On June 28, 1919, the controversial Treaty of Versailles was released.
French Marshal Foch once predicted: "This is not peace, this is a truce of 20 years." ”
Why did Foch call the Treaty of Versailles a 20-year armistice?
It all started with the Paris Peace Conference.
After the end of World War I, more than 1,000 delegates from 27 countries gathered at the Palace of Versailles in France.
Versailles. The main content of the discussion at the meeting was how to deal with Germany and the construction of a new post-war international order.
The congress was initially run by the five major powers, namely Britain, France, the United States, Italy, and Japan.
However, Japan is only concerned with its interests in Asia.
Italy cared deeply about European affairs, but no one took him seriously because of its negligible contribution to the war.
Therefore, the final decision-makers on all the issues of the Paris Peace Treaty are actually the three giants of the United States** Wilson, British Prime Minister Lloyd Georges, and French Prime Minister Clemenceau.
The "Big Three" of the Paris Peace Conference and Italian Prime Minister Orlando (front row, first from left).
On January 18, 1919, the first day of the conference, Poincaré, France, took the opportunity of the opening speech to deliver a long speech. In the tone of a victor, he mocked Germany, saying that Germany was "born of injustice and deserved to die in disgrace."
At the end of his speech, Poincaré also put forward a basic plan for sanctioning the perpetrators of the war and dismembering Germany.
In this regard, the United States ** Wilson ignored it.
He came up with his 14-point plan, advocating that the League of Nations should be discussed first, and then the peace treaty with Germany should be discussed.
Wilson's fourteen-point plan, to sum up, is mainly as follows:
Freedom of navigation at sea, self-determination of peoples, the establishment of the League of Nations, the reduction of armaments, the removal of economic barriers, and the absence of secret diplomacy.
To put it bluntly, the United States is no longer satisfied with being the little brother of Europe, and hopes to establish an international alliance to intervene in the world situation by relying on the powerful economic strength of the United States, and then replace Britain and France as the new world hegemon.
However, it is clear that Britain and France, which are dead but not stiff, cannot sit idly by and watch the United States rise to power.
As a result, the sophisticated British Prime Minister Lloyd George suggested that the question of the partition of the German colonies should be discussed first, and then other issues, citing the complexity and cumbersomeness of the treaty of the League of Nations.
I said the front door building, you said the hip shaft, the big three talked about not one thing at all, and the meeting just began, and it was at an impasse.
At the same time as the triumvirate was arguing, Italian Prime Minister Orlando spoke actively.
Orlando was not interested in punishing Germany, and he wanted the port of Fum, which was originally the territory of Austria-Hungary.
Therefore, Orlando wants to put aside other issues and prioritize Italy's demands.
In terms of strength, Italy can only be regarded as a second-rate country in front of the United States, Britain and France, and in addition to the fact that it stepped on two ships in the early days of the war, it did not play much role after entering the war.
Therefore, the Big Three directly ignored Orlando: Why are you so blind, don't you see that we are discussing how to deal with Germany? Get out of the way and play.
Orlando was furious when he saw that he was being ignored.
Look down on me, don't you? I don't play anymore!
But from the time Orlando slammed the door to the angry return home, no one kept him from beginning to end.
What's even more embarrassing is that after Orlando returned home, the Italian parliament thought he had returned in vain, and asked him to go back and continue to meet. Don't come back without some benefits.
In desperation, Orlando had no choice but to go back to the meeting and continue to be ignored.
The day after Orlando withdrew from the peace conference, the Japanese representative, Baron Nobuaki Makino, lost no time in making a sudden statement, insisting that German interests in Shandong be transferred to Japan.
If the Big Three disagree, Japan will also withdraw from the peace conference.
The first of Wilson's 14-point plan was to "oppose secret treaties."
But considering that Italy has already withdrawn, if Japan withdraws, it will not be possible. Wilson went his word and switched to support Japan's demands.
Britain and France have long had a secret treaty with Japan.
So on April 30, the Big Three made a decision to transfer all German interests in Shandong to Japan.
When the news reached China, patriotic students took to the streets one after another, staged huge demonstrations, and the famous "May Fourth" Movement broke out.
Under the impact of the May Fourth Movement, the Chinese delegation refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
Back to the Big Three.
