Treaty Of Versailles Research Paper

To what extent and ways did the treaty of Versailles reduce Germany’s strength and how did it affect them economically?

In the following essay, it will be covering the topic of “to what extent and ways did the treaty of Versailles reduce Germany’s strength and how did it affect them economically”, this being that the treaty of Versailles reduced Germany’s strength greatly and it affected them in a negative way, economically. More specifically, the essay will consist of how Germany was affected in terms of loss of land and territory, how Germany’s army and forces changed dramatically and the different ways Germany’s economy was ruined and more so how and why it decreased.

Germany’s loss of land and territory

The arrangement of the treaty

However, as the treaty of Versailles was signed, that all soon, quite embarrassingly, came to an end. The treaty had already had a negative and demoralising effect on Germany after losing certain parts of their country, but this was only the beginning of what they were about to go through. The treaty of Versailles truly effected Germany once they lost most of their armed forces, being stated in article 159-184, Germany were restricted to an army of 100,00 men, no submarines or aeroplanes, and only 6 battle ships. In addition, conscriptions were also banned (all soldiers had to be volunteers). The treaty made Germany’s west of Rhineland and east of the river Rhine to be made into a demilitarized zone (DMZ). This meaning that no soldier or weapon was allowed to enter this zone. They were also no longer allowed to possess tanks, heavy artillery, poison gas supplies, airships or even aircrafts. To most Germans, this was extremely embarrassing because it meant that their military power was at a great low, in fact so low that almost every other country would not even take them seriously. With little military power/armed forces to back Germany up, they were no longer able to take part in in international relations. Furthermore, in the event of an invasion, it would prove to be very difficult to even defend themselves. Germany, due to signing the treaty of Versailles, had now become very little; a state that could prove easy for other countries to take advantage of, and had lost most of their military and weaponry that they had previously