This Day in World History
28 June 1919
Treaty of Versailles signed,
establishes peace after World War I
The treaty was the result of months of bitter negotiation, in which Wilson tried in vain to create a nonpunitive piece. Clemenceau, whose nation had suffered severely at the hands of the Germans, was disinclined to mercy. He insisted that Germany lose land (with some of it coming to France), be demilitarized, admit responsibility for the war, and pay reparations to the victors. The German delegates had no choice but to accept the terms; they were given no voice in the conditions.
On the day of the signing, two German officials walked slowly into the room, led in by military officers from the United States, Britain, France, and Italy. A member of the British government delegation described the scene: “They keep their eyes fixed away from those two thousand staring eyes, fixed upon the ceiling. They are deathly pale. They do not appear as representatives of a brutal militarism. The one is thin and pink-eyelidded. The other is moon-faced and suffering.”
After Clemenceau addressed the audience with some uncharitable remarks, the signing began. The Germans were first, followed by many others. The vast room was a buzz of conversation, as diplomats exchanged comments on the historic scene. Outside, cannons boomed in celebration, and crowds cheered.
The War to End All Wars was officially over. It would only take 20 years for the next one, caused in part by the punitive terms of the Versailles Treaty, to begin.
“This Day in World History” is brought to you by USA Higher Education.
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[…] Claudius’s usurpation of the Danish throne, denying Hamlet his rights, supposedly recalled the Treaty of Versailles (1919), which had financially crippled Germany in the wake of the First World War. But in the Edwardian […]