s Views Concerning the Versailles Treaty

Hitler was very upset when Germany surrendered in November 1918 and firmly believed that Jewish politicians had stabbed Germany in the back. Germans hated the Versailles Treaty and viewed the June 28, the signing of the treaty as a day of dishonor for the German state. Hitler’s main objective and argument was that he was going to make Germany great again. He argued that in for Germany to regain its status of greatness, he Versailles Treaty had to be abolished. Hitler begun by proclaiming that he was going to liberate the German people of the dictated treaty.

Extracts from the Nazi Party Programme 1920

• We demand the union of all Germans into a greater Germany.
• We demand that Germany be treated in the same way as other countries and we demand the annulling of the Treaty of Versailles.
• We demand land for our growing population.[http://www.redruth.cornwall.sch.uk/departments/History/gcse/germany/Germany1918-1939.htm]

Hitler in essence promised the German people the effacement of the Versailles Treaty. In doing so he paved the way to World War II. The German people argued that it was a dictated treaty, due to the fact that Germany had no say and this caused immense bitterness. Hitler’s popularity, in large part was due to his outspoken denunciation of the treaty. He promised that he was going to reunite all Germans under the fatherland once again. The German populace was in a state of distraught. Hitler used their sentiments to come to power. He began to disregard the Treaty of Versailles when he took Germany out of the League of Nations. Germany starts rearming in 1933. Hitler bolstered that by 1940 Germany would be fully prepared for war. He occupies the Rhineland in 1936. To fulfill his promise of reuniting all Germans once again, Hitler first unites with Austria in what is termed the Anschluss. The union of Austria and Germany was forbidden by the treaty. He then negotiates with the British Prime Minister, Chamberlain, to and obtains Sudetenland, and Czechoslovakia. By 1939, Hitler has literally abolished the dictated treaty and World War II begins in 1939 with the invasion of Poland.

ww1 timeline

http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/a/WWI-Timeline.htm

1916 Battle of the Somme begins

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-of-the-somme-begins







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1916

Battle of the Somme begins

At 7:30 a.m., the British launch a massive offensive against German forces in the Somme River region of France. During the preceding week, 250,000 Allied shells had pounded German positions near the Somme, and 100,000 British soldiers poured out of their trenches and into no-man’s-land on July 1, expecting to find the way cleared for them. However, scores of heavy German machine guns had survived the artillery onslaught, and the infantry were massacred. By the end of the day, 20,000 British soldiers were dead and 40,000 wounded. It was the single heaviest day of casualties in British military history. The disastrous Battle of the Somme stretched on for more than four months, with the Allies advancing a total of just five miles.

When World War I broke out in August 1914, great throngs of British men lined up to enlist in the war effort. At the time, it was generally thought that the war would be over within six months. However, by the end of 1914 well over a million soldiers of various nationalities had been killed on the battlefields of Europe, and a final victory was not in sight for either the Allies or the Central Powers. On the Western Front–the battle line that stretched across northern France and Belgium–the combatants had settled down in the trenches for a terrible war of attrition. Maimed and shell-shocked troops returning to Britain with tales of machine guns, artillery barrages, and poison gas seriously dampened the enthusiasm of potential new volunteers.

With the aim of raising enough men to launch a decisive offensive against Germany, Britain replaced voluntary service with conscription in January 1916, when it passed an act calling for the enlistment of all unmarried men between the ages of 18 and 41. After Germany launched a massive offensive of its own against Verdun in February, Britain expanded the Military Service Act, calling for the conscription of all men, married and unmarried, between the ages of 18 and 41. Near the end of June, with the Battle of Verdun still raging, Britain prepared for its major offensive along a 21-mile stretch of the Western Front north of the Somme River.

For a week, the British bombarded the German trenches as a prelude to the attack. British Field Marshal Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary Force, thought the artillery would decimate the German defenses and allow a British breakthrough; in fact, it served primarily to remove the element of surprise. When the bombardment died down on the morning of July 1, the German machine crews emerged from their fortified trenches and set up their weapons. At 7:30 a.m., 11 British divisions attacked at once, and the majority of them were gunned down. The soldiers optimistically carried heavy supplies for a long march, but few made it more than a couple of hundred yards. Five French divisions that attacked south of the Somme at the same time fared a little better, but without British success little could be done to exploit their gains.

After the initial disaster, Haig resigned himself to smaller but equally ineffectual advances, and more than 1,000 Allied lives were extinguished for every 100 yards gained on the Germans. Even Britain’s September 15 introduction of tanks into warfare for the first time in history failed to break the deadlock in the Battle of the Somme. In October, heavy rains turned the battlefield into a sea of mud, and on November 18 Haig called off the Somme offensive after more than four months of mass slaughter.

Except for its effect of diverting German troops from the Battle of Verdun, the offensive was a miserable disaster. It amounted to a total gain of just 125 square miles for the Allies, with more than 600,000 British and French soldiers killed, wounded, or missing in the action. German casualties were more than 650,000. Although Haig was severely criticized for the costly battle, his willingness to commit massive amounts of men and resources to the stalemate along the Western Front did eventually contribute to the collapse of an exhausted Germany in 1918.

