Although it is often referred to as the “Versailles Conference”, only the actual signing of the treaty took place in the historic palace. Most of the negotiations took place in Paris, with the “Big Four” meetings usually taking place at the French Foreign Ministry on the Quai d`Orsay. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye of 10 September 1919 established the Republic of Austria. This republic consisted of most of the German-speaking regions cut off from the Habsburg state. The Austrian Empire ceded crown lands to newly founded successor states such as Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Kingdom of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. He also gave South Tyrol, Trieste, Trentino and Istria to Italy and Bukovina to Romania. An important principle of the Treaty prevented Austria from jeopardising its newly established independence. This restriction effectively prevented them from uniting with Germany, a goal long desired by the “Pan-Germanists” and an active target of Adolf Hitler of Austrian origin and his National Socialist (Nazi) party. First, a “Council of Ten” (composed of two delegates from Britain, France, the United States, Italy and Japan) formally met to determine the terms of peace.
This Council was replaced by the “Council of Five”, which was formed by the foreign ministers of each country to discuss minor issues. French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Emanuele Orlando, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George and US President Woodrow Wilson formed the “Big Four” (at one point they became the “Big Three” after the temporary withdrawal of Vittorio Emanuele Orlando). These four men met in 145 closed sessions to make all the important decisions that were then ratified by the entire assembly. The smaller powers participated in a weekly “plenary conference” that discussed the issues in a general forum, but made no decision. These members formed more than 50 commissions that made various recommendations, many of which were included in the final text of the treaty. [30] [31] [32] The British historian of modern Germany, Richard J. Evans, wrote that during the war, the German right was engaged in an annexation program aimed at Germany annexing most of Europe and Africa. Therefore, any peace treaty that does not leave Germany as a conqueror would be unacceptable to them. [163] In addition to allowing Germany to retain all the conquests of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Evans argued that nothing could have been done to persuade German law to accept Versailles.
[163] Evans further noted that the parties in the Weimar coalition, namely the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Social Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (DDP), and the Centre-Christian Democratic Party, were all equally opposed to Versailles, and it is wrong to claim, as some historians claim, that the opposition to Versailles also corresponded to the opposition to the Weimar Republic. [163] Finally, Evans argued that it was false that Versailles caused the premature end of the Republic, and instead claimed that it was the Great Depression of the early 1930s that ended German democracy. A bloc of Democrats strongly supported the Treaty of Versailles, although the lodges added reservations. A second group of Democrats supported the treaty, but followed Wilson in rejecting changes or reservations. The largest bloc, led by Senator Lodge,[84] consisted of a majority of Republicans. They wanted a treaty with reservations, especially on Article 10, which included the power of the League of Nations to wage war without a vote of the US Congress. [85] All the irreconcilables were bitter enemies of President Wilson, and he began a nationwide speaking tour in the summer of 1919 to refute this. Wilson, however, collapsed halfway through with a severe stroke that effectively ruined his leadership qualities. [86] In June 1919, the Allies declared that war would resume if the German government did not sign the treaty they had agreed among themselves. Philipp Scheidemann`s government could not agree on a common position, and Scheidemann himself resigned instead of agreeing to sign the treaty. Gustav Bauer, the head of the new government, sent a telegram expressing his intention to sign the treaty if certain articles were withdrawn, including articles 227, 230 and 231.
[ii] In response, the Allies issued an ultimatum stating that Germany must accept the treaty or expect an invasion by Allied forces across the Rhine within 24 hours. On June 23, Bauer capitulated and sent a second telegram confirming that a German delegation would soon arrive to sign the treaty. [55] On June 28, 1919, the fifth anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (the immediate impetus of the war), the peace treaty was signed. [1] The treaty contained clauses ranging from war crimes, the prohibition of the merger of the German-Austrian Republic with Germany without the consent of the League of Nations, freedom of navigation on the great European rivers until the return of a Koran to the King of the Hejaz. [n. . . .