Versaillesfreden

Versaillesfreden, commonly known as the Treaty of Versailles, was the principal peace settlement that formally ended World War I between Germany and the Allied Powers. Signed on 28 June 1919 at the Palace of Versailles near Paris, it followed negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference. The United States participated in the negotiations but never ratified the agreement; instead, it pursued separate treaties with Germany.

Key terms included territorial changes: Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France; parts of eastern Germany were ceded to Poland, and territories were reassigned to Belgium and Denmark. The creation of the Polish Corridor and other shifts altered the map of Europe. Germany's military capacity was sharply restricted, the Rhineland was to be demilitarized, and the country was obliged to disarm. Article 231, the War Guilt Clause, assigned responsibility for the war to Germany and its allies. Reparations were demanded, and the treaty established the League of Nations. The agreement also laid out a system of mandates transferring colonial possessions to Allied powers.

Assessment and legacy: Versaillesfreden created the postwar international order in principle but was controversial and widely criticized as punitive. In Germany, it contributed to economic hardship and political instability during the Weimar Republic and fed nationalist resentment. The treaty's terms were not fully accepted by all parties and were later revised by subsequent diplomacy and coercive pressures in the interwar era. Its legacy shaped debates about collective security, punishment versus reconciliation, and the causes of World War II.