This Day In History

On this day in 1920, the Treaty of Versailles officially came into effect, thus ending the First World War. The treaty officially ended the war between Germany and the Allied Powers which included Great Britain, France and Russia. It was signed on June 28th 1919, which was five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand which sparked the war. Whilst fighting ended with the armistice signed on November 11th 1918, the negotiations at the Paris Peace Conference were not completed until 1919.

The Treaty set up a ‘League of Nations’ which was to be a group of countries dedicated to the preservation of global peace. The Treaty’s provisions included that Germany must accept responsibility for the war, get rid of its arms, lose its colonies, make territoral concessions and pay reparations (132 billion Marks, equivalent to US $442 billion and UK £217 billion today). These reparations were not paid off until October 4th 2010.

The effect of the treaty on Germany fostered animosity in Germany, and Adolf Hitler rose to power on his promise to make their country strong again. Therefore the Treaty of Versailles, whilst ending World War One, led to World War Two.