The Treaty of Versailles was an agreement that put an end to World War I and established peace between the Allies and Germany. This took place in the Palace of Versailles, Paris.

The Treaty of Versailles obtained two signature processes: a first, on November 11, 1918, where only the armistice was signed to end the war, and a second, on June 28, 1919 , where the agreement was signed. definitive.  However, the treaty was put into effect on January 10, 1920.

This was structured by different articles and territorial, military, moral, political, economic and labor clauses . It was in French, German and English, and its main promoter and depositary was the Government of France.

One of the most important points of the treaty was to recognize Germany and its allies as responsible for the war and to impose important territorial concessions, as well as large monetary damages.

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Points of the Treaty of Versailles lead to WW2

Although there were many points that were established in the Treaty of Versailles, the following are the most prominent:

• Reduction of the German army to 100,000 men.
• Much German naval and military material had to be handed over to the Allied forces.
• Germany was forbidden to manufacture weapons of war .
• The payment of more than 30 billion dollars to the allied forces for the repair of their territories.
• Germany had to accept full material and moral responsibility for the war .
• Large German territories were awarded to the Allied forces.

Many of these points were highly violated with the arrival of Adolf Hitler, one of the factors that caused the Second World War .

Only in 2010 did Germany fully pay the millionaire sum it owed for repairs and reconstruction .

Causes and consequences of the Treaty of Versailles

Causes

The causes that prompted the signing of the Treaty of Versailles are the following:

• Promote peace between the parties involved in the First World War.
• Germany was cornered after its allies gave up during the war, for which it had to surrender and sign the treaty.
• The fact that Germany was the cause and responsible for the First World War.

Consequences

Due to the Treaty of Versailles the following consequences occurred:

• Germany had the loss of 13% of its lands.
• Great blow to the German economy, as it was forced to pay a huge sum of money for compensation.
• Strong loss of German military power , which was later regained by Adolf Hitler.
• The Germans were against the agreement, while a few who supported it were considered criminals.
• The points left by this treaty motivated Adolf Hitler to regain German power, causing World War II .

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Who signed the Treaty of Versailles?

Although the Treaty of Versailles was supported by 50 nations, 33 were its main signatories.

The main signatories of this peace treaty were the following countries: