Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty that put an official end to World War I. It established that Germany was responsible for the war and thus, was obliged to pay large amounts of compensation (known as [war reparations]?). Like many other treaties, it is named for the place of its signing: the [Hall of Mirrors]? in the [Palace of Versailles]?.

Other provisions included the loss of German colonies, loss of German territory (eg. Alsace-Lorraine? to France), northern Schleswig? at Tondern in Schleswig-Holstein and parts of Pomerania, Silesia and Posen, West Prussia at the Baltic Sea to Poland. This area later became known as "Polish Corridor". The German city of Danzig and Danziger Land at the Baltic Sea was made the [Free City of Danzig]? under League of Nations and Polish authority.

The treaty of Versailles greatly restricted the German armed forces.

The economic problems that the payments brought are cited as one of the causes of the end of the Weimar Republic and the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, which inevitably led to the outbreak World War II.

Article 156 of the treaty transferred German concessions in Shantong, China to Japan rather than returning sovereign authority to China. Chinese outrage over this provision led to demonstrations and the cultural movement known as the [May Fourth Movement]?.

Another provision of the treaty was the creation of the League of Nations, that had the purpose of arbitrating conflicts between nations before they were solved by war.

For contents of Treaty of Versailles see external links: [[1] and [[2]]