Chapter 465 Versailles Contract

The terms of the partition of Germany by the four major Allied Powers were quickly announced, causing great repercussions in Europe and even the world. New 𝟲𝟵Book Bar→𝟲𝟵𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘅.𝗰𝗼𝗺

First of all, the United States and Italy expressed their dissatisfaction with this way of handling the situation and condemned the four major powers of the agreement for ignoring the interests of other victorious countries, which violated and endangered the intention of the Allied Powers.

However, the opposition of these two countries is nothing more than a clown to the four major powers of the agreement. Neither Italy nor the United States has the strength to subvert the rule of the four major powers at this time.

Britain and France only mobilized the troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on the border, which immediately frightened the Italians into shutting up and never mentioned anything against the four major powers.

Although the remaining United States is not afraid of the threat from Britain and France, it also has no way to deal with the high prestige of Britain and France in Europe.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Britain and France firmly exclude the United States from being a victorious nation, the United States will have no choice but to verbally condemn it.

But verbal condemnation is the weakest. To put it bluntly, it is just the incompetent wailing of the weak.

Anyone who has the strength to take action will not choose to condemn this method of forcing oneself to save face.

Of course, although there is no means of resistance militarily, this does not mean that there is no diplomatic resistance from the Americans.

In order to resist such acts of unity by the four major powers, U.S. President Wilson put forward his own theory on the formation of the League of Nations, and advocated the establishment of an international alliance that could mediate international disputes and maintain world peace.

Such an international alliance is a good thing for small and medium-sized countries, because currently small and medium-sized countries have no means of resisting the great powers.

But the problem is that if the League of Nations does not have the support of strong countries and is just a game between small and medium-sized countries, it is equivalent to empty talk and has no binding force on the powerful countries. new

In order to promote the establishment of the League of Nations, U.S. President Wilson first approached the Italian Prime Minister and proposed that the United States and Italy jointly form an League of Nations to maintain the new world order.

Although the Italians are very moved by this, Italy also understands that the world order is not decided by the United States, but by Britain and France.

Sure enough, after President Wilson proposed the League of Nations initiative, the four major Allied powers quickly came up with countermeasures and publicly declared at the Paris Peace Conference that they would expand the Allied Powers and form a world alliance.

The countermeasures of the four major powers are completely aimed at the League of Nations, because apart from the different names, the purpose, organization and even the purpose of the World League and the League of Nations are exactly the same, but the sponsoring countries are different.

Compared with the United States, the four major powers of the Entente are obviously more popular in Europe. With Britain and France as the basis, it represents the four major powers of the Entente and the old European powers.

The support of Russia and Australasia, coupled with the recent defeat of Germany and Austria-Hungary, made the four major powers of the agreement the most powerful group in Europe and even the world. Even if the United States and Italy unite, they cannot shake it.

1A peace treaty restricting Germany was officially released. This peace treaty contains a total of 1 small clause, which imposes various restrictions on Germany.

German Foreign Minister Blankdorf led the German delegation to sign the peace treaty with the Allied delegation at the Palace of Versailles. Because the signing place was at the Palace of Versailles, the peace treaty was also called the Treaty of Versailles or the Peace of Paris.

Of course, the signing of the peace treaty was not so smooth. After learning the specific contents of the peace treaty in Germany, large-scale demonstrations immediately broke out, calling on the government to reject the treaty.

The German government also rejected this treaty, but it could not resist the firm attitude of the Allies.

Even French representative Clemenceau announced directly: "The Germans' attitude towards this treaty can only be to completely accept or completely reject it. If there is no reply within five days, or if they choose to reject it completely, the Allies will declare its end." period of truce, and to implement all the above provisions by force. New"

This is an honest threat. If the Germans do not agree to these harsh terms, then let the war decide who should listen to whom.

Facing huge pressure from France and the Allied Powers, the German government was extremely anxious at this time.

Since Wilhelm II had already sought refuge in the Netherlands, it was Hindenburg and the military government who decided everything.

However, the reputation of the military government in Germany has been greatly reduced, and even the major states in South Germany have become de facto independent.

Agreeing or rejecting it is not a good thing for the current German government.

On the last day of the five-day deadline given by French representative Clemenceau, the German government finally informed the peace conference that it was willing to sign a peace treaty.

