Editing Weimar Republic (section)

====Treaty of Versailles====
{{main|Treaty of Versailles}}
The Treaty of Versailles ended the state of war between Germany and most of the [[Allies of World War I|Allied powers]] and set the conditions for peace. It was signed 28 June 1919 and can be divided into four main categories: territorial issues, disarmament, reparations and assignment of guilt.
[[File:German losses after WWI.svg|thumb|German territorial losses from the Treaty of Versailles
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{{legend|#ddefd0|Administered by the [[League of Nations]]}}
{{legend|#ffffcf|Annexed or transferred to neighbouring countries by the treaty, or later via plebiscite and League of Nation action}}
{{legend|#f6d3a9|Weimar Germany}}]]

Territorially, Germany had to renounce sovereignty over its colonies<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part IV#Article 118}}</ref> and in Europe lost 65,000 km<sup>2</sup> (25,000 sq mi) or about 13% of its former territory – including 48% of its iron and 10% of its coal resources – along with 7 million people, or 12% of its population.<ref>{{Cite web |last=O'Neill |first=Aaron |date=21 June 2022 |title=Approximate German territorial losses, and related loss of resources, following the Treaty of Versailles, June 28, 1919 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1086370/territorial-resource-loss-treaty-of-versailles/ |access-date=20 April 2023 |website=statista}}</ref> The [[Territory of the Saar Basin|Saarland]] was put under the control of the [[League of Nations]] for 15 years, and the output of the area's coal mines went to France.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part III#Section IV. Saar Basin}}</ref> [[Alsace–Lorraine]], which [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]] had annexed following the [[Franco-Prussian War]] of 1870/71, once again became French.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part III#Section V. Alsace-Lorraine}}</ref> The northern part of [[Schleswig-Holstein]] went to Denmark following a plebiscite.<ref name="Britannica">{{Cite web |title=The Treaty of Versailles |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany/The-Treaty-of-Versailles |access-date=12 April 2023 |website=Britannica}}</ref> In the east, a significant amount of territory was lost to a restored [[Second Polish Republic|Poland]].<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part III#Section VIII. Poland}}</ref> The [[Klaipėda Region|Memel Territory]] was ceded to the Allied powers,<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part III#Section X. Memel}}</ref> and Danzig went to the League of Nations as the [[Free City of Danzig]].<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part III#Section XI. Free City of Danzig}}</ref> The [[Polish Corridor]] left [[East Prussia]] physically separated from the rest of Germany.

[[File:Ruhr1081923.png|thumb|Map showing the areas under the Rhineland occupation and the [[Free State of Bottleneck|bottleneck]] created between [[Koblenz|Coblenz]] and [[Mainz|Mayence]]|left]] Under the terms of both the Armistice of 1918 and of the Treaty of Versailles, French, British, Belgian and American troops [[Occupation of the Rhineland|occupied the Rhineland]], the area of Germany on the west bank of the [[Rhine river]], together with bridgeheads on the east bank near [[Cologne]], [[Mainz]] and [[Koblenz]]. In addition, the Rhineland and an area stretching 50 kilometers east of the Rhine was to be demilitarized.<ref>{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part III#Section III. Left Bank of the Rhine}}</ref> France had demanded the occupation both to protect itself from a renewed German attack and as collateral for German reparations. The occupation was to last 5 years in the British zone, 10 in the American and 15 years in the French and Belgian zones, until 1934, but the last foreign troops evacuated the Rhineland on 30 June 1930.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Schröder |first1=Joachim |last2=Watson |first2=Alexander |date=23 June 2016 |editor-last=Daniel |editor-first=Ute |editor2-last=Gatrell |editor2-first=Peter |editor3-last=Janz |editor3-first=Oliver |editor4-last=Jones |editor4-first=Heather |editor5-last=Keene |editor5-first=Jennifer |editor6-last=Kramer |editor6-first=Alan |editor7-last=Nasson |editor7-first=Bill |title=Occupation during and after the War (Germany) |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/occupation_during_and_after_the_war_germany |access-date=1 April 2023 |website=1914–1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War |publisher=Freie Universität Berlin}}</ref>

The treaty's disarmament provisions were intended to make the future German army incapable of offensive action. It was limited to no more than 100,000 men with only 4,000 officers and no general staff; the navy could have at most 15,000 men and 1,500 officers. All fortifications in the Rhineland and 50 kilometers (31 miles) east of the river were to be demolished. Germany was prohibited from having an air force, tanks, poison gas, heavy artillery, submarines or [[dreadnoughts]]. A large number of its ships and all of its air-related armaments were to be surrendered.<ref name="Britannica" /><ref name="Treaty of Versailles-2"/>

Germany had to compensate the Allied Powers for the losses and damages of the war, with the exact amount left to be determined at a later date (Article 233).<ref name="Treaty of Versailles">{{Cite wikisource|title=Treaty of Versailles/Part VIII#Section I. General Provisions}}</ref> In the short term it was required to pay the equivalent of 20 billion gold marks in installments through April 1921 (Article 235).<ref name="Treaty of Versailles" />

The most contentious article of the treaty, the so-called [[War Guilt Clause]], did not use the word "guilt". It stated that Germany and its allies accepted responsibility for all the loss and damage from a war that was imposed on the Allies by the aggression of Germany and its allies ([[Article 231 of the Treaty of Versailles|Article 231]]).<ref name="Treaty of Versailles" />

The implications of Article 231 and the territorial losses especially angered the Germans. The treaty was reviled as a dictated rather than a negotiated peace. [[Philipp Scheidemann]], then minister president of Germany, said to the Weimar National Assembly on 12 May 1919, "What hand should not wither that puts this fetter on itself and on us?"<ref>{{Cite web |title=Philipp Scheidemann gegen die Annahme des Versailler Vertrages (12. Mai 1919) |trans-title=Philipp Scheidemann Against Accepting the Versailles Treaty (12 May 1919) |url=https://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/pdf/deu/WR_SCHEIDEMANN_GERa.pdf |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=Deutsche Geschichte in Dokumente und Bildern |page=3 |language=de}}</ref> He resigned rather than accept the terms, but after the Allies threatened to resume hostilities, the National Assembly voted to approve the treaty on 23 June.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1919 |title=Vor 100 Jahren: Nationalversammlung konstituiert sich in Weimar |trans-title=100 years ago: The National Assembly Meets in Weimar |url=https://www.bundestag.de/dokumente/textarchiv/2019/kw06-kalenderblatt-weimarer-nationalversammlung-590072 |access-date=28 April 2023 |website=Deutscher Bundestag |language=de}}</ref> It was signed in Paris five days later.

Explaining the rise of extreme nationalist movements in Germany shortly after the war, British historian [[Ian Kershaw]] pointed to the "national disgrace" that was "felt throughout Germany at the humiliating terms imposed by the victorious Allies and reflected in the Versailles Treaty...with its confiscation of territory on the eastern border and even more so its 'guilt clause'."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ian |first=Kershaw |url=https://archive.org/details/hitlerhubris00kers |title=Hitler 1889–1936: Hubris |publisher=Allen Lane |year=1998 |isbn=0-393-04671-0 |location=London |pages=136}}</ref> Adolf Hitler repeatedly blamed the Republic and its democracy for accepting the oppressive terms of the treaty.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Resentment towards the Treaty of Versailles |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zsrwjxs/revision/4 |access-date=27 April 2023 |website=BBC}}</ref>