Wilson's quest for world hegemony was opposed by Lloyd George and French Prime Minister Clemenceau.
The three of them quarreled so much that Wilson was so angry that he was physically and mentally exhausted and said, "I'm simply dealing with two villains."
However, after Britain and France finished scolding the United States, they soon became hostile to each other again. The contradiction between the two is actually even greater.
After World War I, Britain suddenly discovered that Tsarist Russia had become Soviet Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had collapsed, and Germany had also been defeated. Now there is only one big country left in Europe, and that is France.
This problem was also discovered in France.
Suddenly, the French thought that the glory of the Napoleonic era had returned.
In order to preserve this glory, Clemenceau advocated that Germany should never turn over and die!
Clemenceau from the film "My 1919".
How?
First, France not only wanted to recover Alsace and Lorraine, but also demanded that the border be moved east to the Rhine line and advocated the merger of the German provinces on the left bank of the Rhine into an independent Rhine state;
Second, France demanded that a piece of land be carved out from eastern Germany, northern Austria-Hungary, and western ** to establish a Poland that included Poznan and Danzig. then use the hand of Poland to counterbalance Germany;
Third, France demanded that Germany must compensate for war losses of 600 billion to 800 billion gold marks;
Fourthly, France demanded the complete destruction of the German military machine.
If Germany had been punished at the behest of France, Germany would have ceased to exist and would have reverted to the fragmented form of the Holy Roman Empire.
Britain did not want to see France dominate.
So when Clemenceau finished speaking, Lloyd George immediately jumped out to oppose it.
Clemenceau was known as the "Tiger of France" and had a short temper.
was confronted by Lloyd George in public, and was furious, saying that he wanted to duel with Lloyd George!
Duel in the West. Wilson saw what kind of system this had become, and quickly pulled the two apart. He also said that Clemenceau's demands were indeed too much and should be appropriately conceded.
In fact, Britain and the United States also wanted to weaken the German power, but they did not have a border with Germany.
Therefore, Britain and the United States only wanted to weaken the German Navy and were not interested in weakening the Army.
As for the dismemberment of Germany and the propping up of Poland, Wilson had the same attitude as Lloyd George.
He supported Polish independence and appropriately punished Germany. But there was no desire to create a new Poland according to Clemenceau's blueprint.
Because the United States also does not want to see France dominate.
Seeing that Britain and the United States joined forces, Clemenceau had no choice but to give up the request for the establishment of the Rhine state.
But in exchange, the Saar mines in Germany were to be handed over to France.
In Clemenceau's view, Germany occupied Alsace and Lorraine for nearly 50 years, and reaped a lot of benefits from France. Now asking for Sal himself is just collecting interest, and there is nothing wrong with it.
But Wilson was very annoyed by this new French demand, and he said impatiently: "I have never heard of any Saar problems." That Sal you're talking about is in **?
Seeing that Wilson was partial to Germany, Clemenceau showed him the map: Saar is here, you have to give it to me.
Invisibly, the two sides of the quarrel changed from Clemenceau PK Lloyd George to Clemenceau PK Wilson.
Seeing this, Lloyd George jumped out again to play the round.
In the end, after some negotiation and compromise, each of the three parties made a concession: the Saarland region could be ruled by the French for 15 years, after which the local citizens would decide whether to join France or return to Germany.
The Polish question was also resolved, and Anglo-American-French supported Polish independence and gained access to the Baltic Sea.
However, Danzig was to be governed by the League of Nations and was called the Free City of Danzig.
After discussing the territorial issue, the next step is to discuss the issue of war reparations.
France's demand for at least 600 billion gold marks in compensation from Germany is clearly unrealistic.
Even if Germany is sold, it will not be able to sell at this price.
Later, according to the decision of the Entente Compensation Commission, Germany's reparations were reduced to 132 billion marks, or about 33 billion dollars.
For the specific distribution, Lloyd George wanted France to take 50% and Britain to take 30%.
Clemenceau said: We France have the greatest losses, we deserve 58%, and not a penny less!
Because of the 8% distribution problem, Lloyd George and Clemenceau quarreled again.
A devastated France.