But the German government also has its own demands. Germany does not admit that the German government and people should bear the blame for the war, and opposes Germany being the sole culprit of this super war.

After all, it was not Germany that was the first to declare war. Germany only fulfilled its obligations to its allies. How could it become the culprit of this war?

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But identifying the Germans as the culprits of the war was actually one of the French goals.

Only by establishing the Germans as the culprits of this war can France justifiably bully Germany.

Therefore, Clemenceau rejected Germany's demands and stated that the Allies would not accept any concessions or modifications to the peace treaty.

If the Germans failed to sign the treaty within two days, Allied forces would attack Germany again.

No matter how confident the Germans were before the war, at this moment, the Germans truly understood the truth that a defeated general cannot be brave.

Under pressure from both home and abroad, the German government finally announced its unconditional acceptance of all the terms of the peace treaty and signed it the next day.

Although it was very different from the original historical trend, the Germans still ceded nearly one-eighth of their territory and reduced their population by one-tenth.

Poland, which should have been independent historically, was completely annexed by Russia. After all, Russia at this time was still under the control of the bourgeois government of a constitutional monarchy, and it was considered its own in the eyes of European countries.

If the Workers' Union came to power, the attitude of the Entente would be very different. First of all, Britain and Australasia will not support Russia, and whether the Franco-Russian alliance can continue to be maintained is also a question.

Under the defense of many countries, it would be good for Russia to be able to defend its own territory, let alone annex such a huge Poland.

All the Polish Corridors originally assigned to Poland were annexed by Russia. Although Russia did not take away East Prussia, it turned East Prussia into a German enclave.

It is worth mentioning that the results of the game between the four major Allied powers can also be seen in the treaty restricting Germany.

The Entente imposed a large number of restrictions on Germany's military strength, changed Germany's military service system, and limited the total number of German armies to no more than 150,000 people, and the service time of German soldiers to no more than two years.

The Entente also imposed a large number of restrictions on the size and number of the German navy, allowing Germany to have only the highest number of combat warships, but no more than 15.

The German military is not allowed to possess or produce advanced offensive weapons such as aircraft and submarines, as well as tanks, artillery and machine guns.

West of the Rhine River was a military restricted area and no German troops were allowed to enter. All military facilities within 50 kilometers east of the Rhine must be demolished.

Basically all military facilities in Germany will be demolished, with the exception of some areas, such as some areas on the Russian border.

Nominally these areas are guarding against the workers' alliance in the Moscow region, but in fact they are also guarding against the Russian government.

After all, after Russia annexed Poland, Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone could no longer stop Russia's expansion.

If some German military power is not retained, East Prussia will be annexed by Russia sooner or later, and the Rhine River area on the western front will be eroded by the French sooner or later.

There is a big problem for Germany after its defeat, that is, Germany not only lost a large amount of territory and population, but also lost advanced industry and all overseas markets.

According to one of the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, the victorious countries will not be subject to any prohibitions or restrictions on the export of goods to Germany or the import of goods from Germany. Foreign warships and merchant ships can freely enter and exit the Kiel Canal and all canals in Germany. Allied troops stationed in Germany All costs are also paid by the German government.

This also means that Germany will become a dumping ground for Allied industrial products, which is not a good thing for the development of German local industry.

The inability to impose restrictions on foreign industrial products means that Germany has lost the ability to collect tariffs.

Without tariff restrictions, coupled with the deprivation of German industry by the victorious countries, there was no hope of German industry recovering in a short period of time.

This also means that Germany is about to usher in a long period of darkness, because the exploitation of Germany by the Allied Powers cannot be stopped voluntarily.

It can be seen from this complete Treaty of Versailles that this is not a contract pursuing peace, nor a treaty of plunder that crazily deprives the defeated country.

After the Treaty of Versailles was signed, British Prime Minister Lloyd George did not smile. Instead, he said to Clemenceau with a worried look: "You can take away all Germany's colonies and reduce his army to only enough to build an army." The strength of the police force and the reduction of his navy to the status of a fifth-class nation will ultimately be meaningless. If Germany feels that the peace treaty is unfair, then she will find the means to exact revenge on the victor."

It is a pity that such progressive words were not taken seriously by Clemenceau. Instead, they were ridiculed by Clemenceau, who believed that the majestic British Empire was already afraid of the defeated Germany. How can there be any reason in the world for a victorious country to be afraid of a defeated country?

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