Question

Many Germans believed that the defeat in World War 1 and the humiliating Versailles Treaty was responsible for ______.
1. Hitler
2. British
3. Weimar Republic
4. Allied Powers

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 3 : Weimar Republic

The Treaty of Versailles

• It was signed on June 28, 1919, and officially ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers.
• The controversial War Guilt clause blamed Germany for World War I and imposed heavy debt payments on Germany.
• This Treaty was a major contributing factor in the outbreak of the Second World War.

Terms of the Treaty of Versailles

• The “Big Four” leaders of the victorious Western nations—Wilson of the United States, David Lloyd George of Great Britain, Georges Clemenceau of France and, to a lesser extent, Vittorio Orlando of Italy—dominated the peace negotiations in Paris.
• One of the most controversial terms of the treaty was the War Guilt clause, which explicitly and directly blamed Germany for the outbreak of hostilities.
• It forced Germany to disarm, to make territorial concessions, and to pay reparations to the Allied powers in the staggering amount of $5 billion.
• Although US President Woodrow Wilson was opposed to such harsh terms, he was outmaneuvered by French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau.
• France was the only Allied power to share a border with Germany, and therefore suffered the bulk of the devastation and casualties from the German war machine.
• The French aimed to weaken Germany to the greatest extent possible.