In the end, it was Wilson who stood up and said: We don't want a penny in the United States. France gets 56 percent, Britain gets 28 percent, and you all sacrifice a little to make other countries benefit as well.
This calmed down the quarrel.
In addition, France offered to have a German high seas fleet.
This time, it stimulated the sensitive nerves of the British.
Sea power was a bottom line that Britain could not touch, so Lloyd George resolutely refused.
Since France had no intention of being the hegemon of the sea, the matter was not settled.
Delegation of Germany.
In May 1919, after a long quarrel, the Paris Peace Conference finally reached a draft.
On May 7, in the chamber of the Palace of Versailles, a stern-faced Clemenceau handed over the draft peace treaty to the German delegation.
Speaking to the German delegation as a victor, he said: "Gentlemen, you have asked us for peace, and this is the peace we are willing to give you. ”
German Foreign Minister Bruckdorf almost fainted out of breath after carefully reading the peace treaty.
Under the terms of the peace treaty, Germany lost one-eighth of its territory and one-tenth of its population. The area west of the Rhine in Germany was to be occupied by the Entente for 15 years, and the German army was not allowed to defend within 50 kilometers of the east and west banks.
In addition to this, Germany had to surrender all of its overseas colonies.
Among them, the colonies in Africa were divided between Britain, France, and Belgium.
The colonies in the Pacific were divided between Great Britain, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
Even more harsh are the military restrictions.
The German Army could only keep 7 divisions, the total number could not exceed 100,000, and it was not allowed to have tanks, heavy artillery. Not even a heavy machine gun.
The Navy cannot exceed 150,000 people, not allowed to own submarines.
In addition, Germany could not organize an air force.
No import or export**. Do not produce or store chemicals**.
In order to limit the number of people receiving military training, compulsory military service should also be abolished.
As soon as this was done, the German Army, which was the first in the world, and the German Navy, which was the second largest in the world, fell directly to the level of not entering the stream. Not to mention Britain and France, even Poland can step on it.
Such a harsh peace treaty, Bruckdorf naturally did not dare to sign it. He had no choice but to report back to China and request a revision of the peace treaty.
But the Big Three made it clear that there was no need to amend, either to sign or to continue the war!
When the Germans learned of the terms of the peace treaty, anger and humiliation quickly spread within Germany.
In 1919, the German people met the Paris Peace Conference in front of the Reichstag.
Under pressure, German Chancellor Scheidmann resigned.
The German Navy also expressed its dissatisfaction with the peace treaty by sinking its own ships.
On June 20, the new German ** with Gustav as chancellor was founded.
Subsequently, the commander-in-chief of the army, Hindenburg, said that the Germans could no longer afford to fight.
On June 23, Germany**, caught in a dilemma, threw the problem to the German Reichstag.
In the end, the German parliament voted 237 in favor and 138 against, and chose to give in.
On June 28, 1919, German delegates signed the Treaty of Versailles at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
As the news spread, Marshal Foch was filled with deep concern.
Foch. He saw the Treaty of Versailles as a product of self-contradiction.
And predicted that "this is not peace, but a truce of 20 years."
Clearly, Foch's language is accurate.
You know, although Germany was running out of ammunition in the late stages of the war. But the Germans were not completely defeated on the battlefield. Until the signing of the armistice, German troops were still stationed on the territory of France and Belgium.
In other words, Germany after the end of the First World War was still a beast.
Deal with this beast, or don't provoke him. Or go to death, so that he has no ability to take revenge.
In 1923, a French soldier drove German veterans into the Ruhr area.
And the biggest mistake of the "Treaty of Versailles" was that Britain and the United States did not hurt Germany's basic plate while lashing out at Germany for the sake of the so-called balance of power on the European continent.
There was neither a democratic transformation of Germany, nor a partition occupation, still less a liquidation of those responsible for the war.
This kind of punishment is not hurtful enough and humiliating, and it will only make the Germans feel unconvinced, and then they will spend their days thinking about revenge and shame.
Ironically, in hindsight, the Treaty of Versailles, while retaining Germany's fundamentals, completely destroyed the power of Central and Southeastern Europe. As a result, Germany's strategic posture in the 30s was better than in 1914.
Europe after the First World War.
This is also the greatest reliance of Nazi Germany for daring to take risks step by step after Hitler came to power.
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