Battle of Verdun is considered the greatest and lengthiest in world history

The postponed attack of  12 February 

The attack on Verdun was originally planned on Saturday 12 February. On the night of the 11th /12th of February the German troops were placed in position. The German infantry was waiting in their 'stollen', thousands at a time, for the starting signal. At the very last moment the attack was cancelled. It had began to snow and rain severely, it was freezing, the wind had increased and turned into a storm and the visibility was very poor. A large part of the German troops had to remain in the very primitive 'stollen' that were not equipped for a long stay. The 'stollen' were not heated and flooded. The overall condition of the troops got worse every day because of stomach and colon problems and malnutrition. After nine days of hardships the weather conditions had improved in such a way that the signal for attack could be given. Most likely the delay saved France from defeat: the two French divisions, which had been appointed as reinforcements at the very last moment, could therefore be placed into position. It also gave them the opportunity to make last minute improvements in their defence.


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The Battle of Verdun is considered the greatest and lengthiest in world history. Never before or since has there been such a lengthy battle, involving so many men, situated on such a tiny piece of land. The battle, which lasted from 21 February 1916 until 19 December 1916 caused over an estimated 700,000 dead, wounded and missing. The battlefield was not even a square ten kilometres. From a strategic point of view there can be no justification for these atrocious losses. The battle degenerated into a matter of prestige of two nations literally for the sake of fighting......


The start of the German attack

Monday morning 21 February 7.15   The heaviest bombing that had thus far ever taken place in a war starts over the entire Verdun front on the left and right side of the river Meuse and had a frontal latitude of 40 kilometres. Verdun itself is also heavily bombarded; the entire civilian population is evacuated.
The bombardment is the most horrible thus far; a terrible inferno. The muzzling fire from the German guns is one uninterrupted sea of fire. Black grenades fall with a frequency of 40 a minute. [Note: later made estimations show that in a rectangular of 500 by 1000 meter, 80.000 (sic) heavy grenades have fallen.]

September 5 - Tsar Nicholas II takes personal control over Russia's armies.

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January 17, 1915 - The initial Turkish offensive into Russia is thwarted as the Turkish 3rd Army suffers a defeat by the Russian Army of the Caucasus near Kars. The Russians then begin a multi-pronged invasion of the Ottoman Empire from the Caucasus.

January 19, 1915 - Germany begins an aerial bombing campaign against Britain using Zeppelins.

January 31, 1915 - Poison gas is used for the first time in the war as Germans on the Eastern Front attack Russian positions west of Warsaw. Although the Germans fire 18,000 gas shells, they have little effect on the Russians as frigid temperatures prevent the gas from vaporizing.

February 1915 - The Turks begin forced deportations of Armenians. Over the next two years, an estimated 1.5 million Armenians will either starve to death, die of thirst in the Syrian Desert, or be murdered by Turkish troops and bandits, during the Armenian Genocide.

February 3, 1915 - Turkish troops launch an unsuccessful attack against the British-controlled Suez Canal, which is regularly used by the British to ferry Dominion troops from Australia, New Zealand and India to European battle grounds.

February 4, 1915 - Germany declares the waters surrounding British Isles to be a war zone in which ships can be sunk without warning.

February 7-22, 1915 - On the Eastern Front in Europe, the German 8th and 10th Armies wage a successful offensive against the Russian 10th Army in the Masurian Lakes region of East Prussia, pushing the Russians eastward into the Augustow Forest where they are decimated.

February 16, 1915 - On the Western Front, the French launch their second offensive against German defense lines in Champagne. Once again they are hampered by the muddy winter weather and a lack of heavy artillery. After a month of fighting, suffering 240,000 casualties, the exhausted French break off the offensive.

U-Boat Warfare Begins

February 18, 1915 - The first German U-Boat campaign of the war begins with unrestricted attacks against merchant and passenger ships in the waters around the British Isles. Within six months, Allied shipping losses at sea surpass the number of new ships being built. However, the unrestricted attacks also arouse the anger of the neutral United States as Americans are killed.

March 1915 - The British Navy imposes a total sea blockade on Germany, prohibiting all shipping imports including food.

March 10, 1915 - British and Indian troops in the Artois region of northern France attack the Germans around the village of Neuve Chapelle. The attack takes the outnumbered Germans by surprise. The British achieve their initial objective but fail to capitalize on the narrow breach they create in the German lines. After three days of fighting, with over 11,000 casualties, the British offensive is suspended. The Germans suffer over 10,000 casualties.

March 22, 1915 - The Russians capture 120,000 Austrians at Przemysl in Galicia. This marks the culmination of a series of winter battles between the Austrians and Russians to secure the strategic Carpathian Mountain passes and opens the way for a Russian invasion of Hungary. Realizing this, the Germans and Austrians make plans to combine their troops and launch a major spring offensive.

April 11, 1915 - British troops in Mesopotamia fend off a large attack by the Turks against Basra. The British then branch out to protect their position at Basra, and proceed up the Tigris Valley toward Baghdad.

