After WW1, the Axis alliance was all but destroyed. The only functioning state left was Germany. Germany was ruled by the Weimar Republic. They were a rather new government with basically no experience in governing a country. They had to accept all the conditions given to them by the Allies.

This set of conditions was called the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty was signed on June 28, 1919. This treaty had 15 parts and 440 articles.

Breakdown of the treaty

Part 1

This part created the League of Nations. Germany was not allowed to join until 1926.

Part 2

Part 2 redefined Germany’s boundaries. It took away chunks of land from Germany. Belgium got Eupen-Malmedy and France got Alsace-Lorraine. Several eastern districts went to Poland, which was referred to as the Polish Corridor. Memel went to Lithuania and Schleswig to Denmark.

Part 3

It created a demilitarized zone which also separated Germany from Saar (now Saarland)

Part 4

Germany lost all of its colonies. This was a big blow to the German economy as most Eurpean nations at that time were dependent on colonies for their economy. For example, the British ruled over the Indian Subcontinent. They extracted most of their resources from this subcontinent.

Part 5

The German army suffered a huge hit in this part. Their army could only have 7 infantry divisions and 3 cavalry divisions. The entire army was restricted to a mere 100,000 men. The Germans could no longer have an air force. Their Navy was reduced by a huge amount. Rhineland was demilitarized.

Part 6

This part dealt with Prisoners of War from both the sides of the war.

Part 7

This part announced penalties onto the members of the Axis alliance like William II of the German Empire.

Part 8

This part made Germany solely responsible for the war. Article 231 states, “The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies”

Part 9

This part dealt with the financial problems. It made the Axis alliance (which was basically) pay for the war.

Part 10

This part introduced more economic clauses for the Axis alliance.

Part 11

This part granted Allies and other associated powers the liberty to cruise through German airspace without any restrictions.

Part 12

This part allowed Allies and other associated powers the liberty to travel through Germany on land as well as the water bodies.

Part 13

This part created the International Labour Organization.

Part 14

This part gave Germany incentives to follow the Treaty. If the Germans were to follow the Treaty for 15 years then they would reacquire the Rhineland from the Allies.

Part 15

This part dealt with all conditions and clauses which could not be categorized in the aforementioned parts.

This treaty created a lot protest within the state of Germany. Many of the representatives of Germany were later assassinated. This crated a lot of hate for the Weimar Republic.

The Treaty is one of the major factors responsible for Hitler rise. He promised to bring back pride to the mighty Germany be violating the Treaty piece by piece.

When one reads the treaty, they can understand the amount of pain the germans suffered. The treaty was unfair in its entirety. The Germans were responsible for the war but they didn’t deserve to be punished this hard. It would be as if someone broke a plate, and then as a punishment were made to make 100 plates in return.

The Treaty of Versailles was solely responsible for WW2 just as Germany was solely responsible for WW1.

Source : Treaty of Versailles – 1919