Why did the Germans hate the Treaty of Versailles?

1
? Starter
28 June 1919 Germany signed up to the terms of
the Treaty of Versailles formally ending WWI. Who
do you think the people are in this picture? What
can this picture tell us about reactions of
Germans to the way the war was ended ? ? Why
might some Germans have felt optimistic before
the Treaty?
2
Reasons for optimism
?

• Abdication of Kaiser
• New democratic govt
• Expectations the Allies would help the new Weimar
  Govt
• President Wilsons desire for fairness 14
  Points
• Other countries were not blameless

What do you think Chancellor Ebert was thinking
on the eve of the Paris Peace Conference?
3
Why did the Germans hate the Treaty of Versailles?
?LOs

• To identify the key terms of the Treaty of
  Versailles and to assess how different Germans
  reacted to them

4
? Watch the film Make Germany Pay and answer
the questions your teacher provides
Big Three, Lloyd-George, Clemenceau Roosevelt
Clemenceau
Wilson
Lloyd-George
5
? Your task
p.12-13 in your books
Reparations
War Guilt
Why did Germans hate the Treaty of
Versailles?
Territorial losses
Germanys colonies
Military restrictions
6
War guilt

• Article 231 of the Treaty stated that Germany was
  to blame for causing the war.

• Why did many Germans resent this clause?

7
Reparations
Why did many Germans complain about reparations?

• As Germany was held responsible for the war, the
  allies could claim reparations for the damage
  caused
• In 1921 a special commission fixed a sum of
  6,600 m. to be paid in annual instalments
• The Treaty also took away 10 of Germanys
  industry and 15 of its agricultural land

8
Germanys colonies

• Germanys colonies were handed over to the League
  of Nations, who gave them to Britain and France
  to run

• Why did many Germans resent the League of Nations
  running their colonies?

9
Military restrictions

• Air force was disbanded
• Army limited to 100,000 soldiers
• Navy limited to 15,000 sailors, six battleships
  and no submarines

Which country was keen to restrict Germanys
navy? Why?
10
Military restrictions

• Rhineland occupied by the Allies for 15 years
• No German troops allowed in this area

• Why were the Germans especially unhappy about
  these terms?

11
Territorial losses

• Alsace-Lorraine returned to France
• West Prussia and Posen (Polish Corridor) lost to
  Poland
• Saarland taken over by the League of Nations for
  15 years

• Which of the territorial losses would have
  angered the Germans most?

12
? Your task

• Read p.18 and list 3 reasons why ordinary Germans
  felt betrayed by the Treaty of Versailles, in
  other words stabbed in the back

13
Stabbed in the back

• New government of Germany was weakened by the
  Treaty
• Army leaders felt Germany could have won the war
• The country had been betrayed by politicians and
  Communists
• Traditionalists felt this would not have happened
  under the Kaiser

14
? Your task

• Read about the Kapp Putsch from the History
  Learning website.
• Who was Kapp?
• Why did he stage an uprising?
• Why did it fail?
• What does it reveal about the Weimar Government?
• ? How similar / different was it to the
  Spartacist Uprising?

15
Wolfgang Kapp
16
Reasons for failure of Kapp Putsch

• Kapp right-wing journalist, hated Ebert
• Aims establish strong leadership opposed
  Versailles
• Reasons for failure
• lack of leadership - General Ludendorff supported
  Kapp, but other army leaders did not
• putsch centred on Berlin didnt spread to rest
  of Germany
• Weimar Government continued - able to relocate to
  Dresden
• people tired of revolution - Spartacist Uprising
  occurred 1919
• general strike

17
? Extension

• Can you list any similarities between the
  Spartacist Uprising and the Kapp Putch?

Rosa Luxemburg
Wolfgang Kapp
18

• SIMILARITIES
• Led by charismatic, political extremists
• Disliked govt aimed to overthrow it
• Centred on Berlin

• DIFFERENCES
• Spartacists were anti-War, Kapp Putsch supported
  the army
• Kapp was a monarchist, Spartacists wanted a
  Communist revolution
• Kapp enjoyed support of Freikorps

19
? Your task

• Try to match one of the captions on p.19 (SHP)
  with one of the sources on p.18-19.
• Study the German sources and add the reasons why
  they felt angered by the Treaty to your list
• Explain why Germans found it so hard to accept
  the terms of the Treaty of Versailles

20
Hold a press conference with members of Eberts
new Social Democrat government. Try to find out
whether the Treaty of Versailles really was the
right solution for Germanys woes.
21
? Your task

• Work in small groups. Write a short speech to
  deliver to the new German Parliament explaining
  why you hate the terms of the Treaty of
  Versailles so much. You may wish to include
  points in your spider diagram as well as those
  referred to in the sources. Try to explain why
  you feel stabbed in the back by the Treaty.

22
? Plenary

• Why do you think the Germans felt stabbed in the
  back? Give 5 reasons.

? Extension. Who were these people? Can you
explain the cartoon? What are some of the
problems with this source?
23
? Homework

• Write a speech explaining why you hate the treaty
  of Versailles. Refer to the key terms of the
  treaty, explain what is making you angry about
  them and refer to the reactions of ordinary
  Germans like Kapp. It should be one side of A4
• ?Extension. Produce a counter-speech by a
  supporter of the Treaty