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Second Battle of Ypres

During World War I, the Second Battle of Ypres was fought from 22 April – 25 May 1915 for control of the strategic Flemishtown of Ypres in western Belgium after the First Battle of Ypres the previous autumn. It was the first mass use by Germany ofpoison gas on the Western Front. For the first time, a former colonial force (the 1st Canadian Division) defeated a European power (the German Empire) on European soil (in the battles of St. Julien and Kitcheners' Wood, engagements during the battle).

The Ypres salient followed the canal, bulging eastward around the town. North of the salient, the Belgian army held the line of the Yser, and the northern end of the salient was held by two French divisions.^[6] The eastern part of the salient was defended by one Canadian and two British divisions. The II Corps and V Corps of the Second Army comprised the 1st, 2ndand 3rd Cavalry Divisions and the 4th, 27th, 28th, Northumbrian, Lahore and 1st Canadian Divisions

In the hamlet of Gravenstafel (50.891°N 2.979°E) at about 5:00 p.m. on 22 April, the German Army released 168 long tons (171 t) of chlorine gas over a 6.5 km (4.0 mi) front on the line held by French Territorial and colonial Moroccan and Algeriantroops of the French 45th and 87th divisions.^[8] Although poison gas had been used before, at the Battle of Bolimów three months earlier, the gas had liquified in the cold and become inert.

German troops carried 5,730 gas cylinders, weighing 90 pounds (41 kg) each, to the front by hand. The cylinders, opened by hand, relied on the prevailing wind to carry the gas towards enemy lines. Because of this method of dispersal, a large number of German soldiers were injured or killed while carrying out the attack.^[9]

Belgian troops wearing early gas masks, 1915

The French troops in the path of the gas cloud sustained about 6,000 casualties. Many died within ten minutes (primarily from asphyxiaand tissue damage in the lungs), and many more were blinded. Chlorine gas forms hypochlorous acid when combined with water, destroying moist tissue such as the lungs and eyes. The chlorine gas, denser than air, quickly filled the trenches and forced the troops out into heavy enemy fire.^[10]

Although many French troops ran for their lives, others stood their ground and waited for the cloud to pass. Field Marshal Sir John French, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, wrote:

 ... I wish particularly to repudiate any idea of attaching the least blame to the French Division for this unfortunate incident. After all the examples our gallant Allies have shown of dogged and tenacious courage in the many trying situations in which they have been placed throughout the course of this campaign it is quite superfluous for me to dwell on this aspect of the incident, and I would only express my firm conviction that, if any troops in the world had been able to hold their trenches in the face of such a treacherous and altogether unexpected onslaught, the French Division would have stood firm.

Battle of Gallipoli

February 19, 1915: British and French begin to attack Dardanelles







The Gallipoli Campaign of 1915-16, also known as the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles Campaign, was an unsuccessful attempt by the Allied Powers to control the sea route from Europe to Russia during World War I. The campaign began with a failed naval attack by British and French ships on the Dardanelles Straits in February-March 1915 and continued with a major land invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula on April 25, involving British and French troops as well as divisions of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC). Lack of sufficient intelligence and knowledge of the terrain, along with a fierce Turkish resistance, hampered the success of the invasion. By mid-October, Allied forces had suffered heavy casualties and had made little headway from their initial landing sites. Evacuation began in December 1915, and was completed early the following January.

LAUNCH OF THE GALLIPOLI CAMPAIGN

With World War I stalled on the Western Front by 1915, the Allied Powers were debating going on the offensive in another region of the conflict, rather than continuing with attacks in Belgium and France. Early that year, Russia’s Grand Duke Nicholas appealed to Britain for aid in confronting a Turkish invasion in the Caucasus. (The Ottoman Empire had entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers, Germany and Austria-Hungary, by November 1914.) In response, the Allies decided to launch a naval expedition to seize the Dardanelles Straits, a narrow passage connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara in northwestern Turkey. If successful, capture of the straits would allow the Allies to link up with the Russians in the Black Sea, where they could work together to knock Turkey out of the war.

Did You Know?

In May 1915, Britain's First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher resigned dramatically over the mishandling of the Gallipoli invasion by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill. His political capital damaged by the debacle, the future prime minister later resigned his own position and accepted a commission to command an infantry battalion in France.

Spearheaded by the first lord of the British Admiralty, Winston Churchill (over the strong opposition of the First Sea Lord Admiral John Fisher, head of the British Navy), the naval attack on the Dardanelles began with a long-range bombardment by British and French battleships on February 19, 1915. Turkish forces abandoned their outer forts but met the approaching Allied minesweepers with heavy fire, stalling the advance. Under tremendous pressure to renew the attack, Admiral Sackville Carden, the British naval commander in the region, suffered a nervous collapse and was replaced by Vice-Admiral Sir John de Robeck. On March 18, 18 Allied battleships entered the straits; Turkish fire, including undetected mines, sank three of the ships and severely damaged three others.

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