On June 28,1919, the Allied powers presented the Treaty of
Versailles to Germany for signature. The following are the key
territorial and political clauses.
The full text of the Treaty is available here [At Yale] [Internet Archive back up here]
Article 22. Certain communities formerly belonging to the
Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their
existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognised
subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance
by a Mandatory [i.e., a Western power] until such time as they
are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must
be a principal consideration in the selection of the Mandatory.
Article 42. Germany is forbidden to maintain or construct
any fortifications either on the left bank of the Rhine or on
the right bank to the west of a line drawn 50 kilometres to the
East of the Rhine.
Article 45. As compensation for the destruction of the
coal mines in the north of France and as part payment towards
the total reparation due from Germany for the damage resulting
from the war, Germany cedes to France in full and absolute possession,
with exclusive right of exploitation, unencumbered and free from
all debts and charges of any kind, the coal mines situated in
the Saar Basin....
Article 49. Germany renounces in favor of the League of
Nations, in the capacity of trustee, the government of the territory
defined above.
At the end of fifteen years from the coming into force of the
present Treaty the inhabitants of the said territory shall be
called upon to indicate the sovereignty under which they desire
to be placed.
AlsaceLorraine. The High Contracting Parties, recognizing
the moral obligation to redress the wrong done by Germany in 1871
both to the rights of France and to the wishes of the population
of Alsace and Lorraine, which were separated from their country
in spite of the solemn protest of their representatives at the
Assembly of Bordeaux, agree upon the following....
Article 51. The territories which were ceded to Germany
in accordance with the Preliminaries of Peace signed at Versailles
on February 26, 1871, and the Treaty of Frankfort of May 10, 1871,
are restored to French sovereignty as from the date of the Armistice
of November 11, 1918.
The provisions of the Treaties establishing the delimitation of
the frontiers before 1871 shall be restored.
Article 119. Germany renounces in favor of the Principal
Allied and Associated Powers all her rights and titles over her
overseas possessions.
Article 156. Germany renounces, in favour of Japan, all
her rights, title and privileges . . . which she acquired in virtue
of` the Treaty concluded by her with China on March 6, 1898, and
of all other arrangements relative to the Province of Shantung.
Article 159. The German military forces shall be demobilised
and reduced as prescribed hereinafter
Article 160. By a date which must not be later than March
31, 1920, the German Army must not comprise more than seven divisions
of infantry and three divisions of cavalry.
After that date the total number of effectives in the Army of
the States constituting Germany must not exceed 100,000 men, including
officers and establishments of depots. The Army shall be devoted
exclusively to the maintenance of order within the territory and
to the control of the frontiers.
The total effective strength of officers, including the personnel
of staffs, whatever their composition, must not exceed four thousand....
Article 231. 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.
Article 232. The Allied and Associated Governments recognize
that the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into
account permanent diminutions of such resources which will result
from other provisions of the present Treaty, to make complete
reparation for all such loss and damage.
The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and Germany
undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done
to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers
and to their property during the period of the belligerency of
each as an Allied or Associated Power against Germany.
Source: From The Treaty of Versailles and After: Annotations of the
Text of the Treaty (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office, 1944)
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(c)Paul Halsall Aug